The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is once again under the microscope after a whistleblower accused the ad hoc creation of Elon Musk of unloading the entire database of sensitive Social Security information to a vulnerable cloud server.
According to a report from the New York Times, Charles Borges, the Social Security Administration’s chief data officer, has filed a formal complaint about the negligent treatment of the data.
As the Times' Nicholas Nehamas wrote, the uploaded information "includes individuals’ full names, addresses and birth dates, among other details that could be used to steal their identities, making it one of the nation’s most sensitive repositories of personal information.”
The report adds that Borges has no evidence that the data has been breached, but he indicated in his whistleblower report, “no verified audit or oversight mechanisms” existed to keep track of how DOGE was using the information or whether some or all of the info has been shared with outsiders.
“Should bad actors gain access to this cloud environment, Americans may be susceptible to widespread identity theft, may lose vital health care and food benefits, and the government may be responsible for reissuing every American a new Social Security number at great cost,” he warned.
According to a report in June from the Washington Post, since the DOGE takeover during Donald Trump’s administration, Social Security has been plagued with a wave of problems, including website crashes and difficulties in maneuvering around the site when it is up.
“The new website now shows only the percentage of calls and number of calls handled through automation, the average speed to answer and the total number of customers served," that report noted. "That data is only available for the fiscal year through the last month that data is available. And while the previous dashboard allowed users to click on data points and see trends over time, the new page does not show historical data."
You can read more from the Post here.