Federal workers are so on edge as Elon Musk's "government efficiency" team gains access to agency computer systems that they're terrified of reading news articles on work systems, according to a report.
Some government employees say they're turning off their phones at home and choosing to talk with colleagues in person, rather than over Microsoft Teams, due to surveillance fears. Some have even bought special bags designed to block electromagnetic signals out of concern that something they say could be considered as being against President Donald Trump, reported CNN.
“I used to carry my work phone around with me everywhere, after hours, on the weekend, in case anything was needed," said one employee at the General Services Administration (GSA). "Now I won’t take it out of my office space."
More than a dozen federal employees at five agencies told CNN they're afraid of losing their jobs and of being surveilled without their knowledge. Rumors are rampant throughout the federal government that online activity is being monitored by more senior officials for evidence of disloyalty to the administration.
“There is a persistent feeling that we are being watched,” one Department of Veteran Affairs employee told CNN.
The GSA tried to alleviate concerns last week by announcing there were "no plans to surveil employees," but federal workers say they're changing their workplace behavior anyway.
“Does the truth matter, if everyone believes it?” said a federal worker. “Obviously, legally it does, but from a psychological perspective, if what they want is to scare people, then they might already be winning.”
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The VA employee said they have stopped using their work computer to view news website during their lunch break in fear of being viewed as disloyal and thought about covering up the camera on their computer to avoid being watched.
“It’s very unlikely, but is it impossible? No," that worker said. "I mean, did you ever think that a 19-year-old named Big Balls would be accessing information at the State Department?”
Musk's team at the so-called Department of Government Efficiency has accessed IT systems throughout the federal government as part of what they say are audits for waste, fraud and abuse, but State Department employees report receiving notices on their mobile phones while on the job warning their employers had "installed a certificate authority in [their] work profile [and their] secure network traffic may be monitored or modified."
“Any technical glitch we experience, we wonder, is this just us being paranoid or is it some nefarious action?” said one employee at the Department of Education.
Scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration no longer take meeting notes in Google Docs, and workers elsewhere report concerns that they might say something to triggering artificial intelligence surveillance.
“People are picking up the phone for the first time in a decade because they don’t have to have online meetings or notes,” said a federal employee. “We’re that level of paranoid.”
