'Gobsmacked' senators demand to know extent of Elon Musk's access to Americans' data
WASHINGTON — Democrats are sounding the alarm about the privacy of Americans, whose private information is housed in Treasury Department files, as billionaire Elon Musk and his tech posse reportedly lock out civil servants from computer systems and databases.
"We have no visibility into what they are doing with the computer and data systems," one of the officials told Reuters. "That is creating great concern. There is no oversight. It creates real cybersecurity and hacking implications."
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) said Musk is specifically trying to "access" and "profit off American data."
"He's going to exploit it for the bottom lines of his companies and his billionaire friends," said Blumenthal.
He went on to say that he thinks when Americans become aware that Musk is compromising their confidential, sensitive data, they will "rise up."
"Data is the coin of the realm these days," he continued. "And the more Elon Musk can exploit it, the more X or Tesla — the more he will use it."
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Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) agreed she is "very concerned" about the access Musk is building for himself in U.S. Treasury Department databases. She said the Senate is working to get more information on the specifics of what is being done by his small team of 24-hour coders.
"I don't like it," Cantwell said. "We need strong privacy rules and the last thing we should do is let somebody from the government get access to our personal information.
The Privacy Act of 1974 "prohibits the disclosure of a record about an individual from a system of records absent the written consent of the individual, unless the disclosure is pursuant to one of twelve statutory exceptions. The Act also provides individuals with a means by which to seek access to and amendment of their records, and sets forth various agency record-keeping requirements," according to the Justice Department's website.
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) described their work as "excavating the answers" about what Musk has access to and whether protections will be in place for the personal data of Americans.
Raw Story asked what he thought about his Republican colleagues, some of whom dismissed the data breach as inconsequential.
"It's gobsmacking!" Wyden said. "And they have always claimed to be interested in protecting the privacy of Americans and here they're going, basically to set up a situation where a corrupt crook from overseas would be in heaven to have access to this system. It's gobsmacking they're not out there working with us to prevent it."
Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) said, "I don't have any concerns" that Musk is fiddling with the private data of Americans.
Republican Sen. Thom Tillis (NC), however, agreed that "if [Musk] has access to private data," he would be concerned given "he's not an official member of the government."
But he dismissed the concern, saying, "All I hear are reports. And if that proves to be true, I have a concern with it. It's not appropriate for somebody outside of government."
He went on to say that he is working with Democrats to uncover what Musk is doing and what he has access to.
On Monday, WIRED reported a leaked phone call with Musk, revealing some of the aims of the tech team he's assembled. One of the Musk-hired experts told a concerned staffer he's to "push forward" despite concerns over a possibly 'illegal task."