Elon Musk’s newly created government efficiency department (DOGE) has received yet another legal complaint against the privacy of the privacy of millions of Americans.
Lawyer Group for Privacy for Privacy Privacy Submitted to the trial on Tuesday, February 11, 2025, along with a coalition of privacy defenders, more federal staff associations and individual federal employees.
The goal is to prevent DODE from accessing the data stored by Office of Personal Management (OPK) and requesting the deletion of any information musk’s department has collected.
EFF joins the wave of concerned privacy experts and workers’ associations across the United States, which submit litigation against the new government agency over allegedly illegal data approach.
DOGE’S “Illegal” access to data
The OPT Data set contains “extraordinarily sensitive” details of all federal workers and anyone who has ever applied for a federal job, an expert explains. These include identifiable information such as names and personal numbers, work experiences, trade union activities, wages, personal health data and even classified information about non -publicization agreements.
According to the EFF, the error of this information could open the door to the abuse, putting the security and privacy of millions of people in the country at risk. For example, Musk headlines last year came to publicly reveal the names of government employees he would shoot after joining.
“The question is not ‘what happens if this data falls in the wrong hands.’ The data has already fallen into the wrong hands, according to the law, and they need to be protected immediately, ”EFF wrote in its message.
The EFF refers to is the Federal Privacy Act of 1974, under which access to this database and disclosure of information must be strictly limited. The news that DOGE, as recently reported by The Washington Post, could even change or delete any existing OPSE items is even more about.
All in all, EFF writes: “OPTS DATA is extraordinarily sensitive, Om gave them to DODE, and this is in violation of privacy. We ask the right to block further data sharing and demand that DOGE immediately destroy all copies of downloaded material. “
BREAKING: We are suing DODE and the Staff Management Office to stop the brave and illegal data sharing of federal employee data with the “Government Efficiency” group. https://t.co/qtpvyneskt11 February 2025
US President Donald Trump signed an executive order just after his inauguration ceremony, giving up Musk’s DODE by restoring “Competence and Efficiency to our Federal Government.” However, this step was not without controversy.
The EFF’s case is actually the latest action against the billionaire’s new government agency. The first legal complaint was filed by the national security advisers equally moments after DOGE was officially recognized in accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act.
Other legal actions followed as various privacy experts around the country became increasingly concerned about Dog’s allegedly illegal data approach. For example, a coalition of unions also brought a lawsuit just one day before EFF on similar premises.
Both came just days after a similar trial led to a federal judge temporarily blocking Doges’ staff from accessing information about the Ministry of Finance.
EFF writes: “Violations of Americans’ privacy have played across multiple agencies without supervision or protection measures, and EFF is pleased to participate in the brigade of litigation to protect this critical information.”
