Trendpills
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has been accused of placing the personal data of over 300 million Americans at severe risk, according to a whistleblower complaint filed by a senior official. Charles Borges, the Chief Data Officer for the Social Security Administration (SSA), alleged that DOGE officials uploaded a complete copy of the nation's Social Security database to an insecure cloud server in June, bypassing established security protocols.
The database in question contains highly sensitive information for every individual who has applied for a Social Security card. This includes full names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, addresses, phone numbers, and other personal identifiers that, if exposed, could be used for widespread identity theft. The complaint, sent to the Office of Special Counsel and members of Congress, describes the action as creating a substantial threat to public safety and a case of gross mismanagement. According to the disclosure, the server lacked proper security and oversight measures, creating what is described as a major security risk from unauthorized data access.
Borges's report specifically accuses officials within DOGE of authorizing the creation of a live, cloud-based replica of the entire SSA dataset. This move allegedly violated multiple federal statutes and agency policies designed to protect what is considered one of the nation's most sensitive data repositories. The complaint implicates SSA Chief Information Officer Aram Moghaddassi, reportedly an ally of Elon Musk, as being instrumental in the decision to move the data, allegedly to circumvent standard oversight.
The potential breach has compromised the security of over 300 million Americans, raising alarms across federal agencies and among cybersecurity experts. The whistleblower's allegations suggest that the officials' actions constitute an abuse of authority and a direct violation of laws intended to safeguard citizen information. The Office of Special Counsel will now review the complaint to determine the next steps in what could become a major government data security scandal.
