Did Elon Musks DOGE copy the entire Social Security database to an insecure cloud system? A whistleblower says it did.
The Social Security Administration's Chief Data Officer is blowing the whistle on President Donald Trump and Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, better known as DOGE.
According to the Government Accountability Project, which is representing whistleblower Charles Borges, DOGE officials have risked the security of more than 300 million Americans by creating a "live copy of the country's Social Security information in a cloud environment that circumvents oversight."
Borges says that he became aware of "serious data security lapses, evidently orchestrated by DOGE officials, currently employed as SSA employees" in recent weeks, as the Social Security database was copied to an insecure live cloud system.
What did DOGE do with Social Security data?
The Government Accountability Project sent a letter detailing Borges' account of DOGE's actions to members of Congress and the U.S. Office of Special Counsel on Tuesday. The letter claims that DOGE "violated laws, rules, and regulations," as well as partook in "abuse of authority, gross mismanagement, and creation of a substantial and specific threat to public health and safety."
"This vulnerable cloud environment is effectively a live copy of the entire country's Social Security information from the Numerical Identification System (NUMIDENT) database, that apparently lacks any security oversight from SSA or tracking to determine who is accessing or has accessed the copy of this data," the letter says.
"NUMIDENT contains all data submitted in an application for a United States Social Security card — including the name of the applicant, place and date of birth, citizenship, race and ethnicity, parents' names and social security numbers, phone number, address, and other personal information. Should bad actors gain access to this cloud environment, Americans may be susceptible to widespread identity theft, may lose vital healthcare and food benefits, and the government may be responsible for re-issuing every American a new Social Security Number at great cost."
The letter also includes an email from July 15 from the DOGE-embedded SSA Chief Information Officer (CIO) Aram Moghaddassi signing off on the project.
Moghaddassi is quoted in the email as saying, "I have determined the business need is higher than the security risk associated with this implementation and I accept all risks associated with this implementation and operation."
As Ars Technica points out, Moghaddassi previously worked at Elon Musk's social media platform X and Musk's brain chip company Neuralink. Moghaddassi was onboarded into a government role through DOGE, originally embedded at the Department of Labor before becoming the CIO and the SSA around two months ago.
The Trump Administration created DOGE along with Elon Musk after Trump won the 2024 presidential election in a stated effort to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse within the government.
However, DOGE quickly became embroiled in controversy. It accessed sensitive data without going through the proper security channels, cut lifesaving programs through the dismantling of USAID, and misinformed the public about its findings of so-called waste, fraud, and abuse.
DOGE's access to Social Security data has been known, and its handling of this data has been criticized. But this new revelation from whistleblower Borges that DOGE has created a live copy of the database has not been previously disclosed.
In their letter, Borges and the Government Accountability Project are urging Congress to investigate the matter.
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