Trump Administration Acknowledges Potential Misuse of Americans’ Social Security Data by DOGE
In a recent development, the Trump administration has conceded that members of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk, may have improperly accessed and disseminated Social Security numbers. This action was allegedly aimed at assisting an advocacy group in challenging election outcomes in specific states during the previous year.
This admission emerged from court documents that corrected earlier testimonies by senior officials of the Social Security Administration (SSA) concerning DOGE’s access to sensitive data. The identities of the two DOGE members and the advocacy group involved remain undisclosed in these documents.
According to Elizabeth Shapiro, a Justice Department official, in March 2025, a political advocacy group approached two DOGE team members at the SSA, requesting an analysis of state voter rolls the group had obtained. The group’s objective was to uncover evidence of voter fraud to contest election results in certain states.
Following these interactions, one DOGE member, acting as an SSA employee, signed and dispatched a Voter Data Agreement with the advocacy group. This agreement potentially granted access to private information that a court had previously restricted. Moreover, there are indications that data may have been shared on unauthorized third-party servers.
Shapiro noted that there is no evidence suggesting that other SSA employees were aware of these communications or the Voter Data Agreement. However, emails imply that DOGE team members might have been solicited to assist the advocacy group by accessing SSA data to cross-reference with voter rolls.
The SSA has referred the two DOGE employees for potential violations of the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal employees from engaging in political activities using their official positions.
This incident is part of a series of concerns regarding DOGE’s handling of sensitive data. In March 2025, a federal judge blocked DOGE’s access to SSA systems containing personal information of millions of Americans, including Social Security numbers, medical records, driver’s license numbers, and tax information. The judge criticized DOGE for conducting a fishing expedition without a clear justification for accessing such private data.
Further issues arose in August 2025 when a whistleblower revealed that DOGE had uploaded a live copy of the nation’s Social Security database to a vulnerable cloud server, potentially exposing the personal information of countless Americans. Charles Borges, the SSA’s chief data officer, stated that this action was taken despite his objections and circumvented standard oversight procedures.
Additionally, in March 2025, it was reported that a DOGE staffer violated Treasury policies by emailing unencrypted personal data, further highlighting concerns about the department’s data handling practices.
These revelations have intensified scrutiny of DOGE’s operations and raised significant questions about the safeguarding of Americans’ personal information. The potential misuse of Social Security data for political purposes underscores the need for stringent oversight and adherence to privacy laws to protect citizens’ sensitive information.
