Trade Unions representing 7.2 million people have filed a lawsuit against the US Treasury for the transfer of confidential data from citizens to the government effectiveness agency known as DOGE, headed by Elon Musk.
The plaintiffs include the alliance of American pensioners, the American Federation of public servants, and the International Union of Service Workers. The lawsuit alleges that DOGE obtained access to personal data of citizens, such as social security numbers (SSN), tax returns, bank details, and other sensitive information, without proper legal authorization.
The claim states that the data transfer violates confidentiality laws that prohibit federal agencies from sharing personal information without citizen consent, except in strictly regulated circumstances. However, DOGE employees, many of whom are inexperienced individuals under 20 years old, reportedly had full and continuous access to this data.
DOGE was established during the Donald Trump administration with the aim of streamlining government expenditures, but the agency’s practices have raised concerns. The agency’s employees have allegedly set up servers in government offices to collect information, including data from government employees and social assistance recipients.
The plaintiffs also point out a violation of the Tax Code, which restricts access to tax returns to only employees of the Ministry of Finance performing tax-related duties. Nevertheless, the head of the Ministry of Finance reportedly granted the DOGE team unrestricted access to this sensitive information.