The private information of hundreds of millions of Americans is at risk after the Department of Government Efficiency uploaded a copy of a vast Social Security database to a cloud server in June, according to a whistleblower complaint from the chief data officer for the Social Security Administration.
The vulnerable DOGE server contains the information of every American who has applied for a Social Security card, including the applicants’ names, dates of birth, citizenships, ethnicities, phone numbers, addresses, and other personal information, potentially compromising the security of over 300 million Americans, according to the complaint, filed by Charles Borges to the Office of Special Counsel and members of Congress.
Advertisement
Advertisement
“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 new Social Security Number at great cost,” the complaint reads.
DOGE transferred Social Security information from the Numerical Identification System (NUMIDENT) database to an internal server only DOGE could access, according to the complaint.
NUMIDENT contains all required information on applications for a United States Social Security card. Nearly 550 million Social Security numbers had been issued as of earlier this month.
On October 1, the federal government shut down after Republican majorities in the House and the Senate failed to negotiate a funding extension with Democrats, who are looking to prevent millions o...