The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) put important Social Security data in a “vulnerable cloud environment,” a whistleblower with the Social Security Administration (SSA) said in a report Tuesday.
According to the whistleblower report, SSA Chief Data Officer Chuck Borges “has become aware through reports to him of serious data security lapses, evidently orchestrated by DOGE officials, currently employed as SSA employees, that risk the security of over 300 million Americans’ Social Security data.”
“What has not been reported are DOGE’s actions, in violation of SSA protocols and policies, under the authority” of SSA Chief Information Officer Aram Moghaddassi “to create a live copy of the country’s Social Security information in a cloud environment that circumvents oversight,” Borges’s attorneys said in the whistleblower report, which was first reported by The New York Times.
“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 report states that the Numident database has “all data submitted in an application for a United States Social Security card” like names, races, birthdays and citizenship statuses.
“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 report continues.
When reached for comment, an SSA spokesperson said “Commissioner [Frank] Bisignano and the Social Security Administration take all whistleblower complaints seriously.”
“SSA stores all personal data in secure environments that have robust safeguards in place to protect vital information. The data referenced in the complaint is stored in a long-standing environment used by SSA and walled off from the internet,” the spokesperson continued.
The Hill was directed to the SSA by the White House.
An appeals court ruled earlier this month that DOGE could access millions of Americans’ sensitive federal data, going back on a temporary injunction from earlier this year.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit ruled via a 2-1 decision that unions attempting to stop DOGE from getting into sensitive Treasury Department, Office of Personnel Management and Department of Education data were not likely to succeed on the merits as they argued the move would violate federal privacy laws.
