Social Security watchdog opens probe into alleged misuse of data by ex-DOGE employee
WASHINGTON– The Social Security Administration’s internal watchdog is investigating a whistleblower complaint about what it describes as potential misuse by a former Department of Government Effectiveness employee of data obtained from the Social Security Administration.
According to a document obtained Wednesday by the Associated Press, the SSA inspector general informed the leaders of four congressional committees that he was launching an investigation after receiving an anonymous complaint.
The Washington Post reported Tuesday that a former DOGE software engineer allegedly told several colleagues that he had two highly restricted databases of information on U.S. citizens and that he had at least one set of data on a thumb drive that he would share with his new employer.
The SSA said the allegations have been refuted by the agency, the former employee and the company.
Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said in a statement that the allegations, if true, would represent “one of the largest known data breaches in American history” and called for a “full public accounting.”
The Social Security Administration maintains records on hundreds of millions of people, including health diagnoses, income, banking information, family relationships and personal biographical data.
The agency has faced lawsuits over alleged mismanagement of government data and DOGE’s access to sensitive personal information.
Last August, whistleblower Charles Borges, who worked as a data officer at the Social Security Administration, filed a complaint with the Special Prosecutor’s Office, saying that the Social Security data of more than 300 million Americans was put at risk after DOGE officials uploaded sensitive information to an unmonitored cloud account.
In January, the Trump administration admitted in court that DOGE workers had unauthorized access to sensitive SSA data, shared SSA data using an unapproved third-party service, and engaged in activities outside the scope of the SSA’s mission, including signing a “voter data agreement” with a political advocacy group.
This dispute is ongoing.
