Stopping the illegal exposure of America’s personal data

Protect Democracy is challenging the illegal access to sensitive personal information of millions of Americans by representatives of “DOGE”.

The lawsuit alleges that the Treasury Department, Office of Personnel Management, and Department of Education are violating the Privacy Act by providing DOGE representatives access to vast databases containing Social Security numbers, financial information, and other personal data without proper authorization or safeguards.

“We’re watching in real time as unvetted Trump cronies break the law to get access to Americans’ most sensitive and personal data,” said Kristy Parker, Counsel for the case. “No one should be fooled into thinking they’re doing this for our benefit. Their goal is to snoop on vast amounts of Americans’ data and try to use what they find to enrich themselves, reward their allies, and punish their critics.”

We’re watching in real time as unvetted Trump cronies break the law to get access to Americans’ most sensitive and personal data.

Kristy Parker, senior Counsel at protect democracy

The plaintiffs are a coalition of individual veterans who have served in various branches of the military and unions representing teachers, scientists, engineers, and workers from across the federal government, including the American Federation of Teachers, National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.

What we know:

• DOGE gained sweeping access to Treasury payment systems that process tax refunds, veterans’ benefits, and Social Security payments.
• At least nine DOGE agents had broad access to the private information of millions of federal employees and job applicants.
• DOGE is reportedly transferring sensitive Education Department data to highly risky external artificial intelligence systems for analysis.
• According to internal Treasury Department documents, the department’s in-house threat-analysis team designated DOGE as an “inside threat” and warned that it “likely poses the single greatest insider threat risk the Bureau of the Fiscal Service has ever faced.”

The lawsuit asks the court to intervene to:

• Stop unauthorized and illegal access to Americans’ protected personal information.
• Ensure retrieval or destruction of improperly disclosed records.
• Restore proper Privacy Act protections for sensitive government databases.

Case Documents Featured Press

Featured Press