DOGE Sued Under Privacy Act to Limit Access to Americans’ Data

Lawsuits Challenge Trump-Era Department’s Access to Americans’ Most Personal Information

WASHINGTON — The Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, has sparked a wave of lawsuits over its reported access to sensitive federal databases that hold personal information about millions of Americans, according to a March 13 episode of NPR’s Consider This.

The episode opened with a warning: “Date of birth, home address, Social Security Number. I mean, these are just a few examples of some of the personal information that the US government collects on most of us and stores in databases across federal agencies,” host Ailsa Chang said.

DOGE, a department created under President Trump, has raised alarms not only for “making massive cuts to Federal staff,” but for its effort to access expansive stores of personal data—far beyond just Social Security numbers.

Elizabeth Lair of the Center for Democracy and Technology warned about the sensitivity of the information being accessed: “It will include demographics about you, so your race, your sex, even if you have a disability,” she said. …