Consider This from NPR
Over a dozen lawsuits to stop DOGE data access are betting on a 1974 law
Thu, 13 Mar 2025
The Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, has been trying to access the massive amounts of Americans' personal information held in databases throughout the federal government.These databases hold information far more sensitive than name, address or even social security number. Diagnoses and medical data like treatment for mental health and addiction issues is also included in the trove of data.Now, more than a dozen lawsuits are invoking a little known law from 1974 that was designed to safeguard exactly this kind of data from federal overreach.For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.Email us at considerthis@npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
Chapter 1: What sensitive information does DOGE want to access?
Date of birth, home address, social security number. I mean, these are just a few examples of some of the personal information that the U.S. government collects on most of us and stores in databases across federal agencies. Well, the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, created by President Trump, has been causing alarm by making massive cuts to federal staff.
But it has also been seeking access to the troves of personal information that the government has on Americans. Information that can go way beyond a social security number.
The level of sensitivity of the information that we're talking about is really unprecedented. And it is the most sensitive information that people provide about themselves.
Elizabeth Lair directs the Equity and Civic Technology Project at the Center for Democracy and Technology. She spoke with NPR's Laurel Wamsley.
It will include demographics about you, so your race, your sex, even if you have a disability. And then I think the thing that a lot of folks don't think about, because a number of the reports of the systems that they've attempted to access or have actually accessed are financial in nature, but they also include really personal information about you.
So just to take your tax records, you know, it will include any major life events that you've had. So whether you were pregnant and gave birth to a child or you adopted a child or you got married or divorced, whether you went bankrupt, you know, things that maybe your closest friends and family don't even know are included in these systems.
And then there's the kind of information that's stored by agencies like Medicare, Medicaid, and the VA.
If you are a veteran that's getting medical care from VA, your medical data is stored in VA databases. What conditions you're being treated for, what treatments you're receiving. If you have a VA therapist or you go to group therapy at VA, then therapy notes are being stored in VA databases. If you, I don't know,
You have an opioid addiction because of an injury that you received while you were in service. That information is going to be potentially stored in the VA database.
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Chapter 2: Who is concerned about the government's data collection practices?
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