DOGE aims to pool federal data, putting personal information at risk [View all]
Source: Washington Post
DOGE aims to pool federal data, putting personal information at risk
The goal — a centralized system with unprecedented access to data about Social Security, taxes, medical diagnoses and other private information — would create a multitude of vulnerabilities, experts say.
May 7, 2025 at 6:00 a.m. EDT Today at 6:00 a.m. EDT

Elon Musk listens to President Donald Trump during a Cabinet meeting at the White House on March 24. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
By Hannah Natanson, Joseph Menn, Lisa Rein and Rachel Siegel
The U.S. DOGE Service is racing to build a single centralized database with vast troves of personal information about millions of U.S. citizens and residents, a campaign that often violates or disregards core privacy and security protections meant to keep such information safe, government workers say.
The team overseen by Elon Musk is collecting data from across the government, sometimes at the urging of low-level aides, according to multiple federal employees and a former DOGE staffer, who all spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. The intensifying effort to unify systems into one central hub aims to advance multiple Trump administration priorities, including finding and deporting undocumented immigrants and rooting out fraud in government payments. And it follows a March executive order to eliminate “information silos” as DOGE tries to streamline operations and cut spending.
{snip}
By Hannah Natanson, Joseph Menn, Lisa Rein and Rachel Siegel
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/05/07/doge-government-data-immigration-social-security/