Washington – a federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked a billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Social insurance Systems containing personal data with millions of Americans, calling their work a “fishing expedition”.
The order also requires the team to delete all personal data in possession.
US District Judge Ellen Hollander in Maryland said that the team has wide access to confidential information in social security administration to search for fraud with little justification.
“The Doge team is basically involved in a fishing expedition in the SSA, in search of a fraud epidemic, based on slightly more than suspicious,” she wrote.
The order allows Doge employees who undergo training and past control access to data that has been edited or deprived of everything that can be identified in person.
The ruling appears in a lawsuit filed by trade unions, pensioners and democracy of a group of spots. They argued that Doge Access violated the provisions on privacy and presents earnest threats in the field of information security. The lawsuit has been included in the recently deceased social security officer who saw the Doge team to sweep the agency, said that he was deeply worried about revealing confidential information.
Trump’s administration claims that the dog is directed to waste in the federal government. Musk focused on social security as a alleged habitat of fraud, describing them as a “Ponzi program” and insisting that the reduction of waste in the program is an crucial way to reduce government expenditure.
The White House did not answer immediately at the request for comment.
Doge was described in detail a team of 10 federal employees in the SSA, of which seven received access only to agency or personal information systems, in accordance with court documents.
Government lawyers argued that Doge Access does not differ significantly from normal practices in agencies where employees can routinely search the databases. But the plaintiff’s lawyers called The Access unprecedented.
Lee Saunders, president of the American Federation of State, employees of the Fun and Municipal Employees, called the decision “the main win for working people and pensioners throughout the country.”
Skye Perryman, president of democracy, said that “the court recognized the true and immediate dangers of the reckless Doge actions and took action to stop it.”
Doge has at least accessed to other governmental databases, including AT Treasury Department AND IRS.
In SSA, Doge employees fell into the agency a few days after the inauguration of Trump and pressed the software engineer to quickly access data systems, which are usually carefully restricted even in the government, said a former official in court documents.
According to Tiffana Flick, a former chief of staff full of a representative of a team looking for fraud based on inaccuracy and misunderstandings.
Hollander, who is based in Baltimore and was nominated by the president Barack Obama, He is the latest judge who considered the matter related to the dog. The team drew almost two dozens of lawsuits, some of which shed featherlight on the staff and operations, which were largely maintained under the opinion.
Several judges asked questions about the extensive Doge efforts, but they They have not always agreed That the risk is close enough to block the team in front of government systems.
