A senior official at the US Social Security Administration (SSA) has accused Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) of copying and uploading the nation’s entire social security database to a vulnerable cloud server, potentially endangering hundreds of millions of Americans and violating federal privacy laws.

The whistleblower complaint, filed Tuesday by SSA chief data officer Charles Borges, alleges that DOGE staff created a live duplicate of the Social Security Administration’s numerical identification system. The database, containing names, dates and places of birth, race and ethnicity, family information, addresses, phone numbers, and Social Security numbers, was reportedly stored without independent oversight and accessible only to DOGE officials.

“These actions constitute violations of laws, rules, and regulations, abuse of authority, gross mismanagement, and creation of a substantial and specific threat to public health and safety,” the complaint states. 

SSA response, whistleblower protection

The SSA denied that any data had been compromised, saying the personal information it manages remains secure. “SSA stores all personal data in secure environments that have robust safeguards in place to protect vital information,” a spokesperson said. “We are not aware of any compromise to this environment and remain dedicated to protecting sensitive personal data.”

Borges, a Navy veteran and career civil servant who joined the SSA in January after serving as chief data officer for Naval Air Systems Command, claims he repeatedly raised concerns internally about DOGE’s access to data, but no corrective action was taken. He is being represented by the Government Accountability Project (GAP), which filed his complaint with the US Office of Special Counsel and members of Congress.

“Placing a live copy of Americans’ social security data in a cloud environment without independent oversight puts everyone with a social security number and their families at real risk of identity theft, interrupted benefits, and tax or medical fraud,” said Andrea Meza, GAP’s advocacy and strategy director. She added that Borges followed all federal whistleblower protocols after his internal warnings were ignored.

Calls for oversight, accountability

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The complaint urges lawmakers to take immediate steps to strengthen safeguards around public data and to launch an independent audit. “We’re calling for immediate oversight and an independent audit to investigate these violations, prevent future problems, and restore required safeguards,” Meza said.

The allegations, first reported by The New York Times, are among the most serious insider accounts of DOGE’s conduct since the agency was created. Critics, including lawmakers and watchdog groups, have long accused DOGE of disregarding federal security protocols while embedding staffers in agencies across government.

In April, another whistleblower disclosure warned that DOGE employees had mishandled confidential information from the National Labor Relations Board and attempted to conceal their activities.

Growing access to federal databases

Since being established, DOGE has rapidly deployed personnel across federal agencies, giving it access to extensive troves of sensitive government data. Reports suggest that some of this information has been leveraged to support the Trump administration’s immigration policies, though no comprehensive explanation has been provided about the full scope of DOGE’s data use.

Moreover, a US appeals court earlier in the month denied a request from a coalition of unions seeking to prevent the Trump administration's government downsizing initiative, referred to as the Department of Government Efficiency, from accessing confidential information about American citizens.

In a 2-1 ruling, the US 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Virginia, stated that the unions were unlikely to succeed in their argument that the Department of Government Efficiency would breach federal privacy laws by obtaining data from the US Department of Education, the Treasury Department, and the Office of Personnel Management.

The court declined to restrict DOGE's access to the agencies' computer systems and sensitive data, including Social Security numbers and citizenship status information, while the case proceeds, overturning a previous temporary injunction imposed by a Maryland federal judge, which the appeals court had already put on hold back in April.

Track record of infringing on privacy

According to a May 3 report by The New York Times, the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to grant members of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) access to confidential records held by the Social Security Administration.

The administration contends that the existing limitations, enforced by a federal district court, are hindering essential modernization initiatives and impeding progress toward eliminating government inefficiencies.

The Solicitor General, D. John Sauer, argued in the emergency filing that this case followed a recurring pattern, a district court had overstepped its legal authority by imposing broad injunctions, causing continuous and irreversible damage to critical federal objectives while obstructing the operations of the executive branch.

Judge Ellen Hollander restricted DOGE's access to Social Security records, permitting only redacted or anonymized data after privacy training and background checks, stating that unwarranted intrusion into Americans' personal data violates public interest and legality, even amid fraud prevention efforts.

According to documents reviewed by The Washington Post in April 2025, personnel from DOGE were provided access to a tightly controlled Justice Department system housing comprehensive data on millions of immigrants, including those with and without legal status.