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THE Supreme Court Friday, the government ministry of efficiency has access to Social security Administrative data that includes sensitive personal information from millions of Americans.
The decision comes as the federal government requested a suspension, or a temporary suspension, after a federal judge blocked Doge’s access to this data in April. The highest court in the country granted an emergency request from the Trump administration to raise this injunction; The case should continue before the lower courts.
In its decision, the Supreme Court concluded that the Social Security Administration could give DOGE access to the agency’s files while the case takes place “so that these members can do their job”.
The White House and the Social Security Administration described the decision of the Supreme Court a victory. In a statement, the White House spokesperson Elizabeth Huston said that she will allow the Trump administration to “make common sense efforts to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse and modernize government information systems”.
Likewise, Social Security Commissioner Frank Bisignano statement said the agency “will continue to advance modernization efforts, rationalize government systems and ensure the improvement of services and results for our beneficiaries”.
Still others have expressed a major concern in reaction to the decision, including judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, the defense groups and the complainants in the case against Doge and the Social Security Administration.
“It is a sad day for our democracy and a frightening day for millions of people,” said the coalition of complainants, including the American state, county and municipal employees; the American teachers’ federation; And the alliance for retired Americans, who are represented by democracy.
“This decision will allow the affiliates of President Trump and Doge to steal private and personal data from the Americans,” they said, while producing “using each legal tool at our disposal” to prevent the abusive use of public data as the case is advancing.
Millions of sensitive data from Americans at stake
The dispute focuses on the quantity of DOGE access should have the personal data of the Americans.
The complainants filed an initial complaint in early March, declaring that the Social Security Administration had “abandoned its commitment to maintain privacy” of sensitive personal information from millions of Americans under the influence of DOGE.
Social Security Administration collects and stores some of the “most sensitive” personally identifiable information of millions of Americans, ranging from elders to adults to children, notes the complaint.
When requesting a social security number, the agency requires the disclosure of the place and the date of birth, citizenship, ethnicity, race, sex, telephone number and postal address. This also requires the names of parents and social security numbers.
But the agency is also aware of other personal data, including personal health information, notes the complaint. This includes:
- Driving license information and identification
- Bank and credit cards
- Birth and marriage certificates
- retirement
- Addresses at home and at work
- School files
- Immigration and naturalization files
- Family court files
- Job and employer records
- Psychological and psychiatric health files
- hospital
- Drug addiction files
- Records for HIV / AIDS tests
Social Security Administration also receives tax information, in particular total profits, social security and health insurance wages and the annual reservoirs of employees.
DOGE has not only accessed sensitive and protected information from the agency; He also shared it publicly, according to the complaint. The actions of the accused, in particular the Social Security Administration, Doge and the leaders, including former chief Elon Musk, deprived the Americans of privacy guaranteed by federal law and made their personal information vulnerable, according to the complaint.
In his dissent, Jackson, joined by judge Sonia Sotomayor, notes that the files show that “DOGE has received much wider access to data” than the Social Security Administration generally allows it in fraud, waste and abuse surveys. As a rule, these surveys start with high level anonymized data, with more access to more detailed information only designed if necessary.
Judge Elena Kagan also dissipated in decision 6-3.
“The government wants to give DOGE unhindered access to this personal information and not anonymized right away – Before the courts have time to assess whether Doge’s access is legal, “wrote Jackson.
Although the disputes are pending, the government has requested temporarily suspend the temporary limitations of the lower courtyard on DOGE access to social security data, she noted.
“But the government does not justify its request for suspension by showing that it or the public will undergo irreparable damage in the absence of the intervention of the Court,” wrote Jackson.
