Social Security watchdog opens probe into alleged misuse of data by ex-DOGE employee
March 11, 2026
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Social Security Administration’s internal watchdog is investigating a whistleblower complaint into what it describes as a former Department of Government Efficiency worker’s potential misuse of data obtained from the Social Security Administration.
According to a document the Associated Press obtained Wednesday, the SSA’s inspector general informed the leadership of four congressional committees that it was launching the probe after receiving an anonymous complaint.
The Washington Post on Tuesday reported that a former DOGE software engineer had allegedly told several co-workers that he possessed two tightly restricted databases of U.S. citizens’ information and had at least one data set on a thumb drive that he would share with his new employer.
The SSA said the allegations have been refuted by the agency, the former employee, and the company.
Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said in a statement that the allegations, if true, would represent “one of the largest known data breaches in American history” and called for a “full public accounting.”
The Social Security Administration maintains records on hundreds of millions of people — including health diagnoses, income, banking information, familial relationships and personal biographic data.
The agency has faced lawsuits over alleged mishandling of government data and DOGE’s access to sensitive personal information.
Last August, whistleblower Charles Borges, who worked as the chief data officer at the Social Security Administration filed a disclosure to the special counsel’s office, stating that more than 300 million Americans’ Social Security data was put at risk after DOGE officials uploaded sensitive information to a cloud account not subject to oversight.
In January, the Trump administration admitted in court that DOGE workers had unauthorized access to sensitive SSA data, shared SSA data using an unapproved third-party service, and engaged in activities outside the scope of SSA’s mission, including signing a “voter data agreement” with a political advocacy group.
That litigation is ongoing.
From a mashable.com article, url distorts formatting.
Did Elon Musk's DOGE copy the entire Social Security database to an insecure cloud system? A whistleblower says it did.
August 27, 2025
According to the Government Accountability Project, which is representing whistleblower Charles Borges, DOGE officials have risked the security of more than 300 million Americans by creating a "live copy of the country's Social Security information in a cloud environment that circumvents oversight."
Borges says that he became aware of "serious data security lapses, evidently orchestrated by DOGE officials, currently employed as SSA employees" in recent weeks, as the Social Security database was copied to an insecure live cloud system.
The Government Accountability Project sent a letter detailing Borges' account of DOGE's actions to members of Congress and the U.S. Office of Special Counsel on Tuesday. The letter claims that DOGE "violated laws, rules, and regulations," as well as partook in "abuse of authority, gross mismanagement, and creation of a substantial and specific threat to public health and safety."
"This vulnerable cloud environment is effectively a live copy of the entire country's Social Security information from the Numerical Identification System (NUMIDENT) database, that apparently lacks any security oversight from SSA or tracking to determine who is accessing or has accessed the copy of this data," the letter says.
"NUMIDENT contains all data submitted in an application for a United States Social Security card — including the name of the applicant, place and date of birth, citizenship, race and ethnicity, parents' names and social security numbers, phone number, address, and other personal information. Should bad actors gain access to this cloud environment, Americans may be susceptible to widespread identity theft, may lose vital healthcare and food benefits, and the government may be responsible for re-issuing every American a new Social Security Number at great cost."
If this actually happens, it probably won't be a SS card. It will be a readable chipped card with a lot more attached to it than just a SS number. How convenient.
The letter also includes an email from July 15 from the DOGE-embedded SSA Chief Information Officer (CIO) Aram Moghaddassi signing off on the project.
Moghaddassi is quoted in the email as saying, "I have determined the business need is higher than the security risk associated with this implementation and I accept all risks associated with this implementation and operation."
As Ars Technica points out, Moghaddassi previously worked at Elon Musk's social media platform X and Musk's brain chip company Neuralink. Moghaddassi was onboarded into a government role through DOGE, originally embedded at the Department of Labor before becoming the CIO and the SSA around two months ago.
From a techcrunch.com article March 10, 2026 that mentions two hijacked databases:
The former DOGE employee, whom The Washington Post did not name, worked at the Social Security Administration last year. In October he then left to work at a government contractor, where he told colleagues that he had obtained two databases, called “Numident” and the “Master Death File,” according to The Post, which reported that the databases could include records for “more than 500 million living and dead Americans, including Social Security numbers, places and dates of birth, citizenship, race and ethnicity, and parents’ names.”