Never underestimate Elon Musk – he is not with Donald Trump and yet, he still managed to put millions of Americans at risk

A complaint filed by the top data official at the Social Security Administration has raised serious alarms. It alleges that a team from Elon Musk‘s Department of Government Efficiency uploaded a massive Social Security database to an insecure cloud server. This action has been described as a reckless act that could expose the personal information of millions of Americans to potential hackers.

According to the New York Times, the complaint was brought forward by Charles Borges, the chief data officer for the Social Security Administration. Borges claims that in June, members of the Department of Government Efficiency team copied a critical government database. This database contains the records of every Social Security number ever issued.

This repository is considered one of the nation’s most sensitive data collections. It holds individuals’ full names, addresses, and birth dates. All of these details could be used for illicit activities like identity theft. The controversy began earlier this year, not long after Trump’s second inauguration, when personnel from the Department of Government Efficiency arrived at the Social Security Administration.

Trump and DOGE have put all your information at risk

DOGE requested access to files. The agency’s acting commissioner at the time, Michelle King, resigned from her position rather than comply with a request from the Department of Government Efficiency to access these sensitive government records. However, the Department of Government Efficiency later succeeded in obtaining and moving the data.

Borges’s complaint highlights a profound lack of security and oversight during this process. He states that the highly sensitive information was copied without any independent security monitoring in place. This created enormous vulnerabilities. The chief data officer had no involvement in the project’s discussions. He was forced to piece together what had happened after the fact. He discovered that the data had been transferred to a cloud environment that lacked adequate protection.

The potential consequences outlined in the complaint are dire. Borges warned that if malicious actors were to gain access to this cloud environment, a large portion of the American population could become susceptible to widespread identity theft. Beyond the financial and personal ruin this could cause, such a breach could also lead to a catastrophic loss of vital health care and food benefits for vulnerable citizens.

In an extreme scenario, the government might be forced to reissue Social Security numbers to every American. This undertaking would come with an immense cost, likely amounting to many billions of dollars. The stated mission of the Department of Government Efficiency is to identify and eliminate fraud within the Social Security system. This purpose is a key part of its mandate.

Still, the reason why the department would need to upload such an expansive database to a cloud server remains an open question. There should be a good reason for this; it’s almost as if this was done maliciously.

In response to the allegations, a spokesperson for the Department of Government Efficiency issued a statement. The statement is “Commissioner [Frank] Bisignano and the Social Security Administration take all whistleblower complaints seriously. SSA stores all personal data in secure environments that have robust safeguards in place to protect vital information.”

The statement continued, “The data referenced in the complaint is stored in a long-standing environment used by SSA and walled off from the internet. High-level career SSA officials have administrative access to this system with oversight by SSA’s Information Security team. We are not aware of any compromise to this environment and remain dedicated to protecting sensitive personal data.” I’m sure you feel so safe now.