A Maryland federal decide on Thursday briefly blocked the Division of Authorities Effectivity (DOGE) from accessing hundreds of thousands of Individuals’ private information saved by the Social Safety Administration (SSA).
In a scathing, 137-page opinion, U.S. District Choose Ellen Hollander sharply questioned DOGE’s unfettered entry to Individuals’ personally identifiable info. She blocked the advisory group from SSA’s techniques containing such information and ordered the deletion of any in DOGE’s possession.
“The DOGE Team is essentially engaged in a fishing expedition at SSA, in search of a fraud epidemic, based on little more than suspicion,” Hollander wrote. “It has launched a search for the proverbial needle in the haystack, without any concrete knowledge that the needle is actually in the haystack.”
A coalition of presidency unions sued over DOGE’s entry to SSA, claiming it flouts privateness legal guidelines and the company’s personal guidelines and rules.
The knowledge in SSA’s information consists of Social Safety numbers, medical and psychological well being information, financial institution information, earnings historical past and extra.
In her ruling, Hollander mentioned the federal government has “not even attempted” to elucidate why DOGE wants such sweeping entry to Individuals’ private information, as a substitute repeating its chorus that DOGE’s mission to root out fraud and modernize the paperwork should not be hindered.
“Its method of doing so is tantamount to hitting a fly with a sledgehammer,” the decide wrote.
