A coalition of privacy advocates, led by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), has filed a complaint in federal court seeking to halt the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk, from accessing the private information of millions of Americans stored in the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). The lawsuit also demands the deletion of any data that has been collected or extracted from these databases. Additionally, the EFF has included OPM as a defendant and is requesting that this office be prevented from sharing any further data with DOGE.
Among the plaintiffs are individual federal employees and several unions, including the American Federation of Government Employees and the Association of Administrative Judges. According to the EFF, DOGE’s unregulated access to the massive amount of information held by OPM represents an unprecedented violation of citizens’ privacy. The complaint seeks to obtain a temporary restraining order to immediately halt this intrusion, deemed dangerous and illegal.
OPM records are extremely sensitive and contain demographic data, employment histories, health and financial information, as well as classified information disclosure agreements. This affects millions of federal employees and job applicants. Mishandling this information could result in significant and unforeseeable abuses. In a previous context, a federal judge had already temporarily blocked DOGE from accessing a critical Treasury payment system in response to a similar lawsuit.
Unregulated access to OPM data could compromise not only employees’ privacy but also reveal information about the operations of various government agencies, which is protected by law and cannot be shared indiscriminately.
The EFF reminded that the Privacy Act of 1974 establishes that the disclosure of government records about individuals generally requires the written consent of the person to whom the data refers. This law was created in response to scandals that generated distrust in the government and aims to protect citizens from abuses in mass information collection.
Furthermore, OPM has been the target of previous attacks, suffering data breaches that compromised over 20 million security clearance records, an incident considered one of the most damaging in government history. The current situation, according to the EFF, poses an even greater risk, as DOGE could access much more sensitive and up-to-date information.
With over 35 years of experience in fighting for privacy, the EFF has been known for exposing government surveillance and privacy invasions. In this case, the organization seeks to protect the privacy rights of Americans and demand that the reckless use of information stored in the OPM be stopped. The lawsuit underscores the urgency of safeguarding this data and the need for the law to be respected in protecting citizens’ sensitive information.
via: MiMub in Spanish
