Social Security workers worry Elon Musk may use SS data to target trans American

[Lori Dee]

Social Security workers worry Elon Musk may use SS data to target trans Americans
Musk recently accessed Social Security data, and could help the current administration weaponize it against trans people & their allies.
Link to LGBTQ Nation Story
Link to Rolling Stone Story
LGBTQ Nation - Daniel Villarreal - Monday, March 24, 2025
Rolling Stone - Justin Glawe - March 21, 2025

From LGBTQ Nation:

Two "insiders" with the Social Security Administration (SSA) warn that the recent accessing of personal Social Security information by ... Elon Musk and agents of his so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) could easily enable the current presidential administration to identify transgender Americans for government persecution.

DOGE representatives Mike Russo and Akash Bobba entered the SSA ... and got access to data on every person in the U.S. with a Social Security number, according to a court filing challenging DOGE's access to the data. The data includes the addresses, medical and work histories, tax, banking and citizenship information, and family records of every person in the U.S. with a Social Security number, Rolling Stone reported.

When [Judge] Hollander asked government lawyers why DOGE needed unlimited access to the "personal, confidential, sensitive, and private information" of millions of Americans, the lawyers could provide no reason.

She also said DOGE's access to the data left it vulnerable to mishandling by "bad actors" like hostile foreign governments or U.S. administration officials who could use the data to locate and persecute political dissidents, elected officials, journalists, transgender people, and other "political enemies."

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Both articles are worth reading.

[D'Amalie]

I believe the risk is very real.  I'm not a conspiracy theorist, just an older American with experience in data security and intelligence gathering techniques.  I feel quite defenseless with the collapse of rule of law.  HIPPA doesn't protect data from other PII sources.

Social Security workers worry Elon Musk may use SS data to target trans Americans
Musk recently accessed Social Security data, and could help the current administration weaponize it against trans people & their allies.
Link to LGBTQ Nation Story
Link to Rolling Stone Story
LGBTQ Nation - Daniel Villarreal - Monday, March 24, 2025
Rolling Stone - Justin Glawe - March 21, 2025

From LGBTQ Nation:

Two "insiders" with the Social Security Administration (SSA) warn that the recent accessing of personal Social Security information by ... Elon Musk and agents of his so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) could easily enable the current presidential administration to identify transgender Americans for government persecution.

DOGE representatives Mike Russo and Akash Bobba entered the SSA ... and got access to data on every person in the U.S. with a Social Security number, according to a court filing challenging DOGE's access to the data. The data includes the addresses, medical and work histories, tax, banking and citizenship information, and family records of every person in the U.S. with a Social Security number, Rolling Stone reported.

When [Judge] Hollander asked government lawyers why DOGE needed unlimited access to the "personal, confidential, sensitive, and private information" of millions of Americans, the lawyers could provide no reason.

She also said DOGE's access to the data left it vulnerable to mishandling by "bad actors" like hostile foreign governments or U.S. administration officials who could use the data to locate and persecute political dissidents, elected officials, journalists, transgender people, and other "political enemies."

----------------------------------------

Both articles are worth reading.

[Lori Dee]

I believe the risk is very real.  I'm not a conspiracy theorist, just an older American with experience in data security and intelligence gathering techniques.  I feel quite defenseless with the collapse of rule of law.  HIPPA doesn't protect data from other PII sources.

And when you consider they also accessed the Treasury Department payment data, they have enough to cross-reference and target anyone.

[D'Amalie]

Agreed.  "Targeted" is the operative.