Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) efforts to tap into databases across the government is facing broad pushback from a variety of groups sounding the alarm over the privacy and security risks.

DOGE is facing more than a dozen lawsuits as its staffers pop up at agencies across the government, seeking to tap into databases covering everything from federal payments to citizens’ Social Security numbers, financial information and more.

Musk and the White House have framed the efforts as part of a broader search for waste, fraud, and abuse in government payments.

But critics see little-vetted government neophytes tapping into sensitive databases while posing substantial risk to consumers.

Alan Butler, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, called the DOGE takeover “a monumental shift” in how the government handles its sensitive data.

“These systems are critical to the functioning of government, in some cases, to the function of the global economy, and they also contain some of the most protected and sensitive data about Americans, and there is a major risk that in trying to accomplish even their stated goal, that they could cause monumental problems for millions of Americans,” he said.

Prior to the creation of DOGE, the government had entire offices at each agency designated to review potential waste, fraud and abuse, all overseen by inspectors general.

But President Trump has fired 18 inspectors general since he took office.

Now, DOGE staffers have shown up at multiple agencies with a similar mission, reportedly using AI to analyze information gathered from the lists.

“We're talking about Social Security numbers, we're talking about family income, we're talking about whether you have a disability, we're talking about whether you're a citizen or incarcerated,” said Elizabeth Laird with the Center for Democracy & Technology.

“And then when you look at the scale of information, we're talking about tens of millions of people, anyone who's received a Social Security check or received student loans. And so........

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