Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) faces legal firestorm after courts ruled its sweeping access to sensitive U.S. government data—including Social Security records, tax files, and medical histories—was a privacy “fishing expedition.” A federal judge ordered DOGE to delete improperly collected personal data, slamming its tactics as “hitting a fly with a sledgehammer” for lacking evidence of fraud.
Lawsuits allege DOGE staffers, including a 19-year-old with a history of leaks, accessed federal systems (IRS, Treasury, Education Dept.) without proper safeguards, risking leaks or misuse. Agencies like the SSA and Treasury have since restricted DOGE’s access, while critics warn of cyber security disasters, like feeding sensitive data into AI systems.
Musk frames DOGE’s work as anti-fraud, but courts call it overreach, sparking debates over privacy vs. government transparency.