Rolling Stone: Insiders warn DOGE and Trump, Musk, or US enemies could use Social Security data to target trans people and political opponents

Rolling Stone: Nightmare Scenarios: Why DOGE Having Your Social Security Data Is Dangerous (archive) (2025-03-21):

When Mike Russo entered Social Security Administration headquarters on January 31, he introduced himself to agency staff as a representative of Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), according to court filings.

Along with Akash Bobba, a 22-year-old former Meta and Palantir intern, Russo demanded sweeping access to data on every person in the United States with a Social Security number. Social Security Administration (SSA) insiders warn the sharing of this data puts Americans at risk of identity fraud — and that it could be used by Donald Trump’s administration to punish, threaten, or blackmail his political enemies, both at home and abroad. […]

Two SSA insiders warn the potential for misuse of this data is virtually endless: The agency data could be used by hostile foreign governments to locate defectors and political dissidents inside the United States; officials in DOGE and the Trump administration itself could theoretically use the data to threaten elected officials and journalists, among other political foes, or create databases of transgender Americans and citizens who were born in other countries.

The data given to DOGE includes the addresses, medical and work histories, tax, banking and citizenship information, benefit amounts, and family records of every person in the United States with a Social Security number or who has applied for benefits. DOGE officials were granted access to this data over the objections of Flick and former Social Security Commissioner Michelle King, who resigned in protest over the episode. Despite the pushback, DOGE was able to access the data thanks, in part, to Dudek, who has become key to DOGE’s work inside the agency. […]

Insiders and agency veterans worry that the data DOGE has access to isn’t secure, and could be stolen or hacked by the “bad actors” that Flick mentioned in her deposition. One source close to the agency tells Rolling Stone they worried that foreign governments could use the data to locate defectors or political dissidents within the United States. The source also expressed concern that terrorist organizations could use the data to find foreign nationals who have aided the U.S. military and intelligence community in fighting in the Middle East. Another source warned that law enforcement and intelligence sources living in witness protection could be exposed by the data, as well as everyday Americans who could be viewed by Musk and the Trump administration as political enemies.

Some of those perceived enemies could include transgender Americans, according to Zinnia Jones, a transgender activist and researcher. Jones warned that the SSA data could be used to “identify nearly all likely transgender people in the US with 99 percent confidence.” Jones cited a 2015 U.S. Census Bureau study that utilized the same SSA data accessed by DOGE to estimate the number of trans Americans.

“For all we know, they may already know about the possibility of doing this and it’s part of why they insisted so forcefully on full access” to the data, Jones tells Rolling Stone. In her deposition, Flick noted that Bobba requested and was eventually given access to the SSA’s full dataset, “including source code.”

A former federal employee speaking on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retribution agreed with Jones’ assessment, telling Rolling Stone that the Trump administration could use the SSA data — as well as agency hiring paperwork and passport applications — to identify and purge transgender employees from the government.

And yesterday’s memorandum opinion in American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO v. Social Security Administration, 1:25-cv-00596 (D. Maryland, Mar. 20, 2025), ECF No. 49:

Plaintiffs’ members do not know if their information has been viewed or documented by any of these employees, nor how many times it has been viewed or will continue to be viewed in the coming hours, days, weeks, or months. But, plaintiffs know their sensitive, personally identifiable information is accessible to the DOGE Team on a daily basis, with no proper justification. […]

To facilitate the expedition, SSA provided members of the SSA DOGE Team with unbridled access to the personal and private data of millions of Americans, including but not limited to Social Security numbers, medical records, mental health records, hospitalization records, drivers’ license numbers, bank and credit card information, tax information, income history, work history, birth and marriage certificates, and home and work addresses. […]

In my view, plaintiffs are likely to succeed on their claim that such action is arbitrary and capricious, and in violation of the Privacy Act and the APA. Plaintiffs have also demonstrated that their members will suffer irreparable harm in the absence of a TRO, the equities tip in their favor, and the TRO serves the public interest.

Meanwhile, from Mother Jones: Tesla’s in Trouble. Elon Blames… Trans People? (2025-03-20):

Unsurprisingly, Musk ran with the fact that some of the people charged with the Tesla vandalism may be gender non-conforming, suggesting that it pointed to a larger phenomenon of violence perpetrated by trans people. “What are the statistics on trans violence?” Musk asked in his repost of Insurrectionist Barbie’s post. Ever the dilettante, Musk quickly answered his own question — with more of the baseless transphobia he has long spewed on his platform. “The probability of a trans person being violent appears to be vastly higher than non-trans,” Musk falsely claimed. “Hormone injections cause extreme emotional volatility. That is simply a fact.” […]

Musk’s latest transphobic tirade came on the same day that his estranged trans daughter, Vivian Jenna Wilson, was profiled in Teen Vogue — and she’s not giving her dad, or his unhinged X posts, any brain space. “He’s a pathetic man-child,” she told the magazine.

Author: Zinnia Jones

Zinnia Jones (she/her), trans woman and community advocate in Orlando, Florida. Email zinnia@trans.cx.