US Treasury Sued for Unlawful DOGE Data Sharing

The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), the biggest federation of U.S. union groups, has sued the U.S. Treasury for allegedly engaging in the illegal release of extremely sensitive personal information to Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency

The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Treasury, alleging that the department illegally disclosed highly sensitive personal information to Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The AFL-CIO filed the suit on Friday in a Washington, D.C. federal court.

The plaintiffs accuse the Treasury of violating federal statutes by releasing, without authorization, the personal information of millions of people, including their Social Security numbers, bank account numbers, and other sensitive data. The Treasury is alleged to have acted unlawfully in a systemic and permanent manner that affected a vast number of people.

The data reportedly includes names, dates of birth, addresses, telephone numbers, and email details. This practice raises massive concerns over the safety of Americans’ personal information regarding their finances.

The Privacy Act restricts the government from disclosing personal records without a legal exception. The complaint is that DOGE had access to the same data, guided by the departmental head in charge of Musk, with no legitimate statutory reason for this access. The treasury’s complaint allegedly undermines citizens’ right to privacy protection. It allows continued access to personal data.

Several senators expressed very serious concerns with the matter at hand. Ron Wyden, Chuck Schumer, and Elizabeth Warren are among them. Wyden recently sounded an alarm after a post on Bluesky claimed that DOGE had complete access to the Treasury’s payment systems. According to him, this might cause improper withholding of payments. Schumer and Warren also expressed their worries, with Schumer planning to introduce legislation that will curb such practices.

Although neither the Treasury nor DOGE has responded, the controversy calls attention to vulnerabilities in critical payment systems for governments. The present legal battle can have a ripple effect on the future handling of sensitive government data.