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Elon Musk's Data Access Concerns

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US Politics

Elon Musk's DOGE Is Being Sued Under the Privacy Act: What to Know

Wired

Summary

Nutrition label

75% Informative

Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency rifling through government data.

Critics say DOGE 's access to sensitive data violates the Privacy Act of 1974 .

The act was passed by Congress after Richard Nixon illegally used the powers of the government to investigate, intimidate, and punish his political enemies.

At least eight lawsuits against the Trump administration over DOGE ’s access to federal data rely at least in part on the Privacy Act .

The strength of that argument rests on how judges weigh two questions: whether the DOGe personnel accessing each agency's data are employees, and whether the two exceptions apply to the situations in which they accessed and shared data.

EPIC has asked the judge for a temporary restraining order blocking further DOGE access to certain Treasury and OPM systems.

A status hearing will be held on February 21 .

The AFGE, NTEU, and class-action lawsuits haven’t proceeded beyond the filing of initial complaints.

VR Score

72

Informative language

69

Neutral language

10

Article tone

formal

Language

English

Language complexity

79

Offensive language

not offensive

Hate speech

not hateful

Attention-grabbing headline

not detected

Known propaganda techniques

not detected

Time-value

short-lived

External references

48

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2025/02/07/musk-trump-fema-doge/https://www.archives.gov/about/laws/privacy-act-1974.html https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.277055/gov.uscourts.dcd.277055.24.0.pdf https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.636793/gov.uscourts.nysd.636793.1.0.pdf https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.277150/gov.uscourts.dcd.277150.34.0_1.pdf https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.636609/gov.uscourts.nysd.636609.7.0_1.pdf https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69620025/university-of-california-student-association-v-carter/https://www.justice.gov/opcl/overview-privacy-act-1974-2020-edition/access https://www.justice.gov/opcl/overview-privacy-act-1974-2020-edition/amendment https://www.justice.gov/opcl/overview-privacy-act-1974-2020-edition/disclosures-third-parties#b1 https://www.taxnotes.com/tax-history-project/tax-history-nixon-aide-tried-weaponize-irs-pressuring-commissioner/2023/03/10/7g45r https://www.npr.org/2006/01/18/5161811/cointelpro-and-the-history-of-domestic-spying https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.277150/gov.uscourts.dcd.277150.21.0.pdf https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.277216/gov.uscourts.dcd.277216.16.0.pdf https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69613359/american-federation-of-labor-and-congress-of-industrial-organizations-v/https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-report/musks-data-access-hinges-on-doge-status-as-government-agency-48 https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69631573/unknown-case-title/https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/02/06/elon-musk-doge-access-personnel-data-opm-security/https://www.justice.gov/opcl/overview-privacy-act-1974-2020-edition/disclosures-third-parties https://www.justice.gov/opcl/overview-privacy-act-1974-2020-edition/disclosures-third-parties#b3 https://www.freepress.net/blog/lawsuits-musk-doge https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/02/06/elon-musk-doge-ai-department-education/https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.vaed.568472/gov.uscourts.vaed.568472.1.0_1.pdf https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.277216/gov.uscourts.dcd.277216.1.0_3.pdf https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/6103 https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.277055/gov.uscourts.dcd.277055.8.0_1.pdf https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69635650/gribbon-v-musk/https://www.justice.gov/opcl/overview-privacy-act-1974-2020-edition/agency-requirements https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/statement-signing-the-privacy-act-1974 https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.636609/gov.uscourts.nysd.636609.28.0_1.pdf https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.vaed.568472/gov.uscourts.vaed.568472.5.0_3.pdf https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69624412/national-treasury-employees-union-v-vought/https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/02/05/doge-health-agencies-labor/https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/17/us/politics/social-security-musk-team-access.html https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.277055/gov.uscourts.dcd.277055.1.0_3.pdf https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.636609/gov.uscourts.nysd.636609.25.0.pdf https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69627950/electronic-privacy-information-center-v-us-office-of-personnel/?utm_source=www.courtwatch.news&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=lawsuits-related-to-trump-admin-actions https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.277216/gov.uscourts.dcd.277216.20.0_2.pdf https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/02/16/doge-irs-access-taxpayer-data/https://www.justice.gov/d9/privacy_source_book.pdf https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.277286/gov.uscourts.dcd.277286.1.0_2.pdf https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69623558/state-of-new-york-v-donald-j-trump/https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.636609/gov.uscourts.nysd.636609.6.0.pdf https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69607077/alliance-for-retired-americans-v-bessent/https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5135147-white-house-doge-treasury/https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1888485948121366871?t=yvJsmV0mu2913uNCsjBAcQ&mx=2 https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.277422/gov.uscourts.dcd.277422.1.0.pdf https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.277055/gov.uscourts.dcd.277055.12.1_1.pdf

Source diversity

14

www.washingtonpost.com www.archives.gov storage.courtlistener.com www.courtlistener.com www.justice.gov www.taxnotes.com www.npr.org news.bloomberglaw.com www.freepress.net www.law.cornell.edu www.presidency.ucsb.edu www.nytimes.com thehill.com x.com

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