The whistleblower report is just the latest complaint against President Donald Trump’s DOGE and the unprecedented access it was given.
WASHINGTON — A whistleblower has revealed that the Social Security data of over 300 million Americans was jeopardized after officials from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) uploaded sensitive information onto a cloud account lacking proper oversight, according to a disclosure submitted to the special counsel’s office on Tuesday.
Charles Borges, who has been the chief data officer at the Social Security Administration since January, disclosed that the potentially compromised sensitive information includes health diagnoses, income details, banking records, family relationships, and personal biographic data.
The complaint warns that if malicious individuals access this cloud environment, Americans could face widespread identity theft, potentially lose essential healthcare and food benefits, and the government might incur significant costs reissuing new Social Security Numbers to every American.
Filed by the Government Accountability Project, the complaint has been directed to lawmakers responsible for House and Senate oversight, urging them to conduct an appropriate investigation.
This whistleblower complaint adds to the growing list of grievances against President Donald Trump’s DOGE, which was granted unprecedented access to immense amounts of personal data across government agencies under the directive of reducing waste, fraud, and abuse. Earlier this year, labor and retiree groups filed a lawsuit against the SSA for allowing DOGE access to Americans’ sensitive data, but a divided appeals panel recently upheld DOGE’s access to this information.
SSA said in a statement that it takes whistleblower complaints seriously but seemed to downplay Borges’ accusations.
The Social Security Administration maintains that all personal data is stored in secure environments with strong safeguards designed to protect vital information. The concerning data mentioned in the complaint is held in a long-standing system that is isolated from the internet. High-ranking career officials at SSA have administrative access to this system, supervised by SSA’s Information Security team. The SSA asserts that they are unaware of any breaches and remain committed to safeguarding sensitive personal data.
Borges’ complaint says he disclosed to his superiors that he believed the upload was an abuse of authority and poses a substantial threat to public health and safety, and potentially violates the law.
Andrea Meza, a lawyer representing Borges, said her client released the information “out of a sense of urgency and duty to the American public.”
Copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
