According to a new federal lawsuit filed Tuesday, more than 100 current and former federal workers have filed Elon Musk and the Bureau of Government Efficiency, which allegedly accessed highly sensitive personnel records without proper review or approval. Ta.
The lawsuit was filed in the Southern District of New York by the Electronic Frontier Foundation and other privacy groups on behalf of 103 workers and various government unions. The plaintiffs are asking the Department of Personnel Management (OPM), the government’s leading personnel agency, to block access to Doge and its agents.
“OPM defendants gave Doge defendants and Doge agents, many of whom were under the age of 25 and were employees of Musk’s private companies until recently, but “management” access to the OPM computer system was not available. , has not undergone the usual strict national security review. , read the lawsuit.
The complaints are named by Elon Musk, Doge, The OPM and current OPM director Charles Ezell as defendants.
The lawsuit alleges that DOGE’s acquisition of OPM records is a violation of privacy law, which prohibits inappropriate access to personal data, including federal agencies.
“Due to privacy laws, it is illegal for OPM defendants to hand over access to OPM’s millions of personnel records to Doge defendants, and there is no legal and legitimate need for such access,” the complaint argues. It’s doing it. “The Privacy Act exception covers Doge’s access to records held by OPM.”
According to the lawsuit, Doge’s agents were not government officials at the time who received access to the OPM computer network. 19-year-old Doge worker Edward Coristin was reportedly fired online for “big ball” after an internal investigation into data leaks while he was hired.
The lawsuit also argues that access to data from Doge’s federal workers could have harmful occupational consequences for them, and dismisses employees Musk and President Trump deemed dishonest. He pointed out that he threatened him. Their disclosure of financial data could also expose workers to hacking by criminals and foreign actors, the complaint said.
The lawsuit comes amid growing controversy over Doge access to sensitive government data as agencies began enacting massive layoffs and other reforms throughout the federal government.
According to Mark Lemley, one of the lawyers representing the plaintiff, the suit focuses on getting an injunction to block its access, but that’s “phase 1” before the class action lawsuit.
Representatives from Doge, OPM and Musk’s Companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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