The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) told federal lawmakers on Friday that Elon Musk and its effectiveness of the Department of Government (Doge) seized a number of federal computer systems that restricted the data limited by federal statutes. In some cases, any deviations in the way the data are used may not only be illegal, says the ACLU, but unconstitutional.
Doge operatives have infiltrated or accepted control of a number of federal agencies responsible for managing staff files on nearly two million federal employees, as well as offices that the government offers a wide range of software and information technology services.
Unauthorized use of sensitive or personally identifiable data as part of an attempt to purify the government of ideologically unlawful staff can constitute a violation of federal legislation. For example, the Privacy Act and the Federal Moderation of Information Security Act prohibit unauthorized access and use of government staff.
In a letter to members of various committees for the supervisory congress, ACLU attorneys highlighted the access of Doge to Treasury systems that handle a ‘majority’ of federal payments, which details on social security, tax refunds and salaries contain. With reference to Wired reporting from Tuesday, the attorneys note that, in addition to weakening funding to specific agencies or individuals, it has access to a few personal information, including ‘millions of social security numbers, bank accounts, operating finances, and personal finances. “
The attorneys write: “Access to and abuse – that information can harm millions of people. Young engineers, with no experience in human resources, government benefits or legal requirements on privacy, have received unprecedented oversight on payments to federal employees, recipients of social security and small businesses – and thereby control the payments. “
The ACLU attorneys emphasize that these systems will fall under the control of career officials under normal circumstances with years of training and experience in managing sensitive data, all of which have survived a comprehensive investigation process.
The group also submitted requests for freedom of information (FOIA) for the communication records of identified Doge staff, as well as for details on any requests that enabled the task force for access to sensitive and personal data at the office of staff management (OPM ).
Other files that the ACLU want to intend to deploy Doge’s plans to deploy artificial intelligence instruments across the government, as well as any plans or discussions on how the task force plans to comply with federal laws, protecting sensitive financial and medical information, such as The The The The The The Portability and Liability of Health Information (HIPAA).
Wired first reported on Thursday that DoE -Ooperative at the General Services Administration, which runs the US government’s IT infrastructure, has started pressing to quickly deploy a home brew -Iai -Chatbot named “GSAI”. A source with knowledge of GSA’s AI prior transactions told Wired that the agency launched a pilot program last fall to test the use of Gemini, a chatbot adapted for Google Workplace. However, Doge quickly determined that Gemini would not provide the level of data required by the task force.