Whistleblower: NUMIDENT copied to insecure cloud by DOGE

A whistleblower alleging significant lapses in federal data security says members of the Department of Government Efficiency DOGE copied a central Social Security Administration database to a cloud environment that lacked independent security oversight, potentially exposing the personal information of hundreds of millions of Americans. The complaint describes the move as high risk, authorized after a Supreme Court ruling that temporarily allowed DOGE access, and undertaken without the normal oversight safeguards that typically accompany handling the nation’s most sensitive records.

The disputed data set is the NUMIDENT database, the master file for Social Security number applications. The complaint contends that NUMIDENT contains highly sensitive personal information, including names, places and dates of birth, citizenship, parental data, and the Social Security numbers themselves. In all, the data is described as among the nation’s most sensitive repositories of personal information. The whistleblower warns that, if accessed by unauthorized parties, the data could enable widespread identity theft, disrupt benefits programs, and potentially force a costly reissuance of Social...