DOGE officials copied millions of Social Security numbers, whistleblower says

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FILE-In this photo illustration, a Social Security card sits alongside checks from the U.S. Treasury on October 14, 2021 in Washington, D.C. (Photo illustration by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Department of Government Efficiency workers allegedly copied Social Security numbers into the agency’s cloud server, making millions of Americans' sensitive data and information vulnerable to being leaked or stolen, according to a whistleblower complaint.

News of the complaint comes after the Supreme Court ruled in June that DOGE was permitted access to the Social Security Administration’s internal systems.

What did the whistleblower complaint detail? 

Why you should care:

Charles Borges, the chief data officer at the Social Security Administration, filed a written complaint through the nonprofit Government Accountability Project.

Borges alleges that Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) officials, now employed as Social Security Administration employees, copied the Social Security numbers, names and birthdays of more than 300 million Americans to a private section of the agency's cloud server that only DOGE could access. 

But the New York Times reported that Borges did not imply that the Social Security database had been violated or used inappropriately.

RELATED: Supreme Court gives DOGE access to millions of Americans’ private Social Security data

Borges explained in his complaint that copies of the Social Security data apparently were created within the Social Security Administration’s existing cloud system, which operates on Amazon Web Services. 

The complaint also noted that the copied data had far fewer security guidelines in place to safeguard it than the SSA's standard policies typically require.

Borges also said that cybersecurity officials within the Social Security Administration described the decision to copy the data as "very high risk" and even discussed the potential of having to reissue Social Security numbers to millions of Americans in the event the cloud server was breached.

DOGE vetting Social Security Administration and other government programs

The backstory:

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was established during President Donald Trump’s second term in the White House and the agency was tasked with eliminating government waste and inefficiency. Its first director was Elon Musk, who called the Social Security program a "Ponzi scheme" and targeted it as a key source of fraud.

Although Musk stepped away from DOGE, the agency has continued aggressive efforts to audit and investigate various federal programs. Social Security has remained a top priority.

The Trump administration argued that unfettered access to the Social Security Administration’s internal systems was vital to detect abuse, duplication, and improper payouts — particularly in disability and survivor benefits.