Close Menu
Technology Mag

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the latest creative news from FooBar about art, design and business.

    What's Hot

    X is changing how it handles links to try and keep you in the app

    October 19, 2025

    X is launching a marketplace for inactive handles

    October 19, 2025

    Time to catch ‘em all again

    October 19, 2025
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    Subscribe
    Technology Mag
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram YouTube
    • Home
    • News
    • Business
    • Games
    • Gear
    • Reviews
    • Science
    • Security
    • Trending
    • Press Release
    Technology Mag
    Home » Federal Workers Launch New Lawsuit to Fight DOGE’s Data Access
    Business

    Federal Workers Launch New Lawsuit to Fight DOGE’s Data Access

    News RoomBy News RoomFebruary 13, 20253 Mins Read
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Reddit WhatsApp Email

    A new lawsuit filed by more than 100 federal workers today in the US Southern District Court of New York alleges that the Trump administration’s decision to give Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) access to their sensitive personal data is illegal. The plaintiffs are asking the court for an injunction to cut off DOGE’s access to information from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), which functions as the HR department of the United States and houses data on federal workers such as their Social Security numbers, phone numbers, and personnel files. WIRED previously reported that Musk and people with connections to him had taken over OPM.

    “OPM defendants gave DOGE defendants and DOGE’s agents—many of whom are under the age of 25 and are or were until recently employees of Musk’s private companies—‘administrative’ access to OPM computer systems, without undergoing any normal, rigorous national-security vetting,” the complaint alleges. The plaintiffs accuse DOGE of violating the Privacy Act, a 1974 law that determines how the government can collect, use, and store personal information.

    Elon Musk, the DOGE organization, the Office of Personnel Management, and the OPM’s acting director Charles Ezell are named as defendants in the case. The plaintiffs include over a hundred individual federal workers from across the US government as well as groups that represent them, including AFL-CIO, a coalition of labor unions, the American Federation of Government Employees, and the Association of Administrative Law Judges. The AFGE represents over 800,000 federal workers ranging from Social Security Administration employees to border patrol agents.

    The plaintiffs are represented by prominent tech industry lawyers, including counsel from the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights group, as well as Mark Lemley, an intellectual property and tech lawyer who recently dropped Meta as a client in its contentious AI copyright lawsuit because he objected to what he alleges is the company’s embrace of “neo-Nazi madness.”

    “DOGE’s unlawful access to employee records turns out to be the means by which they are trying to accomplish a number of other illegal ends. It is how they got a list of all government employees to make their illegal buyout offer, for instance. It gives them access to information about transgender employees so they can illegally discriminate against those employees. And it lays the groundwork for the illegal firings we have seen across multiple departments,” Lemley told WIRED.

    EFF lawyer Victoria Noble says there are heightened concerns about DOGE’s data access because of the political nature of Musk’s project. For example, Noble says, there’s a risk that Musk and his acolytes may use OPM data to target ideological opponents or “people they see as disloyal.”

    “There’s significant risk that this information could be used to identify employees to essentially terminate based on improper considerations,” Noble told WIRED. “There’s medical information, there’s disability information, there’s information about people’s involvement with unions.”

    The Office of Personnel Management and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

    The team behind the lawsuit plans to push even further. “This is just phase one, focused on getting an injunction to stop the continuing violation of the law,” says Lemley. The next phase will include filing a class-action lawsuit on behalf of impacted federal workers.

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Email
    Previous ArticleOnePlus won’t release a foldable phone in 2025
    Next Article Apple’s sci-fi movies are way behind its shows

    Related Posts

    Spit On, Sworn At, and Undeterred: What It’s Like to Own a Cybertruck

    October 17, 2025

    The AI Industry’s Scaling Obsession Is Headed for a Cliff

    October 17, 2025

    A Plan to Rebuild Gaza Lists Nearly 30 Companies. Many Say They’re Not Involved

    October 16, 2025

    Feds Seize Record-Breaking $15 Billion in Bitcoin From Alleged Scam Empire

    October 16, 2025

    ‘Sovereign AI’ Has Become a New Front in the US-China Tech War

    October 15, 2025

    Mark Cuban Would Still Have Dinner With Donald Trump

    October 14, 2025
    Our Picks

    X is launching a marketplace for inactive handles

    October 19, 2025

    Time to catch ‘em all again

    October 19, 2025

    The Sony Watchman was must-see TV

    October 19, 2025

    This weekend is your last chance to get a month of Disney Plus starting at $9.99

    October 19, 2025
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Pinterest
    • Instagram
    • YouTube
    • Vimeo
    Don't Miss
    News

    Opera’s Neon shows just how confusing AI browsers still are

    By News RoomOctober 19, 2025

    The trick to understanding Opera’s Neon browser is recognizing that it’s not just a browser…

    The AI sexting era has arrived

    October 19, 2025

    8BitDo’s new collection celebrates the NES’s 40th anniversary

    October 18, 2025

    TiVo won the court battles, but lost the TV war

    October 18, 2025
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of use
    • Advertise
    • Contact
    © 2025 Technology Mag. All Rights Reserved.

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.