As Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency burrows through the federal government like a tape worm, it has increasingly requested (and been given) access to large amounts of information on the American public. Now, the New York Times has assembled a modest list of all the data that Musk’s organization could potentially gain access to about the average American and it’s really something to behold. If you’re someone who values their privacy, it’s also sorta terrifying.
The list includes hundreds of potential data categories, including credit and debit card numbers, your employer’s name, your IP address, the high school and/or college you went to, your mother’s maiden name, medical and academic records, your spouse’s personal information, tax, credit, health, and employment history, and much, much more. DOGE has gained access to this information via its forced liaisons with a multitude of agencies, including the departments of Education, Labor, Social Security, Treasury, and Health and Human Services, as well as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the General Services Administration, and the Office of Personnel Management.
Indeed, the newspaper says that it has identified approximately “80 data systems in total that have been targeted by DOGE,” though it also notes that its analysis is limited in that it only pertains to systems that “contain personal information about the American public,” and doesn’t include those that might pertain specifically to businesses and federal workers. The complete list provided by the newspaper, which is described as data contained in “the systems DOGE has sought access to,” is as follows:
Academic rank Active-duty military status Addiction treatment records Adjusted gross income Adopted child’s gender Adopted child’s name Adopted child’s placement agency Adoption credit claimed Adoption Taxpayer ID Number Adoptive parent name Adoptive placement agency Adoptive placement agency Employer ID Number Adverse credit history Alimony paid Alimony received Amount of federal taxes owed Amount of federal taxes refunded Amount of institutionally provided financing owed Amount of Medicare conditional payment Amount of student loan debt Area of medical residency Area of study Auto insurance effective date of coverage Auto insurance policy number Automobile medical policies Bank Bank information (for your Medicare providers) Biometric identifiers Birth certificate Business address Business bad debt Business bank account number Business closures Business debts canceled or forgiven Business depreciation Business entity type Business income/loss Business rents paid Business repairs and maintenance costs Business taxpayer ID number Cancellation of debt Capital gain/loss Casualty and theft losses from federal declared disaster Charitable contributions Child and dependent care tax credit claimed Child support received Children of Fallen Heroes Scholarship eligibility indicator Citizenship status Classification of instructional programs code Clean vehicle credit claimed Company named in consumer complaint Consumer product complaints (including mortgages, loans, credit cards) Cost of goods sold (for business) Country of birth Country of citizenship Course of study completion date Course of study completion status Course of study program length Credit and debit card numbers Credit report information Criminal history Date of accident, injury or illness Date of birth Date of death Date of hiring Date of original divorce or separation agreement Dates of employment Dates of medical service Deductible part of self-employment tax Degrees Delinquency on federal debt status Dependency status Dependent names Dependent of a resident alien Dependent of U.S. citizen/resident alien Dependent relationship to you Dependent Social Security numbers Dependent/spouse of a nonresident alien holding a U.S. visa Device ID Digital assets received as ordinary income Disability entitlement Disadvantaged background status Disbaility status Dividend income Driver’s license or state ID number Earnings Education and training (for unemployment claims) Education tax credits claimed Educator expenses paid Effective tax rate Employee benefit plans offered (for business) Employee ID number Employer account number Employer address Employer name Employer reported total employees Employer-provided adoption benefits Employer-reported total wages paid by quarter Employment information Employment status Employment termination dates Energy efficient commercial buildings deduction Energy efficient home improvement credit claimed Entitlement benefits held by related Social Security number holders Expected student enrollment Failure to file taxes penalty Failure to pay taxes penalty Family court records Family size Farm income/loss Federal Employer ID Number Federal housing assistance received Federal income tax withheld Financial aid profile First-time homebuyer credit claimed Foreign activities Foreign address Foreign bank and financial accounts Foreign business partners Foreign coverage credits Foreign earned income exclusion Foreign interests in business Foreign tax ID number Free or reduced-price school lunch received Full name Funding arrangements of employer group health plan Gambling income Gender Gross business profit Gross business receipts or sales Health insurance claim number Health insurance effective date of coverage Health insurance policy number Health provider name and number Health savings account deduction claimed Health supplier name and number High school Higher ed institutions designated to receive FAFSA form Home/mailing address Home/personal phone number Homeless status Hospitalization records Household employee name Household employee Social Security number Household employee wages Incarcerated student indicator flag Incarceration status Income and assets (for student aid eligibility) Inventions Investment interest received IP address I.R.A. deduction Job title Jury duty pay Late tax filing interest Level of postsecondary education study Login security questions and answers Login.gov password Marginal tax rate Marital status Marriage certificate Medicaid received Medicaid waiver payments Medical and dental expenses paid Medical claims payments Medical diagnoses Medical notes Medical records number Medical residency date completed Medicare invoices (sent to your provider) Medicare payments received (by your provider) Military service credits Mortgage interest paid Mother’s maiden name Moving expenses Name/address of business partnership Names of other corporate officers of an LLC Naturalization records Nature of medical service Net farm profit/loss Nonresident alien status Nonresident alien student, professor or researcher Nonresident alient student, professor or researcher Number of agricultural employees employed Number of employees Number of family members in college Occupation title or code Olympic and Paralympic medals, prize money Ordinary business income Parent demographic information Parent educational attainment Parent killed in the line of duty Parental income and assets (for student aid eligibility) Parents’ demographic information Passport number Pell Grant additional eligibility indicator Pell Grant collection status indicator Pell Grant status Personal and professional references (for federal job applicants) Personal bank account number Personal bank account routing number Personal email address Personal tax payment history Personal taxpayer ID number Photographic identifiers Photographs of government-issued IDs Physician name and number Place of birth Plans for federal grant funding (including schedules, diagrams, pictures) Postsecondary education institution Power of attorney name and address Prescription drug coverage Principal business activity Principal business product or service Prior status as a legally emancipated minor Prior status as a ward of the court Prior status as an orphan Prior status in a legal guardianship Prior status in foster care Private health insurer/underwriter group name Private health insurer/underwriter group number Private health insurer/underwriter name Prizes and award income received Psychological or psychiatric health records Qualified electric vehicle credit claimed Railroad retirement credits Reason for separation (for unemployment claims) Relationships to other Social Security number holders Rental management fees paid Rental, royalty, partnership, etc. income/loss Rents received Residential clean energy credit claimed Royalties received Salaries and wages earned Salary history (for federal job applicants) Scholarship and fellowship grants received Seasonable employer status Self-employed health insurance deduction Self-employment tax Self-photograph Sex Social Security date of filing Social Security number Social Security numbers of other corporate officers of an LLC Social Security primary insurance amount Social Security/S.S.I. representative payee Sources and amounts of non-Social Security income Sources of income Spousal income and assets (for student aid eligibility) Spouse demographic information Spouse of a resident alien Spouse of U.S. citizen/resident alien Spouse’s demographic information Spouse’s Social Security number Standard employee identifier State and local taxes paid Stock options received Student entitlement Student load forbearances Student loan amount Student loan balances Student loan cancellations Student loan claims Student loan collections Student loan defaults Student loan deferments Student loan disbursement dates Student loan disbursements Student loan ID Student loan interest deduction Student loan overpayments Student loan promissory notes Student loan refunds Student loan repayment plan Student loan status Supplemental Nutrition Assistance received Supplemental Security Income eligbility Supplemental Security Income eligibility amount Supplemental Security Income payment amounts Tax filing status (married, individual, filing jointly) Tax preparer tax ID number Taxable dependent care benefits Taxable income Taxable interest income Taxable I.R.A. distributions Taxable pension distributions Taxable Social Security benefits Taxable state/local refunds Taxes paid on wagers Temporary Assistance for Needy Families received Tests for H.I.V./AIDS Tip income Total number of dependents Total number of tax exemptions Total payments to all employees Total tax owed and paid Type of bank account (checking/savings) U.S. resident alien status U.S. visa expiration date U.S. visa number Unaccompanied alien child status Unaccompanied alien children sponsor status Unemployment compensation received Vehicle identifiers Veteran disability determination dates Veteran status Visa expiration date Wages earned while incarcerated WIC nutrition assistance received Work email address Work experience (for federal job applicants) Work phone number Workers’ compensation coverage Workers’ compensation offset
Trump has enabled DOGE to access this data via a barrage of executive orders. That access has subsequently become the subject of multiple legal complaints, as groups representing Americans’ privacy have sought to clarify why, exactly, Musk’s team needs access to all of that information. So far, the courts have proven to be a limited buffer on DOGE’s reach, however. While a federal judge temporarily limited DOGE’s access to three federal agencies (the Treasury, the Department of Education, and the Office of Personnel Management) last month, an appeals court reinstated the organization’s access to those agencies just two days ago. DOGE has claimed that it needs this kind of access to root out “fraud” and because it is updating the government’s digital systems.
The people Musk has entrusted to helm the DOGE project should also give any privacy-wary American pause. Included among the supposedly competent and trustworthy group is a 19-year-old nicknamed “Big Balls” who, according to a report from Reuters, previously provided tech support to a cyber crime ring that “bragged about trafficking in stolen data.” So, yeah, I’m sure your information is in good hands.
Source: Gizmodo