Federal Employees Oppose Dismissal Motion in DOGE, OPM Privacy Act Violation Case
Current and former federal employees -- plaintiffs in a case alleging the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) accessed sensitive personal data in violation of the 1974 Privacy Act -- filed a motion opposing the government's motion to dismiss Monday, alleging DOGE and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) failed to protect the security of records loaded with sensitive personal information.
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"Independently, the security failings and disclosure create an imminent risk of future harms: including both government misuse of the records for retaliation among other improper uses, and an even larger data breach at an agency that is already a hacking target," said the plaintiffs. "All these harms are traceable to the agencies’ Privacy Act violations and can be immediately remedied by an injunction."
Case 25-01237 began Feb. 11 when the employees and former workers filed a complaint against OPM and DOGE in the U.S. District Court for Southern New York. On Feb. 14, the American Federation of Government Employees filed a motion for a temporary restraining order to stop “these ongoing and systematic privacy violations,” which the defendants opposed on Feb. 19 (see 2502200047). Musk, DOGE and OPM asked the court to dismiss the complaint on March 14, alleging the plaintiffs lack subject matter jurisdiction and standing (see 2503170044).