A Controversial Foray Into Sensitive Data
Over the past several weeks, Elon Musk’s DOGE team has been locked in a high-stakes standoff with federal agencies. At the heart of the conflict is a request for access to records that contain extensive income data collected to enforce child support orders. While the Department of Child Support Services (DCSS) and other like agencies, and their staff have unfettered access to these records—routinely pulling data from various state and federal sources—the DOGE team’s move is seen by many insiders as an unnecessary and potentially dangerous expansion of data access rights.
DOGE proponents argue that if low-ranking staff employees at these agencies have access to this sensitive information, then DOGE, tasked by the President of the United States to investigate waste and fraud, should also have access. They believe that if there are no problems with the system, DOGE will move on. However, barring them from access, when even the lowest-ranking employees have free access to the same information, raises questions about transparency and accountability.
Representatives of DOGE argue that integrating data from disparate federal systems could help uncover fraudulent child support payments and expose government waste. In a world where bureaucratic inefficiency often leads to misallocation of resources, the team contends that this aggressive stance is necessary to shine a light on practices that have long gone unchecked. Yet critics, including current and former health officials, maintain that the sensitive data in question—including Social Security numbers and detailed earnings information—should remain tightly controlled and accessible only to those explicitly authorized by law.
“This is private, confidential data, including Social Security numbers and earnings, of virtually all people in the country,” warned Vicki Turetsky, who led the child support office during the Obama administration. “It is similar to income tax data and is kept confidential in the same way. … I don’t think you want your data to go to DOGE or to anyone else who isn’t authorized.” Turetsky said.
