In a victory for personal privacy, a New York federal district court judge June 9 ordered the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to temporarily halt disclosures of Americans' personal data to the “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) agents.
Judge Denise Cote of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York issued a preliminary injunction on June 6, finding that there is a strong likelihood that OPM and DOGE violated the Privacy Act and the Administrative Procedures Act.
While the case against OPM and DOGE goes forward, the court ordered OPM to remove DOGE agents’ access to OPM databases, which hold highly sensitive personal information about tens of millions of federal employees, retirees, and job applicants.
This is a class-action lawsuit filed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), Lex Lumina LLP, Democracy Defenders Fund, and The Chandra Law Firm on behalf of AFGE, other unions, and all federal employees. Several AFGE members are named plaintiffs.
“Today’s legal victory sends a crystal-clear message: Americans’ private data stored with the government isn't the personal playground of unelected billionaires,” said AFGE President Everett Kelley. “Elon Musk’s DOGE cronies have no business rifling through sensitive data stored at OPM. AFGE and our allies fought back—and won—because we will not compromise when it comes to protecting the privacy and security of our members and the American people they proudly serve.”
The lawsuit argues that OPM and OPM Acting Director Charles Ezell illegally disclosed personnel records to DOGE agents in violation of the Administrative Procedures Act and the federal Privacy Act of 1974, a watershed anti-surveillance statute that prevents the federal government from abusing our personal information. In addition to seeking to permanently halt the disclosure of further OPM data to DOGE, the lawsuit asks for the deletion of any data previously disclosed by OPM to DOGE.
The federal government is the nation’s largest employer, and the records held by OPM represent one of the largest collections of sensitive personal data in the country.
In addition to personally identifiable information such as names, social security numbers, and demographic data, these records include work information like salaries and union activities, personal health records and information regarding life insurance and health benefits, financial information like death benefit designations and savings programs, nondisclosure agreements, and information concerning family members and other third parties referenced in background checks and health records.
OPM holds these records for tens of millions of Americans, including current and former federal workers and those who have applied for federal jobs. OPM has a history of privacy violations—an OPM breach in 2015 exposed the personal information of 22.1 million people—and its recent actions make its systems less secure.
With few exceptions, the Privacy Act limits the disclosure of federally maintained sensitive records on individuals without the consent of the individuals whose data is being shared. It protects all Americans from harms caused by government stockpiling of our personal data. This law was enacted in 1974, the last time Congress acted to limit the data collection and surveillance powers of an out-of-control President.
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