If you’ve ever worried about your Social Security number falling into the wrong hands, buckle up—this story is a wake-up call for every American, especially those of us who’ve spent a lifetime building our financial security.

Concerns are growing after a whistleblower claimed that sensitive information tied to Social Security could have been put at risk.

Millions of Americans may be affected, raising fears of what could happen if the information ever fell into the wrong hands.


Imagine a digital vault containing the Social Security numbers, names, birthplaces, parents’ names, citizenship status, and even race and ethnicity of nearly every American.

Now imagine that vault being moved to a new location—one that, according to the complaint, lacked proper security oversight and tracking.

That’s exactly what Charles Borges, the Social Security Administration’s chief data officer, says happened when DOGE employees transferred this treasure trove of information to a cloud server accessible only by DOGE staff.

According to a recent whistleblower complaint, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) may have put the personal data of more than 300 million Americans at risk by uploading a massive Social Security database to a cloud server with questionable security.


Borges’ lawyers didn’t mince words: “Should bad actors gain access to this cloud environment, Americans may be susceptible to widespread identity theft, may lose vital healthcare and food benefits, and the government may be responsible for re-issuing every American a new Social Security Number at great cost.” In other words, the stakes couldn’t be higher.

The timeline is as troubling as the details. After a Supreme Court ruling in June gave DOGE employees broad access to Social Security data, a former DOGE staffer requested the transfer of the entire database to a new cloud environment.

Internal warnings from cybersecurity officials were clear: unauthorized access would be “catastrophic.”

Yet, just days later, the Social Security Administration’s chief information officer, Aram Moghaddassi, authorized the move, stating that the “business need is higher than the security risk.”


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Another DOGE employee signed off soon after, reportedly bypassing standard agency protocols.

The complaint, filed by the Government Accountability Project, calls this an “abuse of authority” and a “gross mismanagement” that could violate federal privacy laws.

The Social Security Administration, for its part, insists the data is secure and that no breach has occurred. But the whistleblower’s warning is clear: the American people are the ones truly at risk.


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The complaint has been sent to the US Office of Special Counsel and congressional leaders, and the story has made national headlines.

The Social Security Administration says it takes all whistleblower complaints seriously and maintains that the data is stored in a secure, long-standing environment, walled off from the internet and overseen by career officials.

Still, the fact that such a massive transfer happened with so many red flags raised is cause for concern.

DOGE, once a high-profile initiative under the Trump administration and tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, is set to wind down in 2026.

But the legacy of its actions—and the risks they may have created—could linger for years.

Read next: Lawmakers push to safeguard Social Security as funding concerns grow

Have you ever been the victim of identity theft? Are you concerned about how your personal data is handled by the government? What steps do you take to protect your information?