What DOGE could gain by accessing your Social Security data

When people think of Social Security, they typically think of monthly benefits — for the roughly 69 million retirees, disabled workers, dependents and survivors who receive them today.

When people think of Social Security, they typically think of monthly benefits — for the roughly 69 million retirees, disabled workers, dependents and survivors who receive them today. But word that members of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is seeking access to the Social Security Administration’s data systems should conjure up thoughts of data on hundreds of millions of people. Why? Because SSA’s multiple data systems contain an extensive trove of personal information on most people living in the United States today — as well as those who have died over the years. It is data that runs “from cradle to grave,” said Kathleen Romig, who used to work at the SSA, first as a retirement policy analyst and more recently as a senior adviser in the Office of the Commissioner. DOGE was created unilaterally by President Donald Trump with the goal of “modernizing Federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity,” according to his executive order. To date, the group has caused chaos and intimidation at a number of federal agencies where it has sought to take control and shut down various types of spending. It is also the subject of various lawsuits questioning its legal right to access wholesale the personal data of Americans on highly restricted government IT systems and to fire groups of federal workers in the manner it has. Here’s just a partial list of the data the SSA systems likely have about you: Your name, Social Security number, date and place of birth, gender, addresses, marital and parental status, your parents’ names, lifetime earnings, bank account information, immigration and work authorization status, health conditions if you apply for disability benefits, and use of Medicare after a certain age, which the SSA may periodically check to ascertain whether you’re still alive.