Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times,
A federal judge ruled on Oct. 20 that a department aimed at making the government more efficient should not have been granted access to sensitive federal employee data.
Granting Department of Governmental Efficiency (DOGE) personnel access to government employee data contained in Office of Personnel Management systems violated the Privacy Act, which bars certain record disclosures and requires safeguards when disclosing other records, U.S. District Judge Denise Cote said in a 39-page ruling that granted plaintiffs final judgment.
"The defendants barely defend its legality, relying instead on what has happened since to argue that the case is moot and that prospective relief is unnecessary," wrote Cote, a judge for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Department of Justice lawyers had argued in court filings that DOGE agents needed access to the records as part of an effort to modernize government systems. The government did not explain why the modernization efforts required access to the sensitive records containing personally identifiable information, according to Cote.
Lawyers had also said that the agents were granted access in case they needed the data later, but the government has never linked the access to any of the agents' duties, the ruling stated.
The Department
