Trump's DOGE allowed to snoop through Americans' sensitive data

Just eight months into his second term in office, US President Donald Trump has secured a surprising victory for the Department of Government Efficiency, but it could spell disaster for millions of Americans.

Following a successful federal appeal, DOGE will now have access to comb through the private data of millions of citizens, including information pulled from the Treasury Department, the Education Department and the Office of Personnel Management.

Earlier this year the American Federation of Teachers and the National Federation of Federal Employees launched a legal battle against DOGE to stop them from having such access over alleged privacy violations, but the case has since stalled, with the federal appeals court finding in favour of the government organisation.

As a result, DOGE will now have access to the social security numbers and citizenship status for tens of millions of individuals across the entire country.

Despite the current loss, the legal battle is far from over, as the lawsuit will continue through litigation, in the meantime however, Trump will be holding his head high at the latest judicial victory.

DOGE was first brought into action back in January, when the President appointed billionaire Elon Musk to streamline government spending via the Department of Government Efficiency.

Yet under Musk's leadership the department faced multiple legal hurdles, as it attempted to gain rapid access to the sensitive data from across the whole spectrum of the federal government.

Musk ultimately stepped down back in May, following a public spat with Trump over a clear difference in opinion, but since then DOGE has continued to operate albeit without its high profile figurehead.

When coming to the conclusion to allow DOGE access to the expansive array of private data, Judge Julius N. Richardson cited a June decision by the Supreme Court that allowed DOGE analysts access to Social Security data.

Judge G. Steven Agee, also agreed with this decision, however Judge Robert B. King, a former Clinton appointee, did not.

Prior to this, the Justice Department had consistently argued that DOGE needed access to the huge amount of personal data in order to identify and reduce wasted taxpayer money.

Amid concerns for the safety of such sensitive data, the government even offered to make DOGE staffers undergo security training and background checks as part of a deal to assuage concerns of federal judges.

Yet despite expressing concerns, in recent weeks the Supreme Court and other judges have come to side with the Trump administration, and now appear to agree that data access on a mass scale is indeed necessary for DOGE to work effectively.