DOGE’s data access was barely defensible, and that’s the point
A judge called the government's defense of DOGE's data access 'barely defendable.'
The story
A judge ruled that OPM violated the Privacy Act by giving DOGE access to sensitive data without a valid reason, though no final remedy was issued.
Source: fortune.com
Our reading
The judge called the government’s defense of DOGE’s data access ‘barely defendable,’ which is a level of legal flimsiness that would make even a poorly written corporate policy look like a manifesto. The government claimed DOGE needed the data to ‘reconcile databases,’ a phrase that sounds like a tech bro’s excuse for sifting through everyone’s personal info. And yet, the real kicker is that the judge didn’t order any real fix—just a slap on the wrist for a data breach that could’ve been the start of a dystopian nightmare. The only thing that’s been reconciled is the gap between corporate promises and the messy reality of government operations.
