Additional data protection info from SSA sought after alleged DOGE mishap

The U.S. Social Security Administration has been urged by Senate Finance Committee Chair Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, to provide more details on the security of Americans' Social Security information after its former Chief Data Officer Chuck Borges alleged that such data had been uploaded by the Department of Government Efficiency on an unsecured cloud server, NextGov/FCW reports.

More details regarding the SSA's actions after being informed by Borges regarding the security issue, as well as its assessment of the risk associated with the production of a database copy that Borges claimed was to enhance data exchanges, should be given by the SSA within two weeks, said Crapo in a letter to SSA Commissioner Frank Bisignano. Meanwhile, the SSA emphasized its use of secure environments for keeping personal information.

"The data referenced in the complaint is stored in a long-standing environment used by SSA and walled off from the internet. High-level career SSA officials have administrative access to this system with oversight by SSAs Information Security team," said an SSA spokesperson.