WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Representative Jamie Raskin is encouraging all U.S. citizens to join him this week in filing formal demands for access to their personal data obtained by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and Elon Musk. He sent in his request this afternoon.
Last night, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued an injunction commanding DOGE to comply with citizen requests under the Freedom of Information Act. This law encompasses the Federal Privacy Act of 1974, which entitles any citizen to access personal information held in any U.S. government records system.
Jamie is disseminating a fillable Privacy Act request form on his campaign website JamieRaskin.com/DOGE–Privacy-Act-Requests and through social media. Citizens need only fill out the form and mail it in to DOGE. This newly recognized federal agency, which has been systematically accessing government computer data systems, now has an obligation to respond to specific information demands from any of the 340 million U.S. citizens who exercise their legal right to establish the security and accuracy of their private information.
Jamie explains: “Elon Musk should have been more careful in what he wished for. DOGE has recently dodged lawsuits about its seizure of citizens’ personal data by telling courts that it is a legitimate government agency entitled to extract this information. What Elon Musk apparently did not realize is that this statement triggers DOGE’s obligation to comply with citizen demands to see and—if need be—correct their personal information under the Privacy Act. It also allows every citizen to find out what other agencies or outside parties have been given access to their information.”
The Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552a(d)(1), gives each citizen the right to demand access to their personal records held by any government agency’s records system. This includes their Social Security and Medicare benefit entitlements, college student loans and grants, financial transactions, medical history, and criminal or employment history. The Privacy Act gives every citizen also the right to demand corrections of any inaccurate information that DOGE has put on file, and to find out which other agencies or outside third parties this information has been shared with.
The Privacy Act also prohibits agencies generally from cross-referencing any personal information with records describing how an individual exercises their First Amendment rights to free speech, association, protest, press, and exercise of religion.
“Millions of Americans can’t wait to see what DOGE has suddenly been doing with all of our data,” says Jamie. “I also can’t wait to see what the courts will do if DOGE refuses to comply with the District Court’s injunction. Maybe Elon Musk will have to redirect his computer hacker army to start answering millions of information demands from U.S. citizens whose nation this is.”
“It’s a double-edged sword, pretending that you’re the government,” Jamie observed. “In a democracy, as opposed to a dictatorship, assuming the powers of government carries real burdens and obligations for our officials as well as all the benefits and riches the billionaires routinely seek out. ”
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