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#DOGE Gains Access to #Confidential Records on #Housing #Discrimination, #Medical Details — Even #DomesticViolence
While some #FederalAgencies have resisted efforts by #ElonMusk’s team to access confidential records, #HUD has opened the door. The potential #harm to #privacy could be significant.
#law #InfoSec #USpol #Trump #Musk
https://www.propublica.org/article/doge-elon-musk-hud-housing-discrimination-privacy-domestic-violence
#ElonMusk’s #DOGE has gained access to a #US Dept of Housing & Urban Development system containing #confidential #personal #information about hundreds of thousands of alleged victims of housing #discrimination, including victims of #DomesticViolence.
Access to the system, called the #HUD Enforcement Management System, or #HEMS, is typically strictly limited because it contains #medical records, #financial files, documents that may list #SocialSecurity numbers & other #private information.
…Few records in the #HUD system are redacted or anonymized, & many contain deeply personal material about those who have alleged or been accused of housing #discrimination. #DomesticViolence case files can list addresses to which survivors have relocated for their #safety. #Harassment cases can include detailed descriptions of instances of #SexualAssault. #Disability cases can include detailed #medical records.
Lending #discrimination files could feature #credit reports & #bank statements. The names of #witnesses who offered information — in some cases anonymously — about landlords accused of discrimination are among the files as well.
#HUD enforces numerous #CivilRights laws, including the #FairHousing Act & aspects of the #ViolenceAgainstWomen Act & the #AmericansWithDisabilities Act.
Such statutes collectively prohibit #housing #discrimination on the basis of #race, #sex, #national origin, #disability & other characteristics.
HUD ofcls, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation, voiced concern that #DOGE’s access to #HEMS could violate the #privacy rights of discrimination victims & potentially put them at risk if their #information is mishandled or leaked.
[“will be read by malign foreign actors” - HHS]
…#CivilLiberties advocates expressed alarm about #DOGE’s access to the #HUD data, saying it may violate the #Privacy Act. “It’s difficult to see why a system dedicated to #CivilRights complaints would have any impact whatsoever on a department looking for inefficiencies in governmental spending,” said Cody Venzke, snr policy counsel at the ACLU.
Investigating and acting on civil rights complaints is a needless waste of money. Didn't you know?