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Judge Denies Bid to Block Musk-led Team’s Access to Student Data

Cyber Security

Business Honor
20 Febuary, 2025

Judge rules Musk's DOGE team can access student data despite privacy concerns; the lawsuit continues.

An American judge has ordered against preventing a team headed by Elon Musk and formed by Donald Trump from gaining access to sensitive student financial aid data owned by the U.S. Department of Education. The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was created to audit federal expenditures and eliminate administrative inefficiencies. The University of California Student Association sued to prevent the team from gaining access to the data, alleging it breached privacy laws that safeguard personal information, such as the Privacy Act of 1974.

The student organization maintained that the Education Department's granting DOGE access to student information presented a risk of abuse, given concerns that Musk's team would misuse or release the data. Nevertheless, U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss dismissed the application for a temporary restraining order, and he said the group had failed to present sufficient evidence to infer that DOGE staff would act negligently when dealing with the data. He cited a declaration by Adam Ramada, a DOGE staff member, who attested that the group was cognizant of legal requirements in data protection of sensitive information.

In spite of the ruling by the judge, Adam Pulver, a legal representative of the student group, said that the fight would go on in court, pointing out that the ruling did not prove that DOGE's access to student information was lawful. The group will proceed with the case to learn more regarding how the team will use information students provided to the department on an expectation of privacy.

The move is a part of bigger DOGE-related controversies regarding the far-reaching penetration of DOGE into Trump's comeback administration within federal agencies. Various lawsuits were filed to deny DOGE government network access, some of which aimed at hindering its attempts at reducing government spending and letting workers go.