AARP sounds alarm on major Social Security problem

A recent disclosure that someone outside the Social Security Administration (SSA) secretly agreed to pass along confidential Social Security data to an advocacy organization has raised serious concerns.

In response, AARP is calling on the Social Security Administration to act quickly to safeguard the personal information of Americans.

AARP is a nonprofit interest group in the United States focusing on issues affecting people 50 and older.

In a court filing dated Jan. 16, Department of Justice (DOJ) attorneys revealed that a staffer from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) — a federal program focused on reducing costs — had consented to provide SSA information to an unnamed political advocacy organization.

Related: Dave Ramsey, AARP sound alarm on Medicare

“SSA is entrusted with the sensitive data of hundreds of millions of Americans, and protecting that data from illegal use must be a top priority,” said Nancy LeaMond, AARP chief advocacy and engagement officer.

“Anyone involved must be held accountable, and the Social Security Administration must take immediate steps to ensure nothing like this can happen again,” LeaMond continued.

The filing further noted that, in March 2025, DOGE staff assigned to the SSA transmitted information using links routed through a third‑party server operated by Cloudflare, a method that breached the agency’s security rules, according to AARP.

Cloudflare is a U.S.-based tech firm located in San Francisco that offers various online infrastructure tools, such as content delivery network (CDN) solutions and cloud-focused security services.

AARP explains Department of Justice court filing on Social Security data

The Justice Department submitted the court filing in connection with an active lawsuit brought by labor unions and an advocacy organization, which argues that DOGE’s access to SSA information put the privacy of millions of Americans at risk.

"The advocacy group’s stated aim was to find evidence of voter fraud and to overturn election results in certain states," the DOJ document states.

"In connection with these communications, one of the DOGE team members signed a 'Voter Data Agreement,' in his capacity as an SSA employee, with the advocacy group," the filing continued. "He sent the executed agreement to the advocacy group on March 24, 2025."

The Jan. 16 filing reports that the SSA has been unable to identify which information the DOGE team placed on the Cloudflare server or whether any of it remains stored there.

"The SSA says the agreement with the outside advocacy group was not reviewed or approved by agency officials, and SSA employees were not aware of it until November 2025," wrote AARP.

"The DOJ says the incident has been referred to the Office of Special Counsel for potential violations ofthe Hatch Act, a federal law that limits the political activities of federal employees," it added.

AARP reports Social Security experts' reactions

John Davisson, deputy director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center — a nonprofit focused on privacy research and advocacy — said the Justice Department’s filing indicates “egregious violations of the Privacy Act and the government’s broader obligation to protect the sensitive data of millions upon millions of Americans,” according to AARP writer Deirdre Shesgreen.

Michael Astrue, Social Security commissioner during the George W. Bush administration, said the disclosures are concerning.

“You only need one mistake of a certain type to have a huge number of people harmed and in a way that can’t be fixed,” Astrue said, according to AARP.

“Historically, [the SSA] has had a great track record” of protecting Americans’ Social Security numbers and other sensitive information, Astrue added. “So it’s painful for me to watch people come in … and put that record at risk.”

The court documents appear to support warnings made in August 2025 by former SSA chief data officer Charles Borges, who submitted a whistleblower complaint claiming that a database with sensitive information on millions of Americans had been duplicated onto a cloud platform.

According to the Jan. 16 filing, Justice Department attorneys noted that the investigation into the DOGE team’s conduct is still underway, AARP reported.

5 ways AARP advocates for Social Security

• Defending against cuts to Social Security’s phone services ​(Source:AARP)
• Demanding better customer service from Social Security ​(Source:AARP) ​
• Keeping more Social Security income in your pocket​ ​(Source:AARP)
• Calling on Congress to secure Social Security’s financial future ​(Source:AARP) ​
• Opposing the privatization of Social Security ​(Source:AARP)

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