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DOGE has 'god mode' access to government data

theatlantic.com

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Re: DOGE has 'god mode' access to government data

#241

Post by lurker616 »

phire wrote: post #132
karel-3d wrote: post #93

Honestly when DOGE was first announced, I thought it will be a tiny department that does almost nothing and produces recommendations and PDFs that nobody reads. I didn't expect this.

My brain immediately latched on to how much control could be exerted through the guise of "efficiency", you could effetely run a whole government from there. But I was expecting more installing a bunch of so-called "efficiency officers" in every department to report back when they weren't being loyal... er efficient. I was not expecting the complete takeover of computer networks and rapid firing of large numbers of e…

Musk has basically discovered that you can ignore existing laws, since by the time lawyers sue and courts order injunctions, it'll be too late and too expensive. Especially when lawyers can argue against basic facts like "Musk doesn't head DOGE". It's the same playbook as the twitter layoffs - when you are so rich, you don't need to care about laws.

Re: DOGE has 'god mode' access to government data

#242

Post by Etheryte »

willis936 wrote: post #192
tabakd wrote: post #35

Is there any reason this data shouldn't be public for everyone to read?

You personally are cool with me personally knowing your salary and where you live? Please just post that here right now.

That might sound incredibly foreign to you, but this is the norm in many Nordic countries, see Norway, Sweden and Finland, for a start. Tax returns for everyone are public, and so are addresses through a national registry.

Re: DOGE has 'god mode' access to government data

#244

Post by lenkite »

alt227 wrote: post #124
scarab92 wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Except that they, an unelected private group, have already attempted to get all private and confidential citizen data from the US treasury, and have been blocked by the courts as it is illegal. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/feb/08/judge-tem... They have tried to get data of all payments to US citizens including pensions, 401k, benefits and allowances etc. All foreign aid and diplomacy payments are inclu…

The motion to block DOGE has also been dismissed by courts

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/doge/judge-denies-states-bi...

Nobody complained about "unelected" Obama or Biden appointees accessing the treasury or SSN, but now that Trump is exposing corruption en-masse and stopping the gravy train, many folks are suddenly very concerned. The FUD is unfortunately not working.

All this will probably go to the Supreme Court. And just like Biden ignored the Supreme Court ruling on student loans and even boasted about it proudly on twitter - saying they cannot block the executive, the precedent was also setup for Trump to do the same.

Re: DOGE has 'god mode' access to government data

#245

Post by belter »

Here is my prediction...I know nobody asked for it :-) But they are only fun if you make them before the events...A massive, unpriced risk looms over financial markets... Its scale defies prediction.

The current administration’s safeguards are faltering, running like a government still in FSD beta. With U.S. debt dismissed as “just debt,” inflationary tariffs in play, and an emergency Fed rate hike imminent, shockwaves are inevitable.

Deficit panic may soon lead to manipulated figures and a narrative bent to suit unstable agendas. The bond market’s credibility will collapse, making the Liz Truss debacle seem trivial compared to the turmoil expected over the next two years.

Even the most sophisticated hedge funds and quants can’t quantify an administration gone off the rails... But just look at the current price of gold...

The narrative already started: "Trump says US may have less debt than thought because of fraud - Trump says some Treasury payments might 'not count'" - https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/trump-says-us-might-have-...

"The World’s Most Important Market Sends a Warning" - https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2025-02-18/the-wo...

Re: DOGE has 'god mode' access to government data

#246

Post by lupusreal »

Gud wrote: post #226
flanked-evergl wrote: post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

European here. Governments in Europe, even ones that have GDPR on their books, literally act as oppressively as they want to act: U.K. orders Apple to let it spy on users' encrypted accounts [1] [1]: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2025/02/07/apple-e...

European here. There are vast differences between how the different governments operate.

It's a classic Motte and Bailey. "Europe acts in this way, so much better than America. [...] No no, not THAT Europe, I of course was only talking about this other part of Europe!"

How is the most populous state in the EU doing?

> The German parliament amended two laws on June 10th granting enhanced surveillance powers to segments of the federal police and intelligence services. They allow the use of spyware to hack into phones and computers circumventing encryption used by messaging applications such as WhatsApp and Signal, raising concerns about the right to privacy.

> The new federal police law allows interception of communications of “persons against whom no suspicion of a crime has yet been established and therefore no criminal procedure measure can yet be ordered”. This fails to ensure the necessary protection against unjustified and arbitrary interference in people’s privacy, required under international law. Human Rights Watch and the United Nations have pointed out the importance of encryption and anonymity for data protection and the right to privacy.

> The government argues that new legislation is needed to keep up with technological developments and claims the new powers are to help federal police stifle human trafficking and undocumented migration.

https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/06/24/germanys-new-surveillanc...

...oh

Re: DOGE has 'god mode' access to government data

#247

Post by goku12 »

3D30497420 wrote: post #142
scarab92 wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

What are their guardrails? Do they have accountability? Does "parallelise" mean compiling data on people from different systems? Dossiers? Are they even following the law? > They have simply... Oh yes, because this is all very simple. What is "waste"? How is it defined? Who decides what is waste and what isn't?

Serious question to those who are cheering for the 'elimination of waste'. What do you expect to happen to the money thus saved? In what ways do you expect those savings to benefit you or the broader citizenry?

Re: DOGE has 'god mode' access to government data

#248

Post by dandanua »

maCDzP wrote: post #110

European here, giving my two cents on how this looks from the other side of the Atlantic. Heh In my country there are laws stopping agencies doing a simple SQL join between two databases, even within the same government agency. There is a separate agency that handles the requests when agencies want to join information. I am not an expert in the matter. But my gut is telling me that our experiences with east Germany a…

It's not inefficiency. You don't drive 200km/h on city streets, although you can. Limits exist for the safety of others and you.

Re: DOGE has 'god mode' access to government data

#249

Post by intended »

bilvar wrote: post #240
intended wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

> Reality has a famously left wing bias. That's a bit ironic given leftist claims that men can become women and vice-versa.

Sure. But right now what do care more about - the nitty gritty details of

1) The way software and projects at DOGE are going

2) “leftist claims that men can become women and vice-versa.”

This is a fundamentally a distracting question. It may give you mental relief (Yahh the other team is dumb, Reality is dumb)

Great! Take the breather.

But then talk about 1.

I get that things are polarized. I get that there is an INTENT behind it. But you’ve got all 3 branches of government. You have the ability to actually make this work.

Why THIS approach. What are the accountability checks and balances?

Are they just creating a new talking point to bounce down the years???

Did people get the required clearances? If not, why were the clearances there? IF yes, How are they making sure this is not going to be FUBARED.

How is responsibility going to be allocated? Are we going to have this over our heads for all generations to come? A new political ball to punt blame?

How do we get accountability for what - even to you - must look like the wrong way to do things.

Re: DOGE has 'god mode' access to government data

#250

Post by tossandthrow »

amelius wrote: post #154
maCDzP wrote: post #110

European here, giving my two cents on how this looks from the other side of the Atlantic. Heh In my country there are laws stopping agencies doing a simple SQL join between two databases, even within the same government agency. There is a separate agency that handles the requests when agencies want to join information. I am not an expert in the matter. But my gut is telling me that our experiences with east Germany a…

That's putting it mildly. What it really looks like is a fast descent into madness.

It is to avoid totalitarianism.
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