Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

DOGE has 'god mode' access to government data

theatlantic.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

791–800 of 1001 posts

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

#791

Post by namuol »

ethagknight wrote: post #782
lucasyvas wrote: post #490

Because there are bigger fish to fry, I think people don’t appreciate the sheer cost of the system rebuild that will be required for security reasons later. There’s absolutely no telling what additional software has been installed alongside existing, or which systems have been modified that would require audit. Purging this will be an absolute fucking nightmare to the American taxpayer. This may turn into one of the…

This is a very dramatic take on something you (and many others) are making extremely broad presumptions upon. It’s clear that DOGE is reviewing payment data and has the same access to various components of the US Govt that Obama’s US Digital Services, created to rebuild the ACA website but also provisioned for a number of other digital services. DOGE has the same access to services that USDS had. USDS was praised for…

> the same access to various components of the US Govt that Obama’s US Digital Services

…but also much more. It is intellectually dishonest to equate these two.

Cutting through red tape can technically be done by nuking the red tape, but why cause all this harm when you can use scissors?

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

#792

Post by Aaronstotle »

gattr wrote: post #451

Perhaps the whole situation will finally convince the "I don't mind, I have nothing to hide" crowd about the need to scrutinize & limit as much as reasonably possible the personal data collection and retention by government and other entities. What good are rules, statutes, checks & balances, passwords and ACLs, if at some point someone you don't like or trust can just come in "as a root" and circumvent everything?

Good reminder of why people should be wary of governments collecting data because this a stark reminder that the government can change at any time.

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

#793

Post by epa »

lenerdenator wrote: post #786
ethagknight wrote: post #782

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a very dramatic take on something you (and many others) are making extremely broad presumptions upon. It’s clear that DOGE is reviewing payment data and has the same access to various components of the US Govt that Obama’s US Digital Services, created to rebuild the ACA website but also provisioned for a number of other digital services. DOGE has the same access to services that USDS had. USDS was praised for…

The question isn't what's being accessed, it's who is accessing it. There's at least some belief that the people looking at the data haven't been vetted or instructed as they should be when handling data of this nature. It doesn't help that the guy who is running the show is basically doing it as a friend of the president and has some conflicts of interest.

Government employees already have access to every text, call, and email you have ever sent. Where was your outrage since the Snowden leaks?

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

#794

Post by ttpphd »

ethagknight wrote: post #782
lucasyvas wrote: post #490

Because there are bigger fish to fry, I think people don’t appreciate the sheer cost of the system rebuild that will be required for security reasons later. There’s absolutely no telling what additional software has been installed alongside existing, or which systems have been modified that would require audit. Purging this will be an absolute fucking nightmare to the American taxpayer. This may turn into one of the…

This is a very dramatic take on something you (and many others) are making extremely broad presumptions upon. It’s clear that DOGE is reviewing payment data and has the same access to various components of the US Govt that Obama’s US Digital Services, created to rebuild the ACA website but also provisioned for a number of other digital services. DOGE has the same access to services that USDS had. USDS was praised for…

This is wrong and naive.

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/doge-dives-into-core-na...

"DOGE currently has far deeper and far more extensive access to U.S. government computer systems — and is far deeper into the national security space — than is conceivably necessary for anything related to their notional brief and goals."

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

#796

Post by TrackerFF »

FigurativeVoid wrote: post #537

At my first gig, I had "god" level access to our production database. All I learned is that nobody should have this level of access unless it is some sort of temporary break glass situation. It is extremely dangerous and even experienced engineers can cause irreparable data loss or some other bad outcome. In our case, some engineer accidentally sent around 10,000 invoices to customers that shouldn't have gotten them.…

Never mind the direct risks, if you have "god mode" to basically any government thing, you instantly become the target of foreign intel/military operations. You can bet good money that there are entire teams, if not divisions, working around the clock to exploit this situation.

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

#797

Post by [deleted] »

anon2549 wrote: post #670
CyrsBel wrote: post #530

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. Even if DOGE is operating without any ill intent, and I don't think they have ill intent, the possibility of errors alone is massive and they need to slow down. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/02/17/trum...

I think they have nothing but ill intent. Everything they've said and done so far just screams it.

[deleted]

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

#799

Post by anon25783 »

isthisfoss wrote: post #781

Why is this a bad thing if their job is to audit budget and spending? The article also does not go into technical details on what this supposed god mode actually is.

The DOGE is mainly staffed by former employees of Elon Musk's companies, many of them being in their early twenties and one being 19 years old [1]. The presence of so many Musk associates is a conflict of interest: supposing "god mode" means that DOGE has unfiltered access to the private data of US citizens, there's not much stopping Elon Musk from exploiting that data for personal gain. And besides, would you want your private data to be in the hands of so many very young people who have little prior experience in anything?

[1] - https://www.newsweek.com/doge-list-staff-revealed-2029965

Post reply on HN