After More Private Social Security Data Exposed by Team Trump, Where Will GOP 'Draw the Line'? - Lemmy.World
cross-posted from: https://news.abolish.capital/post/46817
[https://news.abolish.capital/post/46817] >
[https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/hand-holding-social-security-card.jpg?id=56527540&width=1200&height=400&coordinates=0%2C704%2C0%2C1052]
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> > A newly reported failure of the Trump administration’s ability to handle
sensitive private information within the social programs it is tasked with
operating triggered a fresh wave of anger of the weekend after it came to light
that the Social Security numbers of healthcare providers were made public as
part of a faulty Medicare portal rollout. > > The Washington Post discovered the
compromised database and alerted the administration last week, before publishing
a story
[https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2026/04/30/medicare-portal-social-security-numbers-exposed/]
about its discovery on Friday after efforts had been made to protect the
sensitive information from further compromise. > > According to the Post: > > >
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) last year created a
directory [https://www.medicare.gov/plan-compare/#%2F%3Fyear=2026&lang=en] to
help seniors look up which doctors and medical providers accept which insurance
plans, framing it as an overdue improvement and part of the Trump
administration’s initiative to modernize health care technology.
> >
> > But a publicly accessible database used to populate the directory contains
some of the providers’ Social Security numbers, linked to their names and other
identifying information. For at least several weeks, CMS made the database
available for public use as part of its data transparency efforts. > > While the
reporting noted that the files were “not immediately visible to users who
[visited] the provider directory,” lawmakers and experts said the compromised
information would be a treasure trove for fraudsters. > > “The more we learn
about how the Trump Administration handles the people’s most sensitive data, the
clearer their incompetence becomes." > > Critics pounced on the new reporting,
calling it “yet another mess-up by the Team Trump
[https://x.com/DeanBaker13/status/2050064307401142556]” and only the latest
evidence that the administration cannot and should not be trusted to protect the
nation’s most successful anti-poverty programs or the sensitive personal data of
the American people who entrust the government with that information. > > “Over
and over again, the Trump administration is exposing private Social Security
data,” said Social Security Works, an advocacy group that serves as a public
watchdog for the nation’s social programs. > > The compromised database, said
[https://x.com/ssworks/status/2050221058045661548] the group, “is a goldmine for
identity thieves, scammers, and foreign governments. And it is undermining the
very foundation of our Social Security system.” > > “This is a failure by this
administration,” said [https://x.com/RubenGallego/status/2050014833030926500]
Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) in response to the reporting. “Exposing Social
Security numbers, whether patients or providers, is unacceptable.” > > Rep.
Richard Neal (D-Mass.), the ranking member on the House committee which overseas
the Medicare program, put the onus on his Republican colleagues in Congress. > >
“The more we learn about how the Trump Administration handles the people’s most
sensitive data, the clearer their incompetence becomes,” Neal told the Post in a
statement. “Do House Republicans need to see their own data exposed before they
do right by their constituents and act?” > > In March, as Common Dreams reported
[https://www.commondreams.org/news/doge-social-security-data-access] at the
time, a whistleblower filed a complaint from with the Social Security
Administration accusing a former staffer with Trump’s Department of Government
Efficiency (DOGE), run for a time by right-wing billionaire Elon Musk, of trying
to share information from SSA databases with his private employer. > > Since the
outset of Trump’s second term, DOGE’s meddling with Social Security and Trump’s
undermining of the program have been the source of deep anger and concerns by
the program’s defenders. > > In a social media post on Saturday citing the
whistleblower allegations from March, Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.) said, “For more
than a year, ‘DOGE’ has been combing through the American people’s records. They
want to use your data to overturn elections and profit in the private sector.
Enough! This administration must be held accountable for this massive data
breach!” > > On Friday, responding to the Post’s new reporting about the
compromised database of physicians’ private information, Larsen condemned for
Republicans for their ongoing and pervasive failures in the face of Trump’s
malfeasance and incompetence. > > DOGE, said Larsen, “has been in your data for
more than a year. We just learned that physicians’ Social Security numbers were
publicly exposed in an online portal launched by ‘DOGE’ officials.” > > “If this
isn’t enough for Republicans to act,” he asked
[https://x.com/RepJohnLarson/status/2050306996037886165], “where will they draw
the line?” > > — > > From Common Dreams
[https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/news.rss] via This RSS Feed
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