The Brief

Elon Musk's team within the Trump administration has sought sweeping access to databases that store personal information on millions and millions of Americans.

The data collected and maintained by the government isn't just your name, home address and Social Security number.

Some federal agencies store information that many people don't share even with their closest friends and family: medical diagnoses and treatment; notes from therapy sessions; whether a person has filed for bankruptcy; detailed income information.

And now, Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, has accessed heavily safeguarded databases that store such personal information, raising deep alarm among federal workers and privacy advocates.

Musk says he is targeting waste and fraud. The executive order establishing DOGE says its purpose is "modernizing Federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity" and it instructs agency heads to ensure DOGE "has full and prompt access to all unclassified agency records, software systems, and IT systems."

But Erie Meyer — who resigned last month from her post as chief technologist at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau after the change in administration — doesn't trust DOGE.

"Part of what is unnerving and is scary both to companies whose data is involved and also Americans whose most sensitive financial information is at risk, is that we don't know what they're doing," she says.

Normally, according to Meyer, federal employees handling sensitive data must pass extensive background checks. But it's not clear what sort of vetting or background checks Musk's staff has undergone.

Musk says his staffers need to have the same security clearances as other employees. "Anyone from DOGE has to go through the same vetting process that those federal employees went through," Musk said recently on "The Joe Rogan Experience" podcast.

Some agency heads have pushed back on the notion that DOGE is accessing too much data, saying that DOGE has "read-only" access and cannot make changes in their systems.

At least a dozen lawsuits have been filed over DOGE's access to data. Unions and groups like the Center for Taxpayer Rights are filing lawsuits — both to stop DOGE from accessing any more data, and to discover what kind of information the team has already collected.

Tax records reveal many aspects of someone's life, including causes you support, information about your family and of course your financial dealings.

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Deep privacy concerns

The risks are real, according to the half-dozen technology experts who spoke with NPR for this story. Americans' personal data could be sold, lost or leaked. Or it could be used to enrich a few. But above all, they warn: Americans' essential privacy is at stake.

There are several laws, including the Privacy Act of 1974, that govern how the government collects and stores personal data. Strict rules limit when government agencies can share that data with each other.

Those limits are by design. "Everyone thinks the government already has this data" in a connected way, says one former federal worker who did not want to be named to preserve future job prospects. "But they really don't, because it's firewalled."

Some current and former government workers fear that Musk's plan is to bring huge amounts of government data together, to create deeply personal profiles on individual Americans.

One of them is Jonathan Kamens, who was overseeing cybersecurity for VA.gov until he was terminated last month alongside some 40 of his colleagues at the U.S. Digital Service, a little known government unit that Trump turned into DOGE. He points to authoritarian regimes that create dossiers used to control individuals.

"That's what I want people to be scared of," says Kamens. "That this data that the government has on them, which in some cases can be used to damage them, will be used to damage them."

DOGE did not reply to questions from NPR about the personal information it is accessing and how it plans to use that data.

Elon Musk says he's targeting waste and fraud in the federal government. Former government workers and privacy advocates aren't so sure.

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Here's an overview of a few federal agencies that hold data on large swaths of Americans — and where things stand with the DOGE team's access.

Internal Revenue Service (IRS)

What the agency has: Names, addresses and Social Security numbers for everyone who has paid federal taxes. Financial information including income and net worth. Bank account information for direct deposits. Any itemizations, from medical expenses to charitable donations. Whether someone has filed for bankruptcy or been a victim of identity theft. And much can be inferred from the data, including marital status, dependents, and familial relationships.

Where things stand: The White House and Treasury Department have agreed to prohibit DOGE from accessing personal taxpayer data, the Washington Post reported, and instead will have read-only access to anonymized tax data. NPR has not independently confirmed this reporting, and the IRS did not reply to NPR's request for information on what access DOGE has.

But with new leadership coming to the IRS, there's concern that DOGE's access could be expanded in the future, according to a current employee who did not wish to be identified for fear of retaliation.

Why it matters: Tax records reveal many aspects of someone's life. Also, if someone had the ability to edit IRS data, they could write their own tax bill down to zero, and "max out those of your enemies," said the employee.

Social Security Administration (SSA)

What the agency has: Records of individuals' lifetime wages and earnings. Social Security numbers of workers and their beneficiaries, and the type and amount of benefits they receive. Information on those applying for Supplemental Security Income, including citizenship status, income and payment amount. Disability and health status data on everyone who has applied for disability benefits.

Where things stand: A coalition of unions and retirees have filed a lawsuit aiming to halt DOGE's access to SSA data. Democratic senators including Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts have sent letters demanding to know exactly what access DOGE has.

Leland Dudek, SSA's acting commissioner, said in an earlier statement that DOGE personnel have read-only access and cannot make changes to systems, benefit payments or information.

Why it matters: Tiffany Flick, the agency's acting chief of staff until she retired last month, expressed her concerns about DOGE access in a declaration included in the lawsuit filed by the unions. Flick believes that DOGE staffers are accessing SSA information from inside the Office of Personnel Management. That could mean that SSA's data protections don't work and that data can be accessed by other staff who have not been vetted or trained by SSA: "Others could take pictures of the data, transfer it to other locations, and even feed it into AI programs," she said. "In such a chaotic environment, the risk of data leaking into the wrong hands is significant."

Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)

What the agency has: Basic personal information as well as health information. For everyone with Medicare (the program generally for people 65 or older), CMS has their Social Security number and documentation of their eligibility, says a source who previously worked with CMS and Social Security systems who requested anonymity to preserve future job prospects.

Where things stand: According to a statement from a CMS spokesperson, two veteran employees of CMS are "leading the collaboration with DOGE." The DOGE staffers have been given "read-only access" and "none of the information they have access to contains the personal health information of Medicare or Medicaid enrollees," the spokesperson said.

Why it matters: "They have the largest amount of data in one single place about the largest group of users of healthcare," says the person familiar with CMS systems.

A data breach could mean the sharing of Americans' sensitive health data — and a company could use health data and financial data together to charge people more for health services.

Veterans Affairs has vast stores of information, including veterans' health data.

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Veterans Affairs (VA)

What the agency has: VA's healthcare arm is the largest integrated healthcare network in the country, so the agency has vast stores of veterans' health data. That includes records of substance abuse and addiction, mental health issues, even notes from therapy sessions. That's in addition to basic personal information like addresses and phone numbers. The VA also stores veterans' military records.

Where things stand: A DOGE staffer has been present at VA, and it's not clear what data he has access to, according to a current agency employee with knowledge of the situation, who requested anonymity to avoid retaliation. Senate Democrats have also requested information about what access has been granted.

In a statement, a VA spokesperson says "DOGE does not have and has not had access to veterans' or VA beneficiaries' data."

VA Secretary Doug Collins has sought to calm concerns about DOGE's access. "There's also this rumor out there that DOGE is ... going to take personal information," Collins said in a recent video. "We got DOGE representatives here that are doing what they're supposed to be doing," like looking at contracts for efficiencies.

Why it matters: Jonathan Kamens, who was detailed to the VA as an employee of the U.S. Digital Service, offers a hypothetical example: A veteran who speaks out against the Trump administration, whose records show a history of PTSD and opioid addiction following battlefield injuries. Someone with access to all that information could use it to discredit the veteran in the public eye, Kamens posits.

And there's another big risk: "The data that the federal government holds on people is kind of the identity theft motherlode," says Kamens. "So if you can just steal the government data, you can pretend to be anyone. It's kind of terrifying."

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has troves of data on people and companies — including inside information that could offer a major competitive advantage.

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Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)

What the agency has: Personal data including names, addresses, Social Security numbers and financial transactions. CFPB also has troves of data it collects as it pursues litigation. If the bureau has investigated a company for collecting too much information on people, it has that too.

Where things stand: The Trump administration has required bureau staff to give DOGE sweeping, "God-tier access" to the bureau's data, says Erie Meyer, the former chief technologist of CFPB. The bureau did not respond to NPR's questions on what access DOGE staffers have to CFPB data and systems.

Amid litigation, the government has agreed for now to not delete or remove data held by CFPB, following a declaration by Meyer that Trump appointees planned to delete databases holding CFPB data.

Why it matters: The bureau also has the consumer complaints that people submit to the bureau about companies. "So that database could have not just people's information, but the worst financial thing that has ever happened to them and how a company responded," says Meyer.

The bureau also has large amounts of data on companies, including market research, financial records and business plans. One concern, voiced by Senate Democrats among others, is that Musk could use the data that the bureau has collected on payment apps Zelle and Cash App to get an inside edge for the digital payment platform he's planning.

NPR Correspondent Hansi Lo Wang contributed to this story.

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Lines stretched around the block Sunday at the Original Saugus Cafe in Santa Clarita. It was supposed to be the restaurant's last day before closing after 139 years — making it the oldest continually operated restaurant in Los Angeles County.

But earlier this week, a sign was posted on the door saying, "Reopening under new ownership soon," although there were few details about who would be running it.

The sign was a surprise to the Mercado family, who have operated the restaurant for nearly 30 years. The family now is in a legal dispute with the Arklin family, who owns the property, about the potential re-opening and who owns the historic name.

The background

Alfredo Mercado worked his way up from bartender to restaurateur, purchasing the business in 1998. Since then Mercado and his daughters have operated the restaurant, leasing from the Arklin family. For most of that time, according to the Mercado side, the two families maintained good terms. Property owner Hank Arklin Sr., a former state assemblyman who owned other properties in the area, kept a verbal month-to-month agreement with the Mercados — no written lease required.

That changed when Arklin died in August at age 97.

New terms, failed negotiations

Larry Goodman, who manages multiple properties for the Arklin family's company, North Valley Construction, took over the landlord relationship. In September, the Mercado family say they were presented with a new written month-to-month lease.

Yecenia Ponce, Alfredo's daughter, said the new terms included various changes to the existing agreement, including a rent increase and charges for equipment.

Months of back and forth negotiations about different options, including selling the business, ultimately fell apart. Their attorney, Steffanie Stelnick, says they are being forced out, without proper legal notice, and has sent a cease-and-desist letter to Goodman saying the family has plans to continue running the business.

LAist reached out to Goodman for comment repeatedly Wednesday and Thursday by phone but did not hear back.

Goodman told The Signal, a Santa Clarita valley news outlet, that Alfredo Mercado had changed his mind several times in recent weeks about keeping the business.

“I said, ‘Fine,’ then I got out and got someone to take it over,” Goodman said.

He said he'd been in contact with Eduardo Reyna, the CEO of Dario's, a local Santa Clarita restaurant, and that the cafe could re-open as soon as Jan. 16.

Who owns what?

The dispute also focuses on who owns the rights to the Original Saugus Cafe name.

Ponce said when her father purchased the restaurant in 1998, it was called The Olde Saugus Cafe, but the name was then changed to The Original Saugus Cafe. State records show that name registered as an LLC under Alfredo Mercado.

After Arklin’s death, however, the Arklin family filed a pending trademark application to lay its own claim to the name.

The Mercado family is resisting.

"As long as they don't buy the name from us, we're not handing it over," Ponce said.

Ponce said the family had no idea the landlord planned to continue operations.

"We truly did think we were closing," she said. "We were not aware that they had plans to continue."

She apologized to customers for the confusion.

Whether the decades-old restaurant name survives — and under whose control — may ultimately be decided in court.

Community leaders and politicians in Los Angeles are responding in outrage after an ICE agent shot and killed a woman in Minnesota on Wednesday.

The fatal ICE shooting of 37-year-old Renee Good has sparked anger and fear in Los Angeles, which has been an epicenter of federal immigration enforcement since the summer.

Jorge-Mario Cabrera with the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, or CHIRLA, says the killing was upsetting but not surprising.

" Los Angeles has been witness of the escalating aggressiveness of these federal agents against the community," he told LAist.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has defended the shooting, saying Good was trying to run agents over with her car. That account has been disputed by eyewitnesses, the mayor of Minneapolis and other officials. Bystander video also challenges the federal narrative, according to MPR News.

L.A. politicians have joined a chorus demanding justice for Good. Mayor Karen Bass posted on X, saying that ICE agents are waging "a purposeful campaign of fear and intimidation" on American cities.

"The senseless killing of an innocent and unarmed wife and mother by ICE agents today in Minneapolis is shocking and tragic and should never have occurred," she said in the post.

L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn called on Noem to withdraw ICE from U.S. cities.

“These ICE agents are undertrained and trigger happy and everyone who has seen this video knows ICE murdered this woman,” she said in a statement.

Some protesters also gathered outside the federal building in downtown L.A. Thursday morning to condemn the killing.