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More than 100 current and former federal workers have sued Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency agency he runs for allegedly accessing highly sensitive personnel records<\/a> without proper vetting or authorization, according to a new federal lawsuit<\/a> filed Tuesday.<\/p>\n The lawsuit was filed<\/a> in the Southern District of New York by the Electronic Frontier Foundation and other privacy groups on behalf of 103 workers and various government worker unions. The plaintiffs are asking for the government\u2019s main HR agency, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), to cut off access to DOGE and its agents.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOPM Defendants gave DOGE Defendants and DOGE\u2019s agents \u2014 many of whom are under the age of 25 and are or were until recently employees of Musk\u2019s private companies \u2014\u00a0 \u2018administrative\u2019 access to OPM computer systems, without undergoing any normal, rigorous national-security vetting,\u201d the lawsuit reads.<\/p>\n The complaint names Elon Musk, DOGE, the OPM, and current OPM director Charles Ezell as defendants. <\/p>\n The lawsuit alleges that DOGE obtaining OPM records violated the Privacy Act, which prohibits improper access to personal data, including across federal agencies.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe Privacy Act makes it unlawful for OPM Defendants to hand over access to OPM\u2019s millions of personnel records to DOGE Defendants, who lack a lawful and legitimate need for such access,\u201d the complaint alleges. \u201cNo exception to the Privacy Act covers DOGE Defendants\u2019 access to records held by OPM.\u201d<\/p>\n The lawsuit says DOGE\u2019s agents were not government employees at the time they received access to OPM computer networks. It calls out 19-year-old DOGE worker Edward Coristine, who reportedly<\/a> went by \u201cBig Balls\u201d online, for being fired<\/a> from a cybersecurity firm after an internal probe into data leaks during his employment.<\/p>\n The suit also alleges that DOGE\u2019s access to federal worker data could spark harmful professional consequences for them, noting that Musk and President Trump have threatened<\/a> to fire employees viewed as disloyal. Disclosure of their financial data could also expose the workers to hacking by criminals and foreign actors, the complaint says.<\/p>\n The lawsuit comes amid growing controversy over DOGE\u2019s access to sensitive government data<\/a> as the agency begins instituting mass layoffs and other reforms across the federal government.\u00a0<\/p>\n The lawsuit is focused on getting an injunction to cut off that access, but that is just \u201cphase one\u201d before a class action lawsuit, according to Mark Lemley, one of the lawyers representing the plaintiffs, WIRED reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n DOGE, OPM, and representatives for Musk\u2019s companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n