Labor unions have thrown down the gauntlet, asking a federal court to slap a big ‘NOPE’ on Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) accessing our precious Social Security data. Because, you know, who needs privacy when you have a tech billionaire on a mission to cut costs and take names?

Filed late last week in Maryland, the motion for emergency relief by Democracy Forward bears all the scandalous details. Look at this: Tiffany Flick, a former official at the Social Security Administration (SSA), dropped a bombshell in an affidavit, warning that career civil servants are on the frontlines, scrambling to protect our data from DOGE’s sneaky little fingers. “A disregard for our careful privacy systems now threatens the data security of millions,” she warns. Sounds a bit dire, doesn’t it?

Karianne Jones, one of the lawyers representing the unions, is equally skeptical. Can you blame her? She points out that while it’s not entirely clear what data Musk and his crew want, the implications of their access could be colossal. “DOGE is swooping in, wanting access to everything without any FAQ section to explain what’s going on,” she contended. Nothing like a friendly tech titan coming to grab all the taxpayer data without a shred of transparency.

This isn’t just tech shenanigans. The SSA is already facing a chaotic meltdown with proposed layoffs for more than 10% of its workforce, leading to the closure of offices nationwide. Thanks to this wild ride, millions of American benefits could hang in the balance.

DOGE hasn’t just rampaged through the SSA; they’ve also gotten cozy with other government agencies like the Treasury and IRS. Their grand plan? Musk and his followers claim they’re hunting down waste and fraud, but judging by the sketchy privacy practices and the monumental backlash, we suspect this is just another attempt at corporate overreach.

A recent refusal by a judge to block DOGE employees from accessing Treasury systems isn’t exactly encouraging. Issues about privacy were acknowledged, but apparently, that doesn’t carry much weight when dealing with the almighty DOGE. So the big question remains: How far will Musk go to take a peek behind the curtain of our financial lives? Let’s hope someone holds the line for the everyday American before it’s too late.