Keep ‘em coming
“A Maryland federal judge temporarily blocks Elon #Musk and DOGE from accessing sensitive data at the Social Security Administration — including #SocialSecurity numbers and tax records — and orders DOGE to destroy any data it has.”
- Democracy Docket https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/musk-doge-social-security-access-blocked/
@BenjaminHCCarr@hachyderm.io#FacialRecognition Company #Clearview Attempted to Buy #SocialSecurity Numbers and #Mugshots for its Database
#ClearviewAI spent nearly a million dollars in a bid to purchase “690 million arrest records and 390 million arrest photos” from all 50 states, court records reveal. https://www.404media.co/facial-recognition-company-clearview-attempted-to-buy-social-security-numbers-and-mugshots-for-its-database/ #privacy #surveillance
"A federal judge in Maryland has just barred DOGE from accessing Social Security systems, saying the group is on a "fishing expedition" that jeopardizes people's personal data."
-K Cheney
#DOGE #Lawless #Trump #Musk #SocialSecurity #USPol
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mdd.577321/gov.uscourts.mdd.577321.49.0.pdf
@GottaLaff
What to do about #SocialSecurity office shut downs?
Set up a rally at your local SSA office.
Go to
https://handsOffSocialSecurity.org
@alaw202 [masthead.social] Security Works on @nicolesandler
"sign up to host a rally yourself. We'll help you do it. But on a personal level, we also do think that you should get a hard copy, so go to my ssa.gov & print out a hard copy of your statement so that you have that because I don't trust these #Doge goons to not be messing around online.
https://www.youtube.com/live/uEHr0cwF1YA?si=m_PCU5KQEUgseo55&t=1426
But of course, he promised he’s not “cutting” it. Just making it unworkable. Got it.
Via Maddow:
Trump closing #SocialSecurity field offices in:
Alabama
Arkansas
Colorado
Florida
Georgia
Kentucky
Louisiana
Mississippi
Montana
N. Carolina
N. Dakota
Nevada
New York
Ohio
Oklahoma
Texas
West Virginia
Wyoming
Mississippi, NC hardest hit. Full list here: https://apnews.com/article/social-security-offices-closures-doge-trump-b2b1a5b2ba4fb968abc3379bf90715ff
via G Elliott Morris’ Substack:
Avg of #Trump's approval rating compared to past #presidents.
Spoiler, it’s no bueno. The only worse presidency was his first term, & we’re just 2 months in.
Interview Trump's attack on Social Security
Trump & Musk are cutting Agency Staff & Critical Services.
Officials in the Social Security Administration say it is "an effort to break the organization.”
https://www.democracynow.org/2025/3/19/judd_legum_musk_doge_social_security
#musk #trump #DOGE #SocialSecurity #Autocracy #uspol #resist #generalstrike .
#FacialRecognition Company #Clearview Attempted to Buy #SocialSecurity Numbers & Mugshots for its Database
Controversial facial recognition company #ClearviewAI attempted to purchase hundreds of millions of arrest records including SSNs, mugshots, & even email addresses to incorporate into its product, #404Media has learned.
#law #privacy #tech #InfoSec
https://www.404media.co/facial-recognition-company-clearview-attempted-to-buy-social-security-numbers-and-mugshots-for-its-database/
#SocialSecurity numbers & other private information unmasked in #Trump dump of #JFK files
The data belongs to >200 former congressional staffers & others w/connections to decades-old investigations.
Joseph diGenova, a fmr attorney for the Trump campaign, was among those whose private information was made public [
] in the release of documents on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
#idiocracy #kakistocracy #InfoSec
https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2025/03/19/personal-information-jfk-files-social-security-numbers/
Here's more from @alaw202 [masthead.social] on the @nicolesandler show talking about how #ElonMusk & #DOGE are working to destroy #SocialSecurity with cuts to services.
Go here to set up a rally at your local Social Security office.
https://handsoffsocialsecurity.org
#StopDOGE
#HandsOffSocialSecurity
Hands off Social Security! Elon Musk & DOGE are working to destroy #SocialSecurity with cuts to services. #StopDOGE
@alaw202 [masthead.social] talks about on how to set up a rally protesting cuts to #socialsecurity at https://handsoffsocialsecurity.org
Listen live 5ET or watch later
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEHr0cwF1YA
@nicolesandler
@GottaLaff
The Hill has a list of the 26 #SocialSecurity offices with set closure dates out of the 47 planned to be closed. Most dates are in April, May, or June. And most of them are in states that voted for Trump.
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5203770-social-security-administration-office-closures/
That was fast. The #SocialSecurity sabotage plans outlined in the memo obtained by Judd Legum go into effect at the end of the month. https://www.wect.com/2025/03/18/social-security-administration-require-in-person-identity-checks-new-existing-recipients/
Beginning March 31st, people will no longer be able to verify their identity to the SSA over the phone and those who cannot properly verify their identity over the agency’s “My Social Security” online service, will be required to visit an agency field office in person to complete the verification process, agency leadership told reporters Tuesday.
The change will apply to new Social Security applicants and existing recipients who want to change their direct deposit information.
Connecticut Rep. John Larson, the top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee, said in a statement that “by requiring seniors and disabled Americans to enroll online or in person at the same field offices they are trying to close, rather than over the phone, Trump and Musk are trying to create chaos and inefficiencies at SSA so they can privatize the system.”
The DOGE website says that leases for 47 Social Security field offices across the country, including in Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Florida, Kentucky and North Carolina, have been or will be ended.
___
The Diaz memo estimates it would require 75,000 to 85,000 in-person visitors per week to SSA's offices to implement the policy - while many of those offices that are slated to be closed
Interview Judd Legum on Trump's attack on Social Security
Trump & Musk are cutting Agency Staff & Critical Services
Officials in the Social Security Administration say it is "an effort to break the organization.”
https://www.democracynow.org/2025/3/19/judd_legum_musk_doge_social_security
@ZhiZhu@newsie.social"Why do this? The alleged justification is to combat fraud. But... fraudulent benefit claims are not, in fact, a serious problem.
So what the #Musk is going on here? This plan would save some money, not by eliminating #fraud, but by effectively cutting off aid to #Americans who are legally entitled to that aid, & specifically those who need it most. But I don’t think the savings are the point."
https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/smears-sadism-and-social-security
@ZhiZhu@newsie.socialSmears, Sadism & Social Security
Why #ElonMusk wants to make seniors suffer
https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/smears-sadism-and-social-security
"Under [Musk's] plan, beneficiaries would still be able to call the #SSA. But they would have to verify their identity either over the #internet or through in-person visits to field offices.
Bear in mind that we’re talking about older and/or disabled #Americans, many of whom are unable to access the internet & physically unable to visit SSA offices"
@joycebell@mas.to@GottaLaff This begins March 31, 2025. Call your senators and reps, and/or visit town halls! https://5calls.org/issue/social-security-ssa-doge-office-closures/
#socialsecurity #Make5Calls
" #SocialSecurity Admin said Tues it has implemented new measures that would require Americans who start their claims by phone to verify their identity using the online system or provide documentation in person at a field office beginning March 31
The change is expected to significantly disrupt Social Security operations and could pose major challenges for Americans who might have difficulty reaching a field office in person, such as the elderly and disabled" https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/03/18/trump-presidency-news/#link-W3ZDR3Z5KBDEHNINRSVVSCCTOE
@paul@oldfriends.live21/ New internal Social Security Administration (SSA) memo, sent on March 13, details Trump DOGE's plan to sabotage the Social Security Administration, changes "that would debilitate the agency, cause significant processing delays, and prevent many Americans from applying for or receiving benefits" #SocialSecurity
The changes would increase field office traffic, longer call wait times, and delayed processed, as well as disproportionatly impact on vulnerable populations
A DOGE workaround of the new policy means these claims will never be approved without using ID-Proof internet or making an in-person visit.
https://popular.info/p/exclusive-memo-details-trump-plan
I hate this feck'n thread but it must continue. The policy says they fear "congressional scrutiny" so make your voices heard.
Judd Legume (journalist, founder & former editor of Think Progress) appears to have a memo from Acting Deputy SSA Commissioner Doris Diaz outlining "proposed changes to the claims process that would debilitate the agency, cause significant processing delays, and prevent many Americans from applying for or receiving [#SocialSecurity] benefits." https://popular.info/p/exclusive-memo-details-trump-plan
The biggest change contemplated by Diaz's memo is to require "internet identity proofing" for "benefit claims… made over the phone." When an SSA customer is "unable to utilize the internet ID proofing, customers will be required to visit a field office to provide in-person identity documentation."
Because the SSA serves a large population that is either older or physically disabled, many cannot access the internet. Under the new system, this would force these populations to visit an office to have their claim processed. The Diaz memo estimates it would require 75,000 to 85,000 in-person visitors per week to SSA's offices to implement the policy.
___
And of course, they'll be cutting the workforce and closing SSA offices which will make it nearly impossible to file for your claim.
