College students are suing the Department of Education (ED), accusing it of unlawfully granting Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) "unprecedented" access to students' private financial data.
The lawsuit, filed Friday by the University of California Student Association (UCSA), demands an immediate halt to what it calls a blatant violation of federal privacy laws.
"The scale of the intrusion into individuals' privacy is enormous and unprecedented," the complaint states. "The personal data of over 42 million people lives in these systems. These are people who trusted ED with their sensitive personal information when they filled out the FAFSA and applied for federal student loans and grants, in reliance on the agency's rules and other representations."
UCSA alleges ED's actions violated the Privacy Act of 1974 and the Internal Revenue Code by allowing DOGE to access financial aid records.
DOGE employees allegedly fed personally identifiable information, such as grant manager details and internal financial records, into AI software to analyze agency spending, posing "significant security risks," according to the lawsuit.
It also contends that lower-level ED staffers were instructed by leadership to facilitate DOGE's access.
The complaint warns the extent of DOGE's involvement remains unclear and raises concerns over whether parents' and spouses' information has also been compromised.
"And because Defendants' actions and decisions are shrouded in secrecy, individuals do not have even basic information about what personal or financial information Defendants are sharing with outside parties or how their information is being used," the lawsuit states.
Under the Privacy Act, federal agencies must issue a System of Records Notice (SORN) in the Federal Register before altering how they use personal data. This process requires 30 days' public notice and an opportunity for feedback. The lawsuit claims ED failed to meet these requirements.
President Donald Trump's executive order in January rebranded the United States Digital Service (USDS) as DOGE, placing it under the Executive Office of the President. The move shields it from public records requests while granting it access to agency records, systems, and unclassified data.
However, the complaint claims his administration has yet to appoint a U.S. DOGE service administrator or disclose who is involved in the USDS Temporary Organization.
