Lawsuit Filed Over Alleged Privacy Violations in Trump Administration’s New Federal Email System

The Register reports that two anonymous US government employees have filed a lawsuit against the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). The complaint, Jane Does 1-2 v. Office of Personnel Management, alleges that the Trump administration’s rapid implementation of a new federal email system raised privacy concerns and violated the E-Government Act of 2002.

The new system aims to establish a single email address for communicating directly with all civilian federal employees, raising concerns about potential misuse to facilitate mass layoffs. The plaintiffs argue that the OPM failed to complete and publish a mandatory privacy impact assessment, putting employees’ personal data at risk.

Historically, the OPM has coordinated with individual federal agencies to set employment policies, allowing those agencies to manage their own staff communications. The shift to centralized messaging marks a significant departure.

The lawsuit highlights that a lone on-premises server was hastily installed to handle that central email inbox without adhering to legal privacy safeguards. It calls the oversight “intentional and willful,” which is troubling given the 2014 cyberattack by Chinese hackers allegedly compromising over 20 million OPM personnel records.

The lawsuit details how federal employees were instructed via emails from [email protected] to respond to test messages, effectively creating a comprehensive contact list of federal workers.

Allegations include claims that high-ranking officials opposed to the new system were dismissed and that the system could be used for mass layoffs or to identify employees deemed in opposition to the administration’s agenda. The involvement of individuals linked to Elon Musk and Peter Thiel further fuels suspicions of political motivations behind the email system’s rollout.

The case underscores the legal vulnerabilities associated with rapid administrative changes in federal operations. Potential lawsuits, both from individual employees and as class actions, may challenge the legality and privacy implications of such changes.