Federal workers cut their communications in a climate of fear caused by road
In late February, U.S. International Development Agency (USAID) staff were invited to return to their offices with 15-minute windows to collect items. They walked out, some shed tears and carried personal belongings, but many were also worried about the personal information they left in the AIA’s office system.
The specific focus is on the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a bureaucracy created by the Trump administration to criticize the group. No one knows exactly what personal data the group caught.
“What I worry about is Duoqi’s ability, their surveillance ability.” He doesn’t want to use his name because he is worried about being affected.
Staff members like him turned to encrypted signaling applications to chat with each other. About 90 to 95% of colleagues were fired after Doge demolished the agency.
He has chatted in seven signal chats on a range of topics from litigation and work fairs to how to restore our foreign aid in the future.
“I’m used to using it in a closed society,” he said of the signal. “Obviously, we don’t think this is the case in the United States.”
People related to Doge Forced into the US Agency for International Development on February 1a Saturday and attempted to access employee information. The Associated Press reported that the team entered what is known as SCIF, a sensitive cubicle information facility, and had the potential to access sensitive information. Doge did not answer CBC’s questions about these claims.
Taylor Williamson has been working on U.S. International Development contracts through partner organizations for the past 20 years. He is now fired.
“When everyone started taking vacations at the end of January, we all started texting each other and saying ‘How are you?’ he said. Then chat in early February to “blast” the signal.
“Because the influence of Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg is right or wrong about their data being shared with the government,” he said.
“There is a strong fear given these technicians running around in the government.”
The U.S. federal government, led by Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), allegedly saved $55 billion through layoffs and contracts. Some government workers have resigned in protest against reorganization and Musk’s access to sensitive data.
A federal judge determined on Tuesday Musk and his team’s efforts to shut down U.S. Agency for International Development Probably violated the Constitution “In many ways.” They were ordered to “not disclose personal information or information contained in any…personal personnel documents other than United States Agency for International Development, security permit documents.”
David Karpf, associate professor at George Washington University, said the dangerous part of it all is that his work focuses on strategic communication and internet-related strategies, and he may have access to Social Security numbers and other information that should be protected.
“Trump’s Governor’s team has repeatedly accessed previously unrestricted citizen data,” he said.
“It’s unprecedented and it’s hard to find words for this,” he said, adding that the signal is the only safe place for federal labor to chat because the government cannot reach it. He said Doge can access emails and other information on work devices.
In the dramatic workforce, personal information security has become such a concern that the Washington Post published a story in early February. Federal Workers: Here is the way to lock your communications. The article points out that since the new government’s links with tech executives such as Meta’s Zuckerberg, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Musk, the likelihood of threats to personal security has increased. It highlights how Doge gets “large amounts of data” about federal agency employees.
One of the key suggestions is to use signals for text, as applications like Messenger are owned by Meta and collect more metadata. Other suggestions include carefully selecting the person you communicate with such apps.
Randy Chester, vice president of USDA diplomats with the American Diplomatic Services Association, said it was just “the strangest period of my life.”
“We don’t know what Doge has visited, and that’s the biggest fear,” he said, adding that he had moved to face and two-factor identity due to concerns that Doge might sell his Social Security number.
Chester said he understands why people use signals. The American Foreign Service Association advises people not to use government equipment, but to personal equipment.
“The concern is that the government will use information targeting you to terminate you. Or you may revoke the security permit. There is a lasting impact with different levels of security permits.”
The association’s website links to a “virtual Go Bag” link that says “everyone in foreign services knows that a “Go Bag” is…but how many of us have a “job Go Bag”.
Chester hopes that the ongoing legal lawsuit against Musk and Musk will provide some clarity.
“I hope Doge will be asked to testify so that we can find out what data they collected, why the data was taken and why it was needed,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Washington federal workforce’s cell phones are using encrypted apps and chats to illuminate as people try to carefully share information as they try to figure out the future.
