Quiz: What Does DOGE Know About You?

Federal agencies collect and store some of the most sensitive personal data on record: income histories, medical records, immigration details, and even digital signatures. Strict rules and laws protect this information. But now, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has bypassed long-standing privacy laws and safeguards in its push to access the private data of millions of Americans. This raises urgent questions: Who controls this data now? Where is it being stored? And what happens when these protections are ignored?

While the impacts of DOGE’s access to personal data remain unclear, New America’s Open Technology Institute (OTI) built a new tool to help you understand what pieces of your own data and identity might be at risk today. With so much uncertainty about who is accessing this data and why, this interactive quiz helps connect some of the dots—putting your information and privacy risk front and center.

To discover which elements of your sensitive information are now exposed, take the quiz below.

The information you share with the government represents more than data entries in a massive database. These seemingly small points make up the fabric of your life: a FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) application to make college possible, a sensitive medical diagnosis, the date you got married, a visa renewal. All are pieces of a larger picture that represents you. And what’s at stake is not just the future of government systems. It’s your benefits, your information security, and your privacy.

If DOGE can access your data, who else can? Breaches of government IT systems are on the rise. By sidestepping security protocols, stripping privacy protections, and removing oversight, the current administration is making your information more vulnerable to misuse or attack. This doesn’t just undermine privacy; it opens the door to fraud, identity theft, government surveillance, and even national security risks. Once your information is compromised, the damage is irreversible.

Credible evidence shows that DOGE is feeding data into unvetted AI systems to automate critical government decisions. This is especially troubling given the current administration’s efforts to remove safety and fairness as key issues to consider in government use of AI. These efforts make it more likely that AI will be used to make decisions (such as which programs or services to cut) based on misinterpreted output from unvetted and flawed algorithms. This could impact benefits eligibility, immigration status, and more—with devastating consequences for millions of Americans.

The government has a mandate to protect your information from being improperly or unethically taken, analyzed, shared, or used. While legal protections can and should be modernized, DOGE isn’t fixing the current system—it’s exploiting it.

It’s time to enforce existing safeguards and demand accountability for the harm done. If DOGE’s overreach isn’t stopped, it will set a dangerous precedent: one where sensitive data can be taken, used, and exposed without consequence.

If you’re concerned about how your own personal information is being accessed, contact your representative in Congress and demand answers. You can also share this quiz to raise awareness on social media and across your networks using the hashtag #HandsOff.

As an interactive tool, this quiz is not intended to provide a comprehensive map of all personal data accessed by the Department of Government Efficiency. Instead, it focuses on specific data types—name, Social Security numbers, and other sensitive information—that DOGE has been confirmed to access. The tool is based on credible sources, including news reports, court filings, internal evidence, and official agency disclosures (see sources listed below).

In addition to these confirmed cases, the tool draws on research on federal database structures, the forms individuals use to submit information to agencies (e.g., FAFSA), and the privacy and security measures designed to safeguard this data.

The Open Technology Institute (OTI) team continues to track new developments, including legal challenges and agency actions aimed at preventing further access.

Data Sources

Department of Education

This data includes name, Social Security number, birth date, email address, physical address, phone number, driver’s license number, income and assets information, payment history, credit report, and bank account information. If you or your child have ever submitted an application for FAFSA or received a Pell Grant, your information was accessed.

• District Court, District of Columbia, University of California Student Association v. Carter (Court Listener, February 2025).
• District Court, District of Maryland, American Federation of Teachers v. Bessent (Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse, February 2025).
• Danielle Douglas-Gabriel, “Education Department Agrees to Block DOGE from Accessing Student Data,” Washington Post, February 11, 2025.
• Federal Student Aid (FSA), U.S. Department of Education, Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) for the Financial Management System (U.S. Department of Education, 2024).
• Federal Student Aid, U.S. Department of Education, Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) for the FSA Partner Connect (U.S. Department of Education, 2020).
• Federal Student Aid, U.S. Department of Education, “System of Records Notice: FUTURE Act System (FAS)” (Federal Register, June 29, 2023).
• Federal Student Aid, U.S. Department of Education, “System of Record Notice: National Student Loan Data System” (Federal Register, September 22, 2022).

Department of Housing and Urban Development

This data includes name, Social Security number, physical address, employer history, and income and assets. If you have ever filed for child support, your information was accessed.

• Dan Diamond and Jeff Stein, “DOGE Targets Child Support Database Full of Income Data,” Washington Post, March 6, 2025.
• Office of Child Support Services at the Administration for Children and Families, “Overview of Federal Parent Locator Service,” U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, May 19, 2022.
• U.S. House of Representatives, 42 U.S. Code § 653 - Federal Parent Locator Service (Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute).

Internal Revenue Service

This data includes name, Social Security number, physical address, digital signature, hand signature, bank account information, tax payment history, and employer history. If you have ever filed personal or business taxes, your information was accessed.

• Bureau of the Fiscal Service, U.S. Department of the Treasury, Privacy and Civil Liberties Impact Assessment: Payment Automation Manager (U.S. Department of the Treasury, July 11, 2019).
• District Court, District of Columbia, Alliance for Retired Americans v. Bessent (Court Listener, February 2025).
• District Court, District of Columbia, Center for Taxpayer Rights v. Internal Revenue Service (Court Listener, February 2025).
• Matt Bracken, “Block on DOGE Access to Treasury Systems Extended by Federal Judge,” FedScoop, February 22, 2025.

Social Security Administration

This data includes name, Social Security number, birth date, physical address, phone number, income and assets, benefit payment history, medical history, and bank account information. If you receive Social Security, Medicare, or disability benefits, your information was accessed.

• District Court, District of Maryland, American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO v. Social Security Administration (Court Listener, February 2025).
• Gregory Korte, “DOGE has 10 Staffers at Social Security in Hunt for Dead People,” Bloomberg, March 13, 2025.
• Social Security Administration, “Privacy Act of 1974, as Amended; New and Revised Privacy Act Systems of Records and Deletion of Obsolete Systems of Records,” Federal Register, January 11, 2006.