Social Security Agency Responds to Whistleblower Allegations
The Social Security Agency (SSA) has dismissed the claims made by whistleblower Charles Borges regarding the unauthorized release of sensitive information. This response comes in light of a letter acquired by Daily Call.
Borges stepped down from his role as chief data officer last Friday, indicating he was “unwillingly” resigning due to worries about how SSA data was handled. His resignation letter was shared by the Government Accountability Project (GAP).
He alleged that his efforts to bring these issues to light were ignored. The SSA’s General Counsel, Mark A. Stephensen, addressed these allegations in a letter revealed on Monday, which had been submitted by GAP on Borges’ behalf on August 26.
In his letter, Stephensen asserted that the agency values individuals’ rights to voice concerns without fear of retaliation but strongly disagreed with Borges’ claims. He stated, “We firmly oppose the allegations and find it difficult to see how the related exhibits support these claims.” According to him, SSA has established security protocols led by seasoned professionals and continually enhances its IT and network security.
Stephensen critiqued Borges’ correspondence to Congress and the Special Adviser’s Office, claiming it demonstrated a misunderstanding of the agency’s security measures. He raised issues regarding an alleged disclosure of sensitive data in an unedited format.
oh. With NPR, @gbrumfiel Social Security officials report that “we copied the Social Security numbers, names and birthdays of more than 300 million Americans into the institution’s private sector of the cloud.”
The source is a whistleblower and its name is: pic.twitter.com/r08hqolkby
– Steve Inskeep (@nprinskeep) August 26, 2025
Stephensen remarked that the release of this data, especially in an unedited format, was not only surprising but exemplified a significant breach of responsibility regarding government information. He noted that Borges’ documents included detailed emails and records about sensitive data fields and institutional systems, which inadvertently disclosed personal information of SSA employees engaged in critical tasks.
The SSA, while maintaining that it safeguards identifiable information, mentioned that it “actively mitigates the risks” arising from disclosures by whistleblowers. It was suggested that Borges might be contributing to the security issues he aimed to highlight.
“It’s somewhat ironic that the so-called ‘protected disclosure’ is meant to bring attention to serious lapses in data security within SSA,” Stephensen observed. He also requested that GAP refrain from further sharing unedited documents and any ongoing material published in the public domain.
Borges contends that data security issues have put the sensitive information of over 300 million Americans at risk. He indicated that recent developments pointed to significant security lapses organized by current SSA employees involved with Doge.
🎥Now @MSNBC: The disclosure of our whistleblower and former SSA chief data officer Charles Borges reveals the extent of Doge’s Social Security data violations
Former Governor Martin O’Malley (D-MD) joins MSNBC’s Ali Velshi to discuss how Doge’s staff are approved… pic.twitter.com/8kgh5vzg
– Government Accountability Project (@govacctproj) September 2, 2025
A federal judge had previously blocked Doge’s access to Social Security data in March, but the Supreme Court subsequently reversed that decision in June.
