19 Feb 2025

GSA Engineering Lead Resigns Rather than Give DOGE Full Access to Notify.gov

by Bonnie | | 0

Steven Reilly, the engineering lead for the federal government’s Notify system, resigned rather than grant full administrator access to Elon Musk’s DOGE.

The Notify system contains personal contact information, including cell phone numbers and email addresses, to enable the federal government to communicate with members of the public. Due to the sensitivity of its data, its security includes minimizing who can access it.

Thomas Shedd, a Tesla employee who has been working for Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” which is not a government department, has taken over as head of the General Services Administration’s Technology Transformation Services. He demanded administrator access to the entire Notify system without providing justification for why he needed it. With such access, he could download to external storage all of the data without anyone else’s awareness. He would also be able to grant the same God-like level of access to anyone else he chose.

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