Trump administration sued over new email system’s privacy concerns – Washington Examiner
A lawsuit has been filed against the Trump administration regarding a new email distribution system set up for federal employees. The lawsuit, brought by two federal employees, claims that the system raises privacy concerns as the office of Personnel management (OPM) failed to conduct a necessary assessment to mitigate potential risks related to employees’ private data. The lawsuit highlights recent instances where employees received test emails from a single government email address, wich aimed to enable mass dialog among government workers.Concerns have been raised by the employees and their attorney regarding the security implications of this new system, particularly considering previous data breaches involving the OPM. Federal employees have expressed a lack of clarity about the purpose of these emails, with some choosing not to respond as a form of protest against the new system. the situation underscores significant worries about data privacy and security within the federal workforce.
Trump administration sued over new email system’s privacy concerns
A lawsuit filed on behalf of two federal government employees alleges that President Donald Trump’s administration set up an email distribution system for the entire federal workforce but that the email system raises security concerns related to workers’ private data.
The lawsuit accuses the Office of Personnel Management of not doing an assessment required by federal law to mitigate any privacy risks in how the new email system could collect the data of federal employees. The lawsuit comes as the Trump administration begins overhauling many elements of the federal workforce, including ordering workers to return to the office and eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.
Federal employees recently began receiving emails from the email address [email protected] that appeared to be running tests for a new “distribution and response list,” according to the lawsuit.
In one of the lawsuit’s examples of the emails, the acting secretary of homeland security sent the following message to all Department of Homeland Security employees: “The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is testing a new capability allowing it to send important communications to ALL Federal employees from a single email address, [email protected]. If you ever receive communications from this address, it can be considered trusted.”
“The goal of these tests is to confirm that an email can be sent and replied to by all government employees,” another email said, while also asking the employees to respond to the emails to confirm receipt.
Attorney Kel McClanahan, who is representing the federal employees in the lawsuit, noted that OPM had already been hacked in recent years.
“Plugging in a new email service for the sole purpose of sending messages directly to every federal employee is an invitation to be hacked, and every employee out there needs to know how much of their data is at risk,” McClanahan said, adding that the system should be shut down “until OPM treats this data with the security it warrants.”
Email is a common avenue for hackers to gain access to sensitive data. In 2018, the FBI reported there were about 14,000 email scams each year worldwide, which cost companies a collective $12 billion. Human error can largely account for hacking as it takes just one employee to click on a scammer’s email for the scammer to gain access to much of a company’s or, in this case, a federal agency’s data.
One federal employee who received this test email told CNN that federal workers had not been given any additional information regarding the intention of the test email or the new system. According to a previous CNN report, the Trump administration is working to be able to mass email all federal employees.
Some federal employees said they chose not to respond “yes” as the email instructs to confirm receipt as an act of resistance.
“Small acts such as one person not responding to that email seem minuscule; however, they add up when it is done collectively,” one federal employee said.
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