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Cases

University of California Student Association vs. Denise Carter and the U.S. Department of Education

On February 7, 2025, Student Defense and Public Citizen Litigation Group filed a lawsuit on behalf of the University of California Student Association against the U.S. Department of Education (“Department”) for sharing confidential student data with the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). 

The Washington Post reported on February 3, 2025 that DOGE staffers had gained access to multiple internal systems with the Department of Education, including a financial aid dataset that contains the personal information of millions of students enrolled in the federal student aid program. 

As a federal agency, the Department is subject to the requirements of the Privacy Act of 1974, which makes the improper disclosure and misuse of sensitive personal and financial information unlawful. In addition, the Department’s records contain tax information protected by confidentiality provisions of the Internal Revenue Code.

According to the complaint, the Department violated the Privacy Act, Internal Revenue Code, and Department regulations by allowing DOGE-affiliated individuals to access the Department’s data and the computer systems that house federal student financial aid information. 

The Department collects and maintains sensitive personal and financial information through numerous systems related to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), student loan repayment, and the operation of its Gainful Employment and Financial Value Transparency regulations, all of which are designed to ensure that higher education programs provide economic benefits to students. The Department maintains names, social security numbers, dates of birth, contact information, demographic information, and – in some cases – bank account information for more than 42 million Americans, accounting for approximately 12.5% of the United States population.

The lawsuit seeks injunctive relief to protect the privacy of individuals whose information is contained within the system of records. The lawsuit also seeks to ensure that future disclosure of individual records will occur only in accordance with the Privacy Act and other applicable law.

The press release issued after this case was filed is available here.

 

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