AFT Sues Over Elon Musk's Alleged Data Breach at Education Department

Call for Removal of Elon Musk from Education Department Over Data Privacy Concerns

WASHINGTON— Amid ongoing scrutiny, educators and activists have raised alarms regarding data privacy within the U.S. Department of Education. This comes as AFT President Randi Weingarten, alongside parents and students, voiced concerns over potential risks to Americans' private and financial data if Elon Musk and his associates remain involved.

Recently, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), along with two other unions, initiated legal action against the Education Department, Office of Personnel Management, and the Treasury Department. The lawsuit claims these agencies breached the Privacy Act by allegedly mishandling sensitive records, including Social Security numbers and bank information, by sharing them with the Department of Government Efficiency staff. For more details on the lawsuit, click here.

Statement from AFT President Randi Weingarten: “Inside the Education Department, the world’s richest man and his minions have been rifling through 45 million people’s private student loan accounts and feeding the data into artificial intelligence in one of the biggest data hacks in U.S. history. The department is effectively one of America’s biggest banks, with 45 million borrowers holding $1.6 trillion in loans. It holds your Social Security numbers, your kid’s IEP (Individualized Education Program), the name of your spouse. If there was a cyberhack of this magnitude in a private bank, there would be widespread uproar.

“That’s why this week, we sued the Education Department, OPM and Treasury for violating the Privacy Act by improperly disclosing the sensitive records of millions of Americans to DOGE staff. And tomorrow, we hope Linda McMahon will discuss what she’ll do to secure the personal data of veterans who receive benefit payments, current and former federal employees whose confidential employment files reside in OPM’s system, and teachers whose pathway to the classroom was reliant on student loans to pay for college tuition. The American people deserve to know what she’ll do to kick Elon Musk and DOGE out of the Education Department, out of our schools and out of our data.”

The concerns are shared by Kate Reilly, a parent of three, Sara Porcari, a 17-year-old student from Cheverly, Md., and Ernesh Stewart, a school counselor in Washington, D.C., who have all voiced their support for the #ElonOutOfEd campaign. To hear their perspectives, watch here.

The AFT represents a diverse group of 1.8 million members, including educators across all levels, healthcare workers, and government employees, advocating for their rights and interests.