Latest news with #Government-WideEmailSystem
Yahoo
17-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Judge rules against federal employees suing Trump admin for privacy concerns
A federal judge has ruled against federal employees who sued the Trump administration over privacy and security concerns around a government workforce email distribution system. The new computer server was used to send deferred resignation "Fork in the Road" emails to more than 2 million federal employees, offering them to leave their government jobs and get paid through September, or risk being laid off. Judge Restores Trump Administration's Buyout Offer To Federal Workers DC-based federal Judge Randolph Moss denied a request for a temporary restraining order (TRO) that would have blocked the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) from continuing to use the email address HR@ and is known as the "Government-Wide Email System." The lawsuit claimed that in the rush to adopt this new system, OPM violated security safeguards for federal workers, known as a Privacy Impact Statement (PIA). Here's What Happened During President Donald Trump's 4Th Week In Office Read On The Fox News App But in denying emergency legal relief, the judge said, "Plaintiffs have failed to carry their burden of demonstrating that their .gov email addresses (which reveal their names and, possibly, their places of employment) are at imminent risk of exposure outside the United States government— much less that this risk is a result of OPM's failure to conduct an adequate PIA. Rather, their arguments 'rel[y] on a highly attenuated chain of possibilities.'" According to the lawsuit, soon after Trump took office, federal employees received emails from the email address HR@ that indicated the agency was running tests for a new "distribution and response list." "The goal of these tests is to confirm that an email can be sent and replied to by all government employees," one of the emails said, according to the lawsuit. Workers were asked to acknowledge receipt of the messages. The case will continue on the merits in the courts, but for now the new communications system will remain in place, pending any article source: Judge rules against federal employees suing Trump admin for privacy concerns
Fox News
17-02-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Judge rules against federal employees suing Trump admin for privacy concerns
A federal judge has ruled against federal employees who sued the Trump administration over privacy and security concerns around a government workforce email distribution system. The new computer server was used to send deferred resignation "Fork in the Road" emails to more than 2 million federal employees, offering them to leave their government jobs and get paid through September, or risk being laid off. DC-based federal Judge Randolph Moss denied a request for a temporary restraining order (TRO) that would have blocked the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) from continuing to use the email address HR@ and is known as the "Government-Wide Email System." The lawsuit claimed that in the rush to adopt this new system, OPM violated security safeguards for federal workers, known as a Privacy Impact Statement (PIA). But in denying emergency legal relief, the judge said, "Plaintiffs have failed to carry their burden of demonstrating that their .gov email addresses (which reveal their names and, possibly, their places of employment) are at imminent risk of exposure outside the United States government— much less that this risk is a result of OPM's failure to conduct an adequate PIA. Rather, their arguments 'rel[y] on a highly attenuated chain of possibilities.'" According to the lawsuit, soon after Trump took office, federal employees received emails from the email address HR@ that indicated the agency was running tests for a new "distribution and response list." "The goal of these tests is to confirm that an email can be sent and replied to by all government employees," one of the emails said, according to the lawsuit. Workers were asked to acknowledge receipt of the messages. The case will continue on the merits in the courts, but for now the new communications system will remain in place, pending any appeal. This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
USA Today
05-02-2025
- Business
- USA Today
Controversial OPM email server operates 'entirely' on government computers, agency says
Controversial OPM email server operates 'entirely' on government computers, agency says Show Caption Hide Caption DOGE accesses government payment system, reports New York Times Elon Musk was reportedly given access to the Treasury's payment system, which contains the personal information of millions of Americans. The controversial email system used by Elon Musk and his associates to simultaneously contact all federal employees for the first time operates "entirely on government computers" and contrary to news reports does not use a non-government server, officials with the Office of Personnel Management said in a court filing Wednesday. An attorney representing unnamed OPM employees asked a judge on Jan. 27 to issue a temporary restraining order halting the system as it represented a grave security risk to roughly 2 million executive branch and judicial branch employees, along with an unknown number of contractors. The email system was developed and installed without the required Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA), Kelly McClanahan, the executive director of the National Security Counselors publicinterest law firm, argued in a complaint. The PIA was not necessary since the system only deals with federal employee data, government lawyers said in a February 5 court filing, which included a PIA dated February 5 that said the system, dubbed the "Government-Wide Email System (GWES)," collects federal employee names, their government email addresses, and "short, voluntary email responses. The filing comes amid growing concern that Musk and his associates are flouting security protocols when handling personal information and data as they work to cut staff acrossthe U.S. government. The Democratic members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, along with Sen. Angus King, an independent from Maine, on Wednesday demanded answers from White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles about how the White House has vetted staff working on Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) efforts, including the OPM email system, and how security considerations have factored in. "No information has been provided to Congress or the public as to who has been formally hired under DOGE, under what authority or regulations DOGE is operating, or how DOGE isvetting and monitoring its staff and representatives before providing them with seemingly unfettered access to classified materials and Americans' personal information," the senatorssaid in a letter. The PIA listed Senior Advisor to the Director Riccardo Biasini as the system's contact point and was signed by Greg Hogan, the agency's chief information officer. Biasini is a former engineer at Tesla and most recently a director at The Boring Company, Musk's tunnel-building operation in Las Vegas. It's not clear whether the "government computers" are new or existing OPM infrastructure. An OPM spokesperson declined to comment. McClanahan argued the system contains "vast quantities" of personally identifiable information "which are more susceptible to cyberattacks than the pre-existing OPM systems.' The suit cited an anonymous Reddit post saying someone "walked into our building and plugged in an email server to our network" to send the emails. An anonymous OPM staffer told the Musk Watch newsletter on Feb. 3 that the server was "a piece of commercial hardware they believed was not obtained through the proper federal procurement process." McClanahan did not immediately respond to a request for comment Karen Freifeld, Reuters.
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Controversial OPM email server operates 'entirely' on government computers, agency says
By AJ Vicens The controversial email system used by Elon Musk and his associates to simultaneously contact all federal employees for the first time operates "entirely on government computers" and contrary to news reports does not use a non-government server, officials with the Office of Personnel Management said in a court filing Wednesday. An attorney representing unnamed OPM employees asked a judge January 27 to issue a temporary restraining order halting the system as it represented a grave security risk to roughly 2 million executive branch and judicial branch employees, along with an unknown number of contractors. See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. The email system was developed and installed without the required Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA), Kelly McClanahan, the executive director of the National Security Counselors public interest law firm, argued in a complaint. The PIA was not necessary since the system only deals with federal employee data, government lawyers said in a February 5 court filing, which included a PIA dated February 5 which said the system, dubbed the "Government-Wide Email System (GWES)," collects federal employee names, their government email addresses, and "short, voluntary email responses. The filing comes amid growing concern that Musk and his associates are flouting security protocols when handling personal information and data as they work to cut staff across the U.S. government. The PIA listed Senior Advisor to the Director Riccardo Biasini as the system's contact point and was signed by Greg Hogan, the agency's chief information officer. Biasini is a former engineer at Tesla and most recently a director at The Boring Company, Musk's tunnel-building operation in Las Vegas. It's not clear if the "government computers" are new or were existing OPM infrastructure. An OPM spokesperson did not immediately respond to questions. McClanahan argued the system contains "vast quantities" of personally identifiable information "which are more susceptible to cyberattacks than the pre-existing OPM systems.' The suit cited an anonymous Reddit post saying that someone "walked into our building and plugged in an email server to our network" to send the emails. An anonymous OPM staffer told the Musk Watch newsletter Feb. 3 that the server was "a piece of commercial hardware they believed was not obtained through the proper federal procurement process." McClanahan did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday. (Additional reporting by Karen Freifeld; Editing by Nick Zieminski)
Reuters
05-02-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Controversial OPM email server operates 'entirely' on government computers, agency says
Feb 5 - The controversial email system used by Elon Musk and his associates to simultaneously contact all federal employees for the first time operates "entirely on government computers" and contrary to news reports does not use a non-government server, officials with the Office of Personnel Management said in a court filing Wednesday. An attorney representing unnamed OPM employees asked a judge January 27, opens new tab to issue a temporary restraining order halting the system as it represented a grave security risk to roughly 2 million executive branch and judicial branch employees, along with an unknown number of contractors. The email system was developed and installed without the required Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA), Kelly McClanahan, the executive director of the National Security Counselors public interest law firm, argued in a complaint. The PIA was not necessary since the system only deals with federal employee data, government lawyers said in a February 5 court filing, opens new tab, which included a PIA dated February 5 which said the system, dubbed the "Government-Wide Email System (GWES)," collects federal employee names, their government email addresses, and "short, voluntary email responses. The filing comes amid growing concern that Musk and his associates are flouting security protocols when handling personal information and data as they work to cut staff across the U.S. government. The PIA listed Senior Advisor to the Director Riccardo Biasini as the system's contact point and was signed by Greg Hogan, the agency's chief information officer. Biasini is a former engineer at Tesla and most recently a director at The Boring Company, Musk's tunnel-building operation in Las Vegas. It's not clear if the "government computers" are new or were existing OPM infrastructure. An OPM spokesperson did not immediately respond to questions. McClanahan argued the system contains "vast quantities" of personally identifiable information "which are more susceptible to cyberattacks than the pre-existing OPM systems.' The suit cited an anonymous Reddit post saying that someone "walked into our building and plugged in an email server to our network" to send the emails. An anonymous OPM staffer told the Musk Watch newsletter Feb. 3 that the server was "a piece of commercial hardware they believed was not obtained through the proper federal procurement process."
