Latest news with #SocialSecurityNumbers
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
DOGE will be allowed to access Social Security data for now, Supreme Court rules
The Department of Government Efficiency will be permitted to access sensitive Social Security data while litigation over the matter continues, the U.S. Supreme Court said in an order on Friday. Lifting an injunction that a lower court judge placed to protect the privacy of Americans, the conservative wing of the court agreed the DOGE staffers assigned to the Social Security Administration need to access the information to perform their jobs. 'We conclude that, under the present circumstances, SSA may proceed to afford members of the SSA DOGE Team access to the agency records in question in order for those members to do their work,' the justices wrote in an unsigned order. DOGE, set up by Elon Musk before he departed from the government, intended to find 'waste, fraud, and abuse' in the federal government. Musk had targeted Social Security specifically, previously characterizing it as a 'Ponzi scheme.' Two labor unions and an advocacy group sued to block DOGE's access to private information, such as tax records, Social Security Numbers, banking information and more, saying much of that information was deeply personal and protected by laws. A lower court judge in Maryland previously denied DOGE's request to access SSA information, saying it amounted to a 'fishing expedition.' However, she did allow for certain staffers to access redacted data as long as they underwent training and background checks. But DOGE said that was not sufficient. An appeals court refused to lift the Maryland judge's injunction, which led the administration to ask the Supreme Court for help – a common theme of the current term. Liberal Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented from the majority. Justice Elena Kagan said she would have denied the emergency application. Writing for the dissenting justices, Jackson questioned the court's reasoning for intervening in the emergency request – an increasingly hot-button issue at the court. 'I would proceed without fear or favor to require DOGE and the Government to do what all other litigants must do to secure a stay from this Court: comply with lower court orders constraining their behavior unless and until they establish that irreparable harm will result such that equity requires a different course,' Jackson wrote. 'The Court opts instead to relieve the Government of the standard obligations, jettisoning careful judicial decision making and creating grave privacy risks for millions of Americans in the process,' Jackson added. It is the latest win the Supreme Court has handed the Trump administration, and the second win for DOGE on Friday. In a second unsigned order, also issued Friday afternoon, the Supreme Court ruled that DOGE does not have to turn over internal records to a government watchdog group as part of a public records lawsuit.
Cedar News
4 days ago
- Cedar News
Hackers leak data of 88 million AT&T customers
Hackers leak data of 88 million AT&T customers including 44 million decrypted Social Security Numbers.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
How to protect biometrics data from falling into the wrong hands
When you think of identity theft, you probably think about personal information, such as Social Security Numbers, said Action 9 investigator Jason Stoogenke. You must now consider biometrics, as well, including using your fingerprint to unlock your phone, your face or voice for online banking, or your palm at the doctor's office. ACTION 9: Secret Service recovers multiple skimming devices in statewide EBT fraud crackdown Some companies use your biometric information to verify your identity, which is intended to make it harder for thieves to impersonate you. The idea is to prevent identity theft. However, thieves who get their hands on your biometrics may be able to access your devices, accounts, a secure building where you work, and the list goes on, Stoogenke said. The Identity Theft Resource Center released this report recently. It says 87% of the people surveyed were asked to provide a biometric identifier in the past year and 91% agreed. However, 63% still had serious concerns about it, and only 35% trust companies to protect the data well. Consumers have questions. 'How the information is being used. How it's being stored. What else you're doing with it?' ITRC's Eva Velasquez told Stoogenke. Biometrics or not, Stephanie Fountain wants as little of her information out there as possible. She says someone stole her identity. 'I freaked out, like I started bawling my eyes out,' she said. She says she went to file taxes and found out someone already did in her name. 'My credit's been ruined,' she said. 'It's just impacting me big time.' If you're worried about sharing your biometric information, read the company's privacy policy. If you don't like what the company is gathering or how they're using it, see if you can opt out or, as a last resort, do business with someone else. A red flag: If a company contacts you out of the blue, walk away. Don't share personal information, biometric or not. If you're not sure what to do, ask a nonprofit: Identity Theft Resource Center Biometrics Institute National Cyber Security Alliance If you fall victim to ID theft
NBC News
20-05-2025
- Business
- NBC News
Alleged hacker behind largest breach of US children's data agrees to plead guilty to federal charges
A Massachusetts man has agreed to plead guilty to hacking into one of the top education tech companies in the U.S. and stealing tens of millions of schoolchildren's personal information for profit. Matthew Lane of Worcester County, Massachusetts, signed a plea agreement related to charges related to a major hack on an educational technology company last year, as well as another company, according to court documents published Tuesday. While the documents refer to the education company only as 'Victim-2' and U.S. Attorney's office declined to name the victim, a person familiar with the matter told NBC News that the company is PowerSchool. The hack of PowerSchool last year is believed to be the largest breach of American children's sensitive data to date. According to his plea agreement, Lane admitted to obtaining information from a protected computer and aggravated identity theft, and agreed not to challenge a prison sentence shorter than nine years and four months. He got access simply by trying an employee's stolen username and password combination, the complaint says, echoing a private third-party assessment of the incident previously reported by NBC News. Companies like PowerSchool, which develop software programs to help schools manage students, data and educational programming, have grown in recent years, especially during the Covid pandemic when many schools shifted to remote learning. Cybersecurity experts have warned that as student information becomes increasingly digitized, it becomes more of a target for criminal hackers and identity thieves. Last December, PowerSchool realized someone had broken into a customer database and downloaded the personal information — including names, addresses, birthdays and in some cases the Social Security Numbers and medical information of 62 million kids — when they received an extortion demand for about $2.85 million in bitcoin. PowerSchool paid the hackers for a video of them claiming to delete their only copy of the data. But cybercriminals have since sent extortion emails to schools in Canada and North Carolina proving they have that data. 'We do not believe this is a new incident, as samples of data match the data previously stolen in December,' PowerSchool said in a press statement on May 7. 'We sincerely regret these developments — it pains us that our customers are being threatened and re-victimized by bad actors.' According to the complaint, Lane was responsible for hacking into PowerSchool, though it doesn't make clear whether he or another person or group was responsible for the extortion efforts. The complaint cites an unnamed co-conspirator of Lane's and other unnamed cybercriminals who worked together to hack and extort another company.
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Millions of immigrant families would be shut out under new child tax credit proposal
Republicans would raise the child tax credit to $2,500 per eligible child in the tax-writing committee's latest proposal. But the bill would also exclude millions of families from accessing the credit, including the country's poorest households and immigrant or mixed-status families. One provision of the bill requires a child's parent or parents to have a Social Security Number, shutting out undocumented immigrants or those without work authorization, even when the child themselves has a Social Security Number. In mixed-status households, where one parent has a Social Security Number and the other doesn't, the child is still ineligible. Some estimates show this change could impact 4.5 million children alone. Coupled with proposals from other committees that restrict access to Medicaid or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), immigrant and mixed-status families face drastically rising costs, according to Ashley Burnside, a senior policy analyst at the Center for Law and Social Policy. 'We'll see more people having to make impossible decisions,' Burnside said. 'As more families are arbitrarily restricted from accessing these critical health benefits, it's going to result in a lot of hardship for people. That is going to make all of us worse off as communities.' Many filers without Social Security Numbers use Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs) to pay taxes, but would no longer be able to access tax credits under this proposal — part of an administration crackdown on immigrants using public social services. 'Immigrant families, undocumented families, use ITINs to pay around $100 billion every year in taxes. The fact that they're not able to benefit from any of these benefits intended for families undermines the idea that this is a pro-family, pro-worker provision,' said Kat Menefee, senior counsel for income security and child care at the National Women's Law Center Action Fund. Through this proposal's extension of changes from the last major tax overhaul in 2017, another 17 million of the country's lowest-income households will still not have access to the full credit because they do not earn enough to pay federal income taxes — nor will an additional 1 million children who do not have Social Security Numbers. Before 2017, all children were eligible as long as their parents filed their tax returns and met the other credit requirements. 'This bill doubles down on that assault on those seeking the American Dream by stealing tax benefits and services to working people who are paying taxes,' Rep. Linda Sánchez, a California Democrat, said during a committee markup of the 2025 tax bill. This version also eliminates the Direct File program, which allows households to file taxes with the IRS for free, and adds restrictions to applying for and receiving the Earned Income Tax Credit, potentially resulting in more families losing money meant to supplement lower-earning households. The current House tax proposal will likely change significantly, with several other sections having garnered opposition from fellow Republicans in both chambers. But the principle of removing many immigrant and mixed-status households is likely to stay, as Republicans look to find any money to cut in alignment with President Donald Trump's desire to slash federal spending. More than 46 million taxpayers claim the child tax credit each year. During the pandemic, congressional Democrats and then-President Joe Biden temporarily increased the child tax credit to up to $3,600, expanded eligibility to more of the lowest-earning families and delivered the credit in monthly checks to recipients rather than in one lump sum. These changes lifted millions of households out of poverty. But the credit reverted back to $2,000 in 2022 — and child poverty rose soon after. Last year, GOP senators and former Sen. Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Independent who used to caucus with Democrats, rejected a tax package that would have moderately increased the credit, part of legislation that had already passed the House with bipartisan support. The fact that Republicans had signed onto a House bill that expanded access to more lower-earning families — with direct involvement from Rep. Jason Smith, the Missouri Republican who chairs the Ways and Means Committee — shows that those same improvements are financially possible to add again, according to Bob Greenstein, a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution. But last August's bill was proposed under former President Biden, and Republicans signed on to some Democratic policies. Now that the GOP controls the House, Senate and White House, Republicans 'threw that over the side,' Greenstein added. Combined with proposed deep cuts to Medicaid and SNAP, families with modest or low incomes will be adversely affected, he said. 'It's curious — the reconciliation bill as a whole really slams the working family, working paycheck-to-paycheck,' Greenstein said. 'Those families (were also) the key part of the Trump base in 2024.' Senators have a wider array of ideas to increase or improve the child tax credit, including a proposal to offset a parent's payroll taxes from Sen. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican, though he has not yet filed official legislation, nor does he sit on the Finance Committee. Sen. Mike Crapo, the Idaho Republican who chairs the committee, has signaled interest in increasing the credit in some capacity, but he has historically been opposed to lowering the floor for qualifying family incomes, Greenstein noted. Meanwhile, Democrats, led by Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet, have laid out an ambitious plan for an expanded, tiered credit system. But the bill is all but likely to gather dust in a harsh cost-trimming environment. Lawmakers must decide on some change during the reconciliation process — otherwise, the credit reverts back to a $1,000 baseline in the fall. The post Millions of immigrant families would be shut out under new child tax credit proposal appeared first on The 19th. News that represents you, in your inbox every weekday. Subscribe to our free, daily newsletter.
