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S. Grisham @segmentis.bsky.social

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[continued from alt text for image in previous post] As the SSA CDO, I am responsible for providing oversight and Governance to ensure the safety, integrity, and security of the public's data at SSA. My position requires full visibility into data access and exchange across all SSA systems and environments. My duties include ensuring compliance with federal data privacy, security, and regulatory requirements, as well as ensuring data is handled in accordance with internal and external policies, standards, and industry best practices. SSA data is among the most sensitive data in the Federal Government, and the CDO must be well informed about all sensitive data exchanges, storage implementations, and data access concerns. Recently, I have been made aware of several projects and incidents which may constitute violations of federal statutes or regulations, involve the potential safety and security of high value data assets in the cloud, possibly provided unauthorized or inappropriate access to agency enterprise data storage solutions, and may involve unauthorized data exchange with other agencies. As these events evolved, newly installed leadership in IT and executive offices created a culture of panic and dread, with minimal information sharing, frequent discussions on employee termination, and general organizational dysfunction. Executives and employees are afraid to share information or concerns on questionable activities for fear of retribution or termination, and repeated requests by me for visibility into these events have been rebuffed or ignored by agency leadership, with some employees directed not to reply to my queries. [To be continued in next post]
aug 29, 2025, 9:49 pm • 2 0

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S. Grisham @segmentis.bsky.social

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[Continued from alt text in previous two posts] As a result of these events, I am put the intolerable situation of not having visibility or oversight into activities that potentially violate statues and regulations which I, as the CDO, may legally or otherwise be held accountable for should I continue in this position. Additionally, I cannot verify that agency data is being used in accordance with legal agreements or in compliance with federal requirements. The escalating and relentless daily stress of lack of visibility and exclusion from decision-making on these activities, silence from leadership, and anxiety and fear over potential illegal actions resulting in the loss of citizen data, is more than a reasonable employee could bear. I started this position with high hopes and aspirations for continuing to serve our country and its citizens. However, due to my concerns regarding SSA's questionable and potentially unlawful data management practices, and the inability to exercise my statutory duties as CDO, I believe my position is untenable and that this constitutes an intolerable working environment for a Chief Executive tasked with specific responsibilities and accountability. Please consider this letter my notice of resignation from SSA, effective immediately. Very Respectfully, Charles Borges Chief Data Officer, Social Security Administration [End]
aug 29, 2025, 9:51 pm • 2 0 • view