In a highly unusual move, a federal judge has granted five individual plaintiffs the right to proceed anonymously—even from the government defendants—in a class-action lawsuit challenging the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) consolidation of sensitive personal data.
Chief Judge James E. Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a Memorandum Opinion and Order on Friday, allowing the individuals in the case, League of Women Voters, et al. v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security, et al., to use pseudonyms.
The plaintiffs, including four naturalized American citizens, argued that revealing their identities would expose them to a credible risk of government retaliation, including potential loss of employment, defunding of their employers, and even denaturalization proceedings.
The class action lawsuit, filed on September 30, 2025, by the League of Women Voters, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), and five individuals, alleges that the federal government unlawfully “repurposed pre-existing technology” to pool and consolidate citizenship-related personal data, including Social Security numbers and other personally identifiable information (PII). This centralized database, the plaintiffs claim, has facilitated states’ impermissible use of the data to “purge voter rolls and open criminal investigations,” potentially disenfranchising eligible voters based on inaccurate or outdated records.
Judge Boasberg, in his opinion, acknowledged that granting anonymity from both the public and the defendant government agencies is a “rare step.” However, he found that the plaintiffs had demonstrated “specific retaliation risks that far outweigh any prejudice to Defendants.”
The court’s analysis heavily favored the plaintiffs, citing their fear of harm that goes beyond mere “annoyance and criticism” and their status as litigants against a governmental body. The opinion noted the administration’s alleged history of taking actions against perceived opponents, which was “sufficiently analogous” to credit the plaintiffs’ fears of retaliation, including “loss of employment opportunities or denaturalization.”
The judge also emphasized that because the lawsuit is a class action seeking broad, programmatic relief against a federal system that holds PII on millions of people, the individual identities of the named plaintiffs are less relevant to the case’s merits, minimizing prejudice to the government.
The ruling allows the five individuals to continue the suit under pseudonyms, subject to any further consideration by the District Judge to whom the case is ultimately assigned. Plaintiffs have been ordered to file a public, pseudonymous version of their motion, as well as a sealed, ex parte declaration containing their real names and residential addresses.
The lawsuit challenges the creation of what the plaintiffs call a “comprehensive database” that involves data from multiple agencies, including the DHS‘s Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) system and the Social Security Administration (SSA). The complaint asserts violations of federal statutory data-handling and privacy requirements.
The government has yet to formally respond to the motion, as the court noted its position was unavailable “due to the current lapse in appropriations.”
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