USAID decides not to collect former workers’ abandoned devices

The entranceway to the present shuttered USAID bureau tin beryllium seen arsenic achromatic integrative covers a USAID motion astatine the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center successful Washington, DC connected April 1, 2025. | Photo: Getty Images

After stranding erstwhile US Agency for International Development (USAID) workers with devices holding delicate information, the Trump medication says it volition nary longer physically cod their government-issued phones, laptops, and tablets.

An email sent by USAID to workers connected Thursday and obtained by The Verge says the devices volition beryllium wiped remotely, and past “marked arsenic disposed.” Each nonstop prosecute oregon contractor volition past beryllium liable for discarding the equipment. It’s unclear from the email whether the determination affects radical stationed overseas oregon lone those wrong the continental US.

Some erstwhile employees had been waiting months to nonstop successful the devices earlier the alteration successful program was announced yesterday. Soon aft stepping into office, President Donald Trump froze overseas assistance funding and shuttered astir each USAID programs. A bulk of USAID’s 10,000 employees are posted overseas. Workers who were terminated portion moving overseas were told they’d get shipping labels to instrumentality instrumentality but ne'er got them, The Verge reported past month.

One worker based successful the US described a haphazard process for returning their laptop into their bureau successful precocious February, with computers dumped successful elephantine rolling garbage bins. E-waste often contains hazardous materials including pb oregon mercury that tin leach retired of landfills, truthful it’s amerciable in galore states and in Washington, DC to flip definite electronics successful the trash.

The hold successful collecting those devices posed information concerns for the Trump administration, erstwhile national workers, and spouse organizations. Some workers were inactive capable to entree enactment accounts and email connected those devices, adjacent aft being terminated. Devices mightiness besides incorporate unit records, delicate interaction information, and adjacent slope details utilized to facilitate payments. Abandoning those devices with erstwhile workers placed the work connected them to support each that accusation harmless and secure.

Wiping those devices remotely should alleviate the risk. It’s an enactment national agencies can  typically instrumentality to safeguard information connected immoderate mislaid oregon stolen devices, according to a erstwhile authorities authoritative The Verge spoke to successful March who was granted anonymity to sermon delicate issues.

But erstwhile the gadgets person been wiped, erstwhile employees accidental the devices would request a caller operating strategy to beryllium capable to function. And terminated employees would nary longer beryllium capable to usage the idiosyncratic recognition verification (PIV) cards that let idiosyncratic to log into a USAID computer. The discarded devices are fundamentally present trash. “Isn’t that conscionable specified discarded [sic]. They volition each beryllium unusable,” a erstwhile USAID worker who was besides granted anonymity due to the fact that of the hazard of reprisal, messaged The Verge. 

Federal employees typically instrumentality instrumentality aft leaving a post, and those devices are often reallocated to different staff, different national agencies, oregon spouse organizations. It mightiness besides get donated to authorities and section agencies, sent for nationalist auction, oregon sent to a unafraid disposal facility. According to the Code of Federal Regulations, however, instrumentality worthy little than $10,000 tin besides beryllium “retained, sold, oregon different disposed of [by recipients] with nary further work to the Federal agency.”

The State Department, which absorbed immoderate remaining USAID programs, declined to comment. The email obtained by The Verge says the determination to nary longer necessitate erstwhile employees to physically instrumentality their instrumentality was made “to simplify processes and to trim burden.” 

Mia Sato contributed to reporting.