The USDA wants states to hand over food stamp data by the end of July; NPR, July 19, 2025

Jude Joffe-Block, NPR ; The USDA wants states to hand over food stamp data by the end of July

"When Julliana Samson signed up for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to help afford food as she studied at the University of California, Berkeley, she had to turn in extensive, detailed personal information to the state to qualify.

Now she's worried about how that information could be used.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has made an unprecedented demand to states to share the personal information of tens of millions of federal food assistance recipients by July 30, as a federal lawsuit seeks to postpone the data collection...

She and three other SNAP recipients, along with a privacy organization and an anti-hunger group, are challenging USDA's data demand in a federal lawsuit, arguing the agency has not followed protocols required by federal privacy laws. Late Thursday, they asked a federal judge to intervene to postpone the July 30 deadline and a hearing has been scheduled for July 23.

"I am worried my personal information will be used for things I never intended or consented to," Samson wrote recently as part of an ongoing public comment period for the USDA's plan. "I am also worried that the data will be used to remove benefits access from student activists who have views the administration does not agree with."

Trump knocks down barriers around personal data, raising alarm; The Hill, June 25, 2025

 AMALIA HUOT-MARCHAND, The Hill ; Trump knocks down barriers around personal data, raising alarm

"The Trump administration is shattering norms around the handling of Americans’ personal — and sometimes private — information, dismantling barriers around data in the name of government efficiency and rooting out fraud. 

Privacy experts say the moves bring the country closer to a surveillance state, increase the government’s vulnerability to cyberattacks and risk pushing people away from public services. 

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has sought and nearly always received access to Social Security numbers, addresses, medical histories, tax histories, welfare benefits, bank accounts, immigration statuses and federal employee databases.

These moves have shattered walls that have long kept data within the agencies that collect it."

Does the Federal Government Have a Right to States’ Data?; Government Technology, May 14, 2025

Julia Edinger , Government Technology; Does the Federal Government Have a Right to States’ Data?

"A federal executive order (EO) issued in March has created questions about the government’s right to access states’ data — especially in cases where that information was collected with a promise of privacy.

Governments have increasingly prioritized inclusive data collection practices, taking into consideration things like disability and gender identity — in part as preparation for AI deployment. This shift broadens the need for governments to protect privacy, especially as federal data collection by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) creates concerns.

A March 20 EO issued by President Donald Trump, "Stopping Waste, Fraud, and Abuse by Eliminating Information Silos," raises questions for some.

“[The EO] … said that federally funded state programs will be required to report personal data to the federal government,” said Elizabeth Laird, director of equity in civic technology for the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), who described the new rule as a “significant shift.”...

This EO is relevant to both state and local agencies, Laird said, noting the EO did not specify what type of information and which programs will be impacted. The risk, she said, is that data that was collected for one intent could be used for another without the explicit consent of those who provided it."

MUSK, TRUMP PROSECUTOR TARGETING PEOPLE WHO DIVULGE IDENTITIES OF DOGE STAFF; Rolling Stone, February 3, 2025

MILES KLEE , Rolling Stone; MUSK, TRUMP PROSECUTOR TARGETING PEOPLE WHO DIVULGE IDENTITIES OF DOGE STAFF

"As a cabal of Elon Musk flunkies works around the clock to infiltrate and sabotage various federal agencies on behalf of President Donald Trump, the world’s richest man — just named a special government employee — is warning along with Washington allies that the consequences for publicly naming these staffers may be severe.

On Sunday, with Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) seizing control of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the billionaire vowing to eliminate it altogether, Wired reported the identities of six software engineers with jobs in his wrecking crew. They span in age from 19 to their mid-twenties and have minimal government experience (if any), though most have connections to either Musk or his onetime PayPal colleague Peter Thiel, another right-wing Silicon Valley billionaire whose data analytics firm Palantir holds valuable U.S. defense contracts. They are Akash Bobba, Edward Coristine, Luke Farritor, Gautier Cole Killian, Gavin Kliger, and Ethan Shaotran.

These young men have been involved in Musk’s sweeping efforts to gain access to the communication systems, personnel files, and other sensitive information at agencies including USAID, the Treasury Department, the Office of Personnel Management, the General Services Administration, and the Small Business Administration, in certain cases freezing employees out of their work accounts and putting others on leave... 

Musk, who professes to champion free speech but has typically clamped down on content shared via his social media platform X if he doesn’t want it publicly disseminated, has already moved to silence those who share the names of DOGE team members carrying out his orders to wrest control of the levers of federal spending."