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Privacy advocates urge states not to comply with USDA requests for food stamp data

One payment processor has so far signaled to states that it intends to turn over data about millions of Americans to the federal government even as privacy groups warn that the request is illegal.

The letter cited President Donald Trump's March 20, 2025 executive order, "Stopping Waste, Fraud and Abuse by Eliminating Information Silos," which calls for "unfettered access to comprehensive data from all state programs that receive federal funding" including from "third-party databases." Conduent, the other leading payment processor for SNAP, told NPR in a statement from spokesperson Neil Franz that the company "understands the critical importance of properly handling privacy data." The USDA told NPR in a statement last week that, "All personally identifiable information will comply with all privacy laws and regulations and will follow responsible data handling requirements."

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