We Don’t Need a National Data Center of the Poor
“Now, legislation advancing in the House of Representatives would establish what amounts to a National Data Center of the Poor: a national database of allrecipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps). Under the proposal, the Department of Agriculture, with the assistance of private vendors, would amass the highly sensitive information—Social Security numbers, asset information, birthdates, and more—of the more than 40 million individuals receiving food assistance. Because SNAP has a high turnover rate as people find better jobs and leave the program, roughly 60 million people would have their information included in this database over the course of a year.”