***For Immediate Release***
September 17, 2025
Contact: Sierra Salgado Pirigyi
Communications Director, Nebraska Appleseed
Office: (402) 438-8853 ext 116
sierrasp@neappleseed.org
RELEASE: Nebraska DHHS unlawfully shared private SNAP data with USDA in July 2025
LINCOLN, NE – In May 2025, the US Department of Agriculture and DOGE sent notices to all states requiring them to hand over the personal data of SNAP recipients in their state from 2020-2025 including names, addresses, and social security numbers. The USDA demand was both sweeping and unprecedented, immediately raising concerns from advocates about privacy and the potential for the administration to use this information for harmful and potentially unlawful purposes, including for immigration enforcement. The USDA threatened to withhold federal dollars if states did not turn over information by July 30, 2025.
On July 28, 2025, a coalition of 21 states and Washington D.C. filed a lawsuit against the USDA arguing that the USDA has not followed protocols outlined in various federal privacy laws and demanding this data is not within the USDA’s own authority. That lawsuit is ongoing.
In addition, Kansas Governor Laura Kelly is refusing to turn over Kansas’s SNAP data after multiple letters and threats from the USDA. The USDA has indicated that it will withhold $10.4M in food assistance funds unless their unlawful demands are met by Friday, September 19, 2025.
According to information obtained this week through an open records request, Nebraska Appleseed has confirmed that Nebraska state officials complied with the request and shared Nebraska SNAP participants’ sensitive personal information on July 28, 2025.
Nebraska Appleseed’s Food and Nutrition Access Program Manager, Eric Savaiano, issued the following statement in response:
“When people apply for SNAP, they do so with the expectation that their personal data is being used for the purposes of accessing food assistance, not enabling harmful and potentially unlawful government surveillance efforts. People share their information because it will help them access food – something that is becoming harder and harder because of grocery price increases and tariffs.
We understand the pressure Nebraska was under to comply, but our neighbors in Kansas are standing on principle and not giving in to unlawful demands or threats of retaliation from the USDA and the Trump administration. We stand with Nebraska SNAP participants who are the real victims of this data breach and reject any actions that take away Nebraskans’ privacy or safety.”
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