Late last year the Trump administration threatened states with horrific consequences if they refused to share personal information on every one of their food stamp recipients. [PBS 12/2/25]
Among the problems…
- Food stamps have always been restricted to United States citizens (as evidenced by Social Security numbers and information on date and place of birth) or certified refugees with traceable, registered I.D.
- Food stamp rolls remain subject to USDA audit at virtually any time for any reason.
In other words, what does Washington’s demand accomplish? Not a thing.
Remember that our Constitution does not include a Right To Privacy. That’s why states can sell information on registered voters, drivers, barbers and doctors.
Still the Trumpettes want more. They vacuum every bit of data they can get. They want access to every license plate reader’s data, every internet query, each credit card transaction and everything else they can get. (Don’t forget, they image every piece of mail delivered to your home too. Sign-up for USPS Informed Delivery if you want to see the pictures each day.)
At the same time, Kristi Noem, Donald Trump, et al claim that ICE agents and other federal law enforcement get to hide. They imply it is illegal to photograph agents even when they are in public detaining suspected illegals or shooting civilians. Per Noem, watching agents work is “doxing” them and those who do are “domestic terrorists.” [Ashley Carnahan, FOX News 1/8/26]
Likewise, the Trump administration repeatedly refuses to comply with record requests from Congress, federal courts and other troublemakers citing their need for privacy.
Oh yes, guests at Trump’s Florida resort who buy face time with The Donald get to remain private too.
Ironically the lack of a Right to Privacy has been great for corporate America. All sorts of businesses collect and cross refence information on Americans.
Take SHEER ID
Welcome to the World’s First Audience Data Platform. Sheer ID does what no marketing or customer data platform can do: verify your target audiences and capture valuable permissioned data you can toute to your martech platforms…
They say they collect data from 200,000 sources. Their customers include streaming platforms, cruise lines, sneaker makers and – probably – the Trump administration.
Big Brother says “Hi.”
Glenn