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"[The USDA] has never had a nationwide list of everyone receiving SNAP benefits, let alone detailed personal information..."
—Anonymous former USDA official
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Welcome back to Snippets đź‘‹ Here's what's been happening at the intersection of privacy and tech:
- A lawsuit is challenging the USDA's demands for detailed data on SNAP recipients
- The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is backtracking on a Biden-era proposal meant to rein in data brokers
- Google's CEO shares his vision for AI and the future of search
- And so much more!
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USDA sued over demand for SNAP recipients’ private data
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Spencer Platt/Getty Images
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A new lawsuit is challenging the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) demand for personal data on millions of food assistance recipients—claiming it violates federal privacy laws and could be used to target immigrants.
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- The USDA has instructed states to submit detailed personal data for the 40+ million beneficiaries of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) from the past five years, including names, Social Security numbers, and addresses.
- Plaintiffs argue the USDA bypassed legal requirements like public notice, comment, and a privacy impact assessment, potentially violating the Privacy Act.
- Some states are preparing to comply, while others question the legality of the request amid fears it could lead to surveillance or deportations.
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Launching the search for our Digital Executive in Residence!
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From AI initiatives to personalization to global customer experiences, the most successful companies are integrating digital transformations alongside privacy to build real-time permissioning layers that power growth.
That’s why Transcend is starting the search for our Digital Executive in Residence, a critical position that will sit alongside our Field Chief Privacy Officer and CISO in Residence to help guide the privacy community as compliance, growth, and security move closer and closer together.
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The CFPB backtracks on Biden-era data broker proposal
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Adobe Stock
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The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has scrapped a proposed rule to limit data brokers' sale of sensitive consumer information, raising alarms about the Trump administration’s ongoing rollback of data privacy protections.
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- The proposed rule aimed to resolve a loophole in the Fair Credit Reporting Act by requiring brokers to obtain explicit consent before collecting and selling personal data, including Social Security numbers and financial details.
- In a formal notice last week, the CFPB deemed the rule no longer “necessary or appropriate.”
- Experts warn this decision benefits data brokers and undermines efforts to protect Americans from exploitation by cybercriminals, abusers, and foreign adversaries.
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Google CEO Sundar Pichai talks AI ambitions and the future of search
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In an interview following Google's 2025 I/O developer conference, Google CEO Sundar Pichai discussed his expansive vision for AI and its potential impact on the future of search.
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- Pichai said Google is entering a new phase of AI development—one that, powered by models like Gemini, will be able to deliver custom search pages with in-result web apps.
- Describing the shift as "bigger than the internet," Pichai predicted that AI will eventually integrate into the physical world, where it would coexist through hardware like AR glasses and robotics.
- Pichai also called search “sacrosanct”—noting he wouldn’t alter Google’s search ranking system in response to political pressure.
- Noting legal process, he declined to comment directly on the DOJ’s call for a divestiture of Chrome.
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- Signal blocks Microsoft Recall screenshots on Windows 11.
- How LLMs can be improved with user-level differential privacy.
- Apple CEO Tim Cook reportedly tried to influence Texas's online child safety bill.
- A quarter of European organizations have blocked Grok AI.
- Understanding compliance under the newly-formed Consortium of Privacy Regulators.
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Europeans abandoning Big Tech over privacy concerns
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Wired Staff/Getty Images
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Amid growing concerns over privacy and U.S. tech giants’ alignment with the Trump administration, EU consumers and governments are abandoning US-based digital services for a growing market of privacy-focused alternatives.
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- Privacy-focused browsers like Mullvad and Vivaldi emphasize minimal data collection and local data hosting while resisting fingerprinting.
- Search and email alternatives have also multiplied. Engines like Mojeek and Qwant are building their own indexes, while Startpage and Ecosia anonymize searches made through Google or Bing.
- In the email provider space, Switzerland-based ProtonMail and German Tuta offer end-to-end encryption and tracker blocking.
- In France and Germany, the government has developed homegrown alternatives to Google Docs—reflecting wider sentiment in the bloc, where 62% of polled residents view Big Tech as a threat to the continent's sovereignty.
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Healthcare providers could soon face legal risks for not adopting AI
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Photographer: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
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As AI begins outperforming humans in certain medical tasks, experts predict that providers who refuse to use it could soon face legal liability.
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- When AI demonstrably outperforms human judgment, as can sometimes be the case with cancer detection, non-adoption of validated AI tools may eventually constitute malpractice.
- The shift depends on creating 'standard of care' guidelines for using AI in medicine. Once these guidelines are in place, doctors may be required to tell patients if AI is not being used and get their consent.
- Adoption hurdles remain, particularly around workflow integration. But many experts agree that as evidence and clinical guidelines evolve, the legal obligation to adopt AI will follow suit.
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Improving member satisfaction and engagement for a national membership organization 🙌
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A major North American membership organization, serving millions of members with travel, lifestyle, and insurance services, recognized an urgent need to modernize how it managed user data. With a growing focus on privacy, this organization faced increasing complexity in managing consent across its diverse business lines.
To meet these goals, the organization implemented Transcend Consent Management—empowering a 30% increase in member trust and satisfaction and a 20% lift in targeted campaign engagement from better data and personalization.
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