"A law that allowed the sharing of limitless amounts of personal data across the state to find people eligible for CalFresh was rescinded this week. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 593 by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, a Democrat from Oakland, that forbids state and local departments from sharing sensitive personal data to increase food stamp enrollment. But only a year ago, it was Wicks who introduced that same data sharing initiative, to get more people enrolled in CalFresh, the state's federally funded food assistance program."
"Her bill from last year, Assembly Bill 518, granted state and local public entities involved in education, crime, employment, and other areas the authority to override all state privacy laws to share data about people who could potentially get CalFresh. CalFresh is funded by the federal government, run by the state Department of Social Services and administered locally. About 5 million Californians are CalFresh recipients, and the state estimates almost 2 million more are eligible"
Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 593 forbidding state and local departments from sharing sensitive personal data to increase food stamp enrollment. Buffy Wicks previously introduced Assembly Bill 518 to authorize state and local entities in education, crime, employment and other areas to override privacy laws and share data to identify potential CalFresh recipients. CalFresh is federally funded, run by the state Department of Social Services and administered locally. About five million Californians receive CalFresh and nearly two million more are estimated eligible but not enrolled. Around 200,000 college students receive CalFresh, and many applicants face denials and a complex application process. Wicks intended data sharing to identify eligible groups and individuals for targeted outreach and later changed her strategy to limit data sharing.
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