AG Brown files a lawsuit against Fidelity Information Services to protect the personal data of people who apply for or receive food assistance benefits

SEATTLE – Attorney General Nick Brown today filed a breach of contract lawsuit against Fidelity Information Services (FIS) to block the company from illegally disclosing the private, personal data of more than one million Washington residents who receive or applied for food assistance benefits to the federal government for its deportation efforts.

Since 2015, FIS has served as the contractor for Washington’s Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) to deliver benefit payments to recipients. DSHS administers food assistance programs including the federally funded Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the state-funded Food Assistance Program (FAP). FAP provides food benefits to people who would be eligible for SNAP but are excluded from the federal program because of their immigration status.

“People who need food assistance for themselves and their families should be able to trust that their data will be protected and kept private,” Brown said. “If a contractor fails to uphold the terms they’ve agreed to, we will hold them accountable under the law.”

Washington law requires that the information of public benefits applicants and recipients be protected from unauthorized disclosure or improper use. Additionally, the contract with FIS requires the company to get DSHS’s express written consent before disclosing this information and to follow DSHS policies and rules protecting recipients’ information.

Nevertheless, FIS informed DSHS on May 9 that it intended to turn over the personal data of SNAP cardholders and data about transactions to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). That came in the wake of guidance from USDA incorrectly claiming it could use federal food benefits law to obtain SNAP data directly from contractors, rather than state agencies, to use for the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement efforts.

DSHS told FIS on May 14 that the agency does not consent to the disclosure of confidential information to USDA, and FIS initially pledged that it would refrain from sharing the data until authorized. But since then, as USDA has continued its efforts to collect personal data of SNAP recipients, FIS failed to respond to repeated requests from DSHS asking for confirmation that it would not turn over any data without DSHS’s express consent.

In the complaint, filed in Thurston County Superior Court, Brown argues that DSHS is entitled to a court order blocking FIS from disclosing confidential information to USDA and a declaration that unauthorized disclosure would constitute a breach of contract. The complaint also asks the court to determine that any unauthorized disclosure of confidential and personally identifiable information would violate the Washington Consumer Protection Act and the Washington Law Against Discrimination.

Brown is asking the court to order FIS not to disclose any confidential information to any third party without the express written consent of DSHS.

A copy of the complaint is available here.

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