The American Farm Bureau Federation is taking legal action to stop the Environmental Protection Agency from publicly releasing personal information about thousands of farmers and ranchers and their families. The EPA is expected to respond soon to several Freedom of Information Act requests, prompting the organization to file a lawsuit and seek a temporary restraining order. Farm Bureau says protecting farmers’ and ranchers’ right to privacy is a top priority.
The hope is to stall the disclosure of names, home addresses, GPS coordinates and personal contact information until a court can clarify EPA’s obligation to keep personal information about citizens private.
The EPA released personal information about thousands of livestock and poultry farmers and ranchers in 29 states in response to Freedom of Information Act requests from environmental organizations earlier this year. That data often included home phone numbers, home emails, employee contact information, home addresses and even some personal notes about the families. EPA has taken the position with Farm Bureau and others that it doesn’t have any legal obligation under the Freedom of Information Act to keep most of the information private. EPA intends to release additional personal information from farmers in Minnesota, California, Idaho, Nevada, Oklahoma and Washington in response to new requests.