Privacy: US Vehicle and License Agencies Pimp You Out for $Millions

[grarpamp]

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/evjekz/the-california-dmv-is-making-dollar50m-a-year-selling-drivers-personal-information

Not to mention simply giving you away to all other agencies.
And just where is your cut and brokering root of authority in this?
Nope, it's ass up for you, and been going on for decades,
you must enjoy it, you even told them where to come get
more anytime they want.


The California DMV Is Making $50M a Year Selling Drivers’ Personal Information
A document obtained by Motherboard shows how DMVs sell people’s names,
addresses, and other personal information to generate revenue.

by Joseph Cox
Nov 25 2019, 4:05pm

The California Department of Motor Vehicles is generating revenue of
$50,000,000 a year through selling drivers’ personal information,
according to a DMV document obtained by Motherboard.

DMVs across the country are selling data that drivers are required to
provide to the organization in order to obtain a license. This
information includes names, physical addresses, and car registration
information. California’s sales come from a state which generally
scrutinizes privacy to a higher degree than the rest of the country.

In a public record acts request, Motherboard asked the California DMV
for the total dollar amounts paid by commercial requesters of data for
the past six years. The responsive document shows the total revenue in
financial year 2013/14 as $41,562,735, before steadily climbing to
$52,048,236 in the financial year 2017/18.

The document doesn't name the commercial requesters, but some specific
companies appeared frequently in Motherboard's earlier investigation
that looked at DMVs across the country. They included data broker
LexisNexis and consumer credit reporting agency Experian. Motherboard
also found DMVs sold information to private investigators, including
those who are hired to find out if a spouse is cheating. It is unclear
if the California DMV has recently sold data to these sorts of
entities.
california-dmv-document
A screenshot of the DMV document obtained by Motherboard. Image: Motherboard.

In an email to Motherboard, the California DMV said that requesters
may also include insurance companies, vehicle manufacturers, and
prospective employers.

Asked if the sale of this data was essential to the DMV, Marty
Greenstein, public information officer at the California DMV, wrote
that its sale furthers objectives related to highway and public
safety, "including availability of insurance, risk assessment, vehicle
safety recalls, traffic studies, emissions research, background
checks, and for pre- and existing employment purposes."

"The DMV takes its obligation to protect personal information very
seriously. Information is only released pursuant to legislative
direction, and the DMV continues to review its release practices to
ensure information is only released to authorized persons/entities and
only for authorized purposes. The DMV also audits requesters to ensure
proper audit logs are maintained and that employees are trained in the
protection of DMV information and anyone having access to this
information sign a security document," Greenstein wrote.

Do you know anything else about data selling? We'd love to hear from
you. Using a non-work phone or computer, you can contact Joseph Cox
securely on Signal on +44 20 8133 5190, Wickr on josephcox, OTR chat
on jfcox at jabber.ccc.de, or email joseph.cox at vice.com.

Multiple other DMVs around the U.S. previously confirmed to
Motherboard that they have cut-off data access for some commercial
requesters after they abused the data.

One of the main pieces of legislation that governs the sale of DMV
data stemmed from a case in California. Lawmakers introduced the
Driver's Privacy Protection Act (DPPA) in 1994 after a private
investigator hired by a stalker obtained the address of actress
Rebecca Schaeffer from the DMV. The stalker went on to kill Schaeffer.
The DPPA was designed to restrict access to DMV data, but included a
wide array of exemptions, including for private investigators.

After Motherboard's earlier investigation, senators and digital
privacy experts criticized the sale of DMV data, and some said the law
should be changed. Senator and Democratic Presidential candidate
Bernie Sanders said DMVs should not profit from such information.