WTVT, the Fox O&O in Tampa, Fla., aired an investigation into how the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles has been selling private driver records in bulk to more than 75 companies — large and small — without knowing how the federally protected information is actually being used by the buyer. The station’s […]
WTVT, the Fox O&O in Tampa, Fla., aired an investigation into how the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles has been selling private driver records in bulk to more than 75 companies — large and small — without knowing how the federally protected information is actually being used by the buyer.
The station’s investigation prompted Florida Senator Bill Nelson to call for a federal investigation, calling the practice “unconscionable.”
In the past two years, the state DHSMV brought in $150 million from bulk sales of driver information about its 15.5 million licensed drivers and 18 million registered vehicles.
All information about drivers’ records — including home address, date of birth and details about the individual’s car — is private and protected under the federal Driver Privacy Protection Act.
In a letter Nelson wrote to U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch, he requested that her agency investigate the state’s actions, saying: “In this new era, when identity thieves are causing real damage to millions of hardworking families, the fact that the state is making a profit by selling Floridians’ personal information on the open market is simply unconscionable.”
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