Texas DMV Sells Personal Information To Hundreds Of Companies; Drivers Not Allowed To Opt-Out

[douglas9]

Fun, dubious, privacy-violating stuff happening out in Texas where the Dept. of Motor Vehicles has made a tidy sum selling the information it collects (including names, addresses and makes/models owned) to a variety of private companies.

The Texas DMV claims its "top priority" is protecting drivers' information, but that hardly seems to be the case when it's pulling in $2.1 million a year selling it off. There are protections in place, but they are flimsy at best.
"The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles is the custodian of over 22 million currently registered vehicles in the state of Texas," Randy Elliston, Director of the Texas DMV, explained. "All of those records that are in our database, however, are protected under the Driver Privacy Protection Act."

Randy Elliston says the Driver Privacy Protection Act (DPPA) limits who can buy your information and what they can do with it.

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130212/21285321958/texas-dmv-sells-personal-information-to-hundreds-companies-drivers-not-allowed-to-opt-out.shtml

[mbperrin]

1. Gosh, yes, I worked in banks ( hey, I was YOUNG) in the early 70s

and we commonly got current addresses on borrowers who were delinquent from the DMV. Seems like it cost a nickel per name (really) back then.

Nothing new here. Texas legislators never have cared a damn about individuals, just their business partners.