REVENUE STREAMSIf living in the information age has
taught us anything, it’s that our
personal information is not safe in the
hands of private companies. It’s some-
what more disconcerting to learn that
our information is not safe in the hands
of the government, either. An inves-
tigation by Vice found that, in several
states, the Department of Motor Vehi-
cles (DMV) supplements its income by
selling drivers’ personal information—
including their names, dates of birth,
addresses, and the cars they own—to
third parties.
Florida’s motor-vehicle-licensing
department made $77 million that way
in 2017, and California’s DMV made
$52 million. And they’re not the only ones. DMVs across the
country—including those in Delaware, Indiana, New Jersey,
Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin, among others—are
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This is legal under a 1994 federal law known as the Driver’s
Privacy Protection Act (DPPA). The law was intended to limit
public access to personal data after a woman was murdered by a
stalker who had hired a private investigator to obtain her address
from DMV records. But the DPPA outlines 14 exceptions to the
limitations on selling and disclosing data, including one for PIs.
Grin and
Bear It
Registration fees aren’t the only
way you’re helping fund the DMV.
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state’s lax attitude toward privacy could be adding
to your pile of junk mail. In addition to manufac-
turers informing you of recalls, companies may
purchase your address to send you advertisements
for auto loans, extended warranty coverage, and
other things no one wants. For another, once your
information has been sold to a third party, it can be
sold again and again. As if making a trip to the DMV
weren’t bad enough. —Annie WhiteSENATORS SPEAK OUT
“This is just another example
of how unwitting consumers
are to the ways in which their
data is collected, sold or
shared, and commercialized.”
—Mark Warner (D-Va.)“The DMV should not use
its trove of personal
information as a tool to
make money.”
—Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)“DMVs should not be in the
business of recklessly selling
drivers’ personal information
to third parties.”
—Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.)“Congress should take a close
look at the Driver’s Privacy
Protection Act and, if necessary,
close loopholes that are being
abused to spy on Americans.”
—Ron Wyden (D-Ore.)18
HEADSHOTS^ BY^ GETTYIMAGES:^ BRYANBEDDER,STEVENFERDMAN,TERESAKROEGER,^MIKECOPPOLAPHOTOGRAPH BY ROY RITCHIE ~ APRIL 2020 ~ CAR AND DRIVER