The California DMV Is Making $50M a Year Selling Drivers’ Personal Information

Blog Layout

The California DMV Is Making $50M a Year Selling Drivers’ Personal Information

Cerebrum Ltd • July 12, 2020

The California DMV is making $50 Million a Year Selling Driver's Personal Information.

A document obtained by Motherboard shows how DMVs sell people’s names, addresses, and other personal information to generate revenue.

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.

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@jabber.ccc.de, or email joseph.cox@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.

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.

Newer Post >

Why take driving classes?

By Edward Melgar • September 29, 2022

Taking Driving Classes makes you a Better Driver.

REGISTRATION FOR A VEHICLE PURCHASED FROM A PRIVATE PARTY

By DMV • February 3, 2021

If you purchase a vehicle from another person instead of a dealer, it is known as a private party purchase. Buyers have 10 days after purchasing the vehicle to transfer ownership from the seller to themselves, and sellers have 5 days after the sale to report the transfer of ownership to the DMV. To take over ownership of a vehicle, you will need: The vehicle’s title (sometimes referred to as a pink slip), signed by the person selling the car. (Their signature is required on Line 1 of the title.) If the vehicle’s title has been lost, stolen, or damaged, complete an Application for Duplicate or Transfer of Title (REG 227) form. If the seller is not the owner whose name is on the title, you will need a Bill of Sale signed by both the seller and the person whose name appears on the title. A record of the odometer mileage (if the vehicle is less than 10 years old). If the title does not have a line where you can write the mileage information, complete a Vehicle/ Vessel Transfer and Reassignment (REG 262) form. Make sure both the buyer and seller sign the form. A smog certification. Applicable Fees and a use tax. You can transfer ownership of the vehicle by mailing your completed form to DMV or visiting a DMV filed office in person. Please visit DMV for more information: dmv.ca.gov Link Below: https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/vehicle-registration/new-registration/registering-a-vehicle-purchased-from-a-private-party/

Toyota beats Volkswagon to become world's No. 1 car seller in 2020

By Reuters Staff • February 2, 2021

Toyota beast Volkswagon to become worlds No.1 top seller is 2020.

Toyota, Fiat Chrysler drop support for Trump effort to bar California emissions rules

By By David Shepardson • February 2, 2021

Toyota, Fiat Chrysler drop support for Trump effort to bar California emissions rules By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp, Fiat Chrysler and other major automakers said on Tuesday they were joining General Motors in abandoning support for former President Donald Trump’s effort to bar California from setting its own zero emission vehicle rules. The automakers, which also included Hyundai Motor, Kia Motors, Mitsubishi Motors, Mazda Motor and Subaru Corp, said in a joint statement they were withdrawing from an ongoing legal challenge to California’s emission-setting powers, “in a gesture of good faith and to find a constructive path forward” with President Joe Biden. The automakers, along with the National Automobile Dealers Association, said they were aligned “with the Biden administration’s goals to achieve year-over-year improvements in fuel economy standards.” Nissan Motor Co in December withdrew from the challenge after GM’s decision in November shocked the industry and won praise from Biden. On Monday, the Justice Department asked the U.S. Appeals Court for the District of Columbia to put the California emissions litigation on hold to “ensure due respect for the prerogative of the executive branch to reconsider the policy decisions of a prior administration.” Biden has directed agencies to quickly reconsider Trump’s 2019 decision to revoke California’s authority to set its own auto tailpipe emissions standards and require rising numbers of zero-emission vehicles as well as Trump’s national fuel economy rollback. Separately, the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, another auto industry trade group, on Tuesday proposed to start talks with Biden on revised fuel economy standards that would be higher than Trump-era standards but lower than ones set during the prior Democratic administration. The group represents all of automakers that were involved in the legal challenge. The Trump administration in March finalized a rollback of U.S. Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards to require 1.5% annual increases in efficiency through 2026, well below the 5% yearly boosts under the Obama administration rules it discarded. The auto group, representing GM, Toyota, Volkswagen, Honda Motor Co and others, said a new nationwide emissions framework deal “should achieve improvements in GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions roughly midway between current standards and those of the former Obama administration.” Ford Motor Co, Honda, VW and BMW in July 2019 struck a voluntary agreement with California on reducing vehicle emissions that was less stringent than rules previously adopted under Obama but higher than Trump’s rollback.