Home » About » Newsletters » March 1999
The ACLU and Privacy of Motor Vehicle Records
Without any debate and little public awareness, the 1998 Florida Legislature authorized the sale of photographs and other personal data from Florida drivers licenses (including Social Security Numbers, date of birth, and gender and racial information) for about a penny a piece to Image Data, Inc., a small New Hampshire company.
The ostensible purpose of the program was to compile a file of the images of Florida citizens to be used by private commercial establishments to help prevent consumer fraud and identity theft. Then, in February, it was revealed that Image Data had received a $1.5 million grant from the federal government and technical assistance from the U.S. Secret Service to develop the drivers license photo files into a national databank to combat terrorism, immigration problems and consumer fraud. This is a classic example of personal information obtained from the public for one purpose and then shared with and used by other governmental and nongovernment agencies without the public's knowledge or consent.
The ACLU of Florida wrote to Gov. Bush urging that he cancel the contract with Image Data, which he did, and to also urge the Legislature to repeal the law authorizing the sale of personal information on millions of Floridians, which he has yet to do. ACLU's letter to Gov. Bush can be accessed on our web site at www.aclufl.org, or you can request a copy by calling or writing the ACLU office.
Florida law provides some protection from the disclosure of personal information contained in your motor vehicle title, registration, driver license and Florida identification card. Personal information will not be released, for example, to marketing programs, except to individuals or companies which qualify under one of the exemptions provided by law.
You can obtain the form "Request to Withhold Disclosure of Personal Information" from the State of Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (Driver Privacy Protection Act Requests, P.O. Box 7850, Tallahassee, Florida 323147850) or by accessing their web page at www.hsmv.state.fl.us/ddl/dppa.html
