6 ms·
DMVs in the U.S. are selling drivers’ information to private investigators
- Operyl 7y agoI’m a bit surprised that this came as a surprise to a lot of people. In some states, like Florida, they don’t even need to pay very much for this data and it’s very open via the Voter database.
- rwmurrayVT 7y agoIn Florida you can even get the exact DL# by following the formula and using the DMV website to verify the appended last digit. The last digit is just +1 based on how many people have the same name & year of birth as you.
- woah 7y agoBeware- I’m not entirely sure but changing a URL might be considered criminal “hacking”.
- rwmurrayVT 7y agohttps://services.flhsmv.gov/DLCheck/ https://services.flhsmv.gov/DLCheck/ no 'hacking' required :o Even better... https://services.flhsmv.gov/VirtualOffice/Welcome.aspx https://services.flhsmv.gov/VirtualOffice/Welcome.aspx Just need last name + DoB
- scoobyyabbadoo 7y agoData in voter databases has a lot of restrictions on its usage.
- Operyl 7y agoSure, I'll be sure to go tell that shadowy organization in SomeRandomCountry that they can't do X with it. The reality is, this data is published online freely for look up, they don't need to sign up for it themselves.
- Thorentis 7y agoNot surprised the data is being used for investigations, surprised it's being sold to private investigators. There's a big difference between bribing the person behind the service desk counter to do a license plate lookup, and actually just selling the data for profit.
- m-ee 7y agoFastrak data is also for sale. I thought I remembered reading that someone used it to stalk their ex but I'm having trouble digging that up. https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2019-08-12/toll-road-agencies-privacy https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2019-08-12/toll-road-...
- staticautomatic 7y agoNobody is buying these data directly from DMV offices except for a few gigantic brokers. The PI's, along with lots of other people, are buying it from the brokers.
- rhacker 7y agoI wouldn't be surprised if DMV employees walk into PI offices and do side deals (circumvent the official channel for a discount, and, for the money to flow to the employee directly).
- leemailll 7y agohasn't this been for years? I mean you pay online for this when searching of plate numbers.
- paulie_a 7y agoIf you ask nicely with a sob story you can get it for free. (I was trying to track down my father's 69 mustang not stalk someone)
- aussieguy1234 7y agoThe data includes "a nine-digit ZIP code, date of birth, phone number, and email address". That's just asking for identity fraud.
- paulie_a 7y agoThose details are all public record. They are not exactly useful without more information
- Fnoord 7y ago> Those details are all public record. I don't know about the US, but in the EU this is PII, and therefore falls under GDPR.
- paulie_a 7y agoExcept this is an article regarding the USA so the gdpr is irrelevant. Edit: downvote all you want but the us doesn't follow gdpr. The DMV doesn't serve Europe. Much of the world doesn't have to care about the gdpr. The information sold is all easily accessible from public records and a tiny bit of web scraping. Going back to the original point. It's not that easy to steal identities without actual private information
- staticautomatic 7y agoFYI this is governed by a federal law called the Driver's Privacy Protection Act https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/2721 https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/2721 I have worked with the vendors who procure and sell these data. Happy to answer any questions.
- scoobyyabbadoo 7y agoAny restrictions on use of such data? I know voter registration databases have tons of restrictions
- staticautomatic 7y agoYeah. They are described in section (b)Permissible Uses in the link.
- scoobyyabbadoo 7y agoInteresting, thank you. It seems that the only permitted uses of this are for government-led investigations or to do things related to your car. Any other use without express consent of the individual is expressly prohibited.
- staticautomatic 7y agoThat's not an accurate characterization of the permitted uses. Permitted uses 4, 5, and 6, for example, are all well beyond the scope of what you described.
- tzm 7y agoThe public should know the economics of how their privacy is sold online. What is the price of something like this? Are there any restrictions on use? Do you have an example data license agreement, etc? Do you have example of column definition / schema to understand the scope of data?
- 7y ago