4 ms·

I could be wrong here but I want to say that a driver's license ID number would even be protected under the pre biometric data privacy laws.

tptacek 2y ago
Until pretty recently drivers license ID numbers in many states were effectively public, and if your license was issued at least 10 years ago, it probably still is.
- smittywerben 2y ago
  California was among the first to include driver's license numbers among personal information. The earliest I can find for my state is 2019. I'd not be surprised if some double standards continue to exist where the DMV itself is selling your personal information. > "Personal information" means an individual's first name or first initial and last name in combination with any one or more of the following data elements... > 2. Driver's license number or California Identification Card number. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Senate_Bill_1386_(2002) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Senate_Bill_1386_(2...
  - tptacek 2y ago
    I don't mean simply that the DMV might sell your information; I mean that given your name and some basic information, I can potentially just generate your valid ID. Millions of drivers license IDs are essentially public. It's always a little weird to me to see people treating them like hazmat. I sort of get why? Hazmat whatever you can? But an Illinois drivers license for a 40-year-old is public. Imagine if, until relatively recently, a social security number was a truncated MD5 hash of your name and birthday. That's the flavor of the problem here.
    - smittywerben 2y ago
      Huh, wow, I never thought about how our licenses are encoded. I agree that it is disproportionate relative to the other records. Perhaps it's making the same mistake as SSNs in that people use public or easily generated information to verify identity in the first place.
WarOnPrivacy 2y ago
> I want to say that a driver's license ID number would even be protected The feds made sure our DL data wasn't protected. ref: https://cyberplayground.org/2011/12/07/drivers-privacy-protection-act-of-1994-lets-them-sell-your-information/ https://cyberplayground.org/2011/12/07/drivers-privacy-prote... Florida gets hundreds of millions of dollars each year selling it's residents DL data. ref: https://www.wftv.com/news/local/can-florida-legally-sell-your-dmv-information-third-party-companies/YS7HWLZNMZDHJHP4KLEB6EV7MI/ https://www.wftv.com/news/local/can-florida-legally-sell-you...
SoftTalker 2y ago
Nope. It was pretty common to have them and/or your SSN printed on your personal checks, and if they weren't, the merchants would often ask to see ID and write the numbers on the check themselves.
- judge2020 2y ago
  Your SSN is “not for identification”, but with no national ID it became one anyways. https://images.app.goo.gl/NTMD5jGHsF27nbZRA https://images.app.goo.gl/NTMD5jGHsF27nbZRA
- quesera 2y ago
  Not that many years ago, it was common for your drivers license ID number to be the same as your SSN!
  - SoftTalker 2y ago
    Yep. My SSN was also my student ID number when I was in college.

tptacek 2y ago

Until pretty recently drivers license ID numbers in many states were effectively public, and if your license was issued at least 10 years ago, it probably still is.

smittywerben 2y ago
California was among the first to include driver's license numbers among personal information. The earliest I can find for my state is 2019. I'd not be surprised if some double standards continue to exist where the DMV itself is selling your personal information. > "Personal information" means an individual's first name or first initial and last name in combination with any one or more of the following data elements... > 2. Driver's license number or California Identification Card number. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Senate_Bill_1386_(2002) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Senate_Bill_1386_(2...
- tptacek 2y ago
  I don't mean simply that the DMV might sell your information; I mean that given your name and some basic information, I can potentially just generate your valid ID. Millions of drivers license IDs are essentially public. It's always a little weird to me to see people treating them like hazmat. I sort of get why? Hazmat whatever you can? But an Illinois drivers license for a 40-year-old is public. Imagine if, until relatively recently, a social security number was a truncated MD5 hash of your name and birthday. That's the flavor of the problem here.
  - smittywerben 2y ago
    Huh, wow, I never thought about how our licenses are encoded. I agree that it is disproportionate relative to the other records. Perhaps it's making the same mistake as SSNs in that people use public or easily generated information to verify identity in the first place.

WarOnPrivacy 2y ago

> I want to say that a driver's license ID number would even be protected The feds made sure our DL data wasn't protected. ref: https://cyberplayground.org/2011/12/07/drivers-privacy-protection-act-of-1994-lets-them-sell-your-information/ https://cyberplayground.org/2011/12/07/drivers-privacy-prote... Florida gets hundreds of millions of dollars each year selling it's residents DL data. ref: https://www.wftv.com/news/local/can-florida-legally-sell-your-dmv-information-third-party-companies/YS7HWLZNMZDHJHP4KLEB6EV7MI/ https://www.wftv.com/news/local/can-florida-legally-sell-you...

SoftTalker 2y ago

Nope. It was pretty common to have them and/or your SSN printed on your personal checks, and if they weren't, the merchants would often ask to see ID and write the numbers on the check themselves.

judge2020 2y ago
Your SSN is “not for identification”, but with no national ID it became one anyways. https://images.app.goo.gl/NTMD5jGHsF27nbZRA https://images.app.goo.gl/NTMD5jGHsF27nbZRA
quesera 2y ago
Not that many years ago, it was common for your drivers license ID number to be the same as your SSN!
- SoftTalker 2y ago
  Yep. My SSN was also my student ID number when I was in college.