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State Representative Leon Lillie
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-1188
For more information contact: Christina Gosack 651-296-5524
NEWS COLUMN
Legislators and Governor Should Heed Calls to Keep Driver's License Info Private
Recently, the State Attorney General brought a troubling discovery to the public's attention: the driver's license information of Minnesotans is showing up on websites such as publicdata.com, where it is falling into the wrong hands and being used in identity theft crimes. It's not clear exactly how the driver's license data of so many citizens got out. What's important is that we restrict access and protect Minnesotans' privacy.
Federal law requires that driver's license data be available to a limited number of groups who need access to the information. This includes law enforcement agencies; car insurance companies for use in rating drivers; car makers seeking lists of the owners of their vehicles, for example in the event of a recall; and employers of drivers and others doing background checks of applicants.
Under current Minnesota law, driver's license data is restricted to these groups unless the licensee expressly waives the right to privacy.
I support legislation that will be introduced in the House and Senate, with the support of Attorney General Mike Hatch, to ban the bulk sale of driver's license data.
The bill would further limit the sale of individual licensee data. If an individual "opts in" (gives written permission) to the sale of his or her license data, the State would charge a $5.00 fee per name accessed. When the Department did disclose a citizen's name, it would report the name of the requester to the citizen whose data had been disclosed. The fees collected would be used to fund the driver's license bureau and the Minnesota Financial Crimes Task Force.
Such restrictions should logically already be in place. I am hopeful that the attention brought to this problem will bring legislators and the Governor together to protect citizens' privacy.
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