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Privacy United States

Florida's DMV Made $77 Million -- By Selling Off Personal Information (wptv.com) 142

Posted by EditorDavid from the sunshine-but-not-privacy dept.
Florida's Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles "made $77 million in 2017 by selling drivers' personal information to more than 30 private companies, including marketing firms, bill collectors, insurance companies and data brokers..." according to local news site.

schwit1 shared this report from WPTV: A Florida woman is blaming the state government for an onslaught of robocalls and direct mail offers â"- accusations that come as the Scripps station WFTS in Tampa uncovered that the DMV makes millions by selling Florida drivers' personal information to outside companies, including marketing firms.

WFTS I-Team Investigator Adam Walser obtained records showing the state sold information on Florida drivers and ID cardholders to more than 30 private companies, including marketing firms, bill collectors, insurance companies and data brokers in the business of reselling information.
They also report that the woman was illiterate, and "had no digital footprint â" until she got an ID." But within days, her legal guardian reports she was "receiving direct mail offers for lawn service, credit cards, cell phones and insurance. She also now receives constant robocalls and salespeople have even started showing up at her door."

And their investigation revealed more damning details. One data broker said their firm "has an agreement with the state to buy driver and ID cardholder data for a penny a record." A promotional video on their web site brags they have "access to 2.5 billion customers and two-thirds of the world's population."

Though it may be possible to opt-out of data collection from individual marketing companies, a spokesperson for the state of Florida "said there's no way for drivers to opt out if they don't want their personal information sold."
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Florida's DMV Made $77 Million -- By Selling Off Personal Information More

Florida's DMV Made $77 Million -- By Selling Off Personal Information

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  • Florida posts all mugshots on the internet (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 13, 2019 @04:40PM (#58921010)

    They obviously don't give a shit about people's privacy. You could say "well those are criminals and it's public record" well ok, but it shows what Florida thinks about residents' privacy. This doesn't surprise me at all. Florida is like bizarro Republican California. Terrible place.

    • Re:Florida posts all mugshots on the internet (Score:4, Insightful)

      by dryeo ( 100693 ) on Sunday July 14, 2019 @12:08AM (#58922320)

      They obviously don't give a shit about people's privacy. You could say "well those are criminals and it's public record" well ok, but it shows what Florida thinks about residents' privacy. This doesn't surprise me at all. Florida is like bizarro Republican California. Terrible place.

      Since they haven't been convicted and even charges may be dropped, they're not criminals and should have privacy, at least till showing up in a pubic courtroom.
      Innocent until proved guilty thing, and even then the innocent get convicted occasionally.

      • Quite a few states do this, used to like perusing the mugshot page of the local rag just to put faces to alleged crimes. Most were DUI's, but quite a few domestic violence and larceny also.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by dryeo ( 100693 )

          Doesn't really happen here in Canada, with the exception of high profile cases. When I lived in a small town, the local paper would publish names of those who ended up in court as that was public (no cameras allowed) but that was the second step in the arrest and charges procedure where bail and such is set. Minor crimes like DUI are handled with promises to appear so the first court appearance can be months after being charged.
          I don't agree with publishing arrest info as being arrested does not mean guilty

  • So state departments are 'for-profit' now? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Sebby ( 238625 ) on Saturday July 13, 2019 @04:45PM (#58921018)
    I guess there's already a law that permits this with minimal/no info given to citizens, but I'm guessing that since they have the data, state departments see it as an 'asset' that can be sold/profited from, rather than simply info for the sole purpose of administering the functions of that department...

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by jythie ( 914043 )
      A lot of people are in favor of this idea... I guess the theory is that private companies are the ideal form of organization and everything should be measured against that, so the more 'for profit' a government agency acts, the better it is. Same reason we keep electing CEOs and such to government positions, some warped idea that if they are successful in that environment they should do well in the completely different public space by making it more private.
    • A lot of government services are being moved to a model where they're expected to pay for themselves. The Post Office is perhaps the most visible of these.

      This is, of course, the antithesis of the point of having public services in the first place, but some people like that.

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by gtall ( 79522 )

        Credit that to Reagan who campaigned on the Federal government being out to get you, so their services should be farmed out to companies who have a financial incentive to be out to get you.

        Local Republicans caught the hint and it was off to the races for "monetizing" citizens and then collecting the campaign contributions from the companies "blessed" with the monetization franchises...it's free speech, y'know.

  • Will Congress look into this like Facebook? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Sebby ( 238625 ) on Saturday July 13, 2019 @04:47PM (#58921022)
    Congress looked into Facebook's gross privacy violations - will it also look into Florida's DMV actions?

    • Congress looked into Facebook's gross privacy violations - will it also look into Florida's DMV actions?

      Well, it isn't just FL that does this....a LOT of states do this.

      Not only that, the Postal Service sells info too...on all of us.

    • Congress looked into Facebook's gross privacy violations - will it also look into Florida's DMV actions?

      No. They won't. It's not their thing. The state legislators should be looking in to it, not the US Congress. They have much bigger things to deal with (like Facebook.)

      • They have much bigger things to deal with (like Facebook.)

        Yes, because when a man dies because he can't afford his medication, at least he can take some solace in the knowledge that our government was hard at work at preventing marketers from sending him advertisements.

        I mean seriously, if your most pressing concern in life is that marketers are building profiles on you so they can try to sell you crap, you might want to check your privilege. Just sayin'.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Congress looked into Facebook's gross privacy violations - will it also look into Florida's DMV actions?

      It is not the job of Congress nor the legislative branch of government. It is the job of the People (perhaps in the form of the ACLU or another organization dedicated to protecting constitutional rights ) to bring a lawsuit against the State of Florida for unconstitutional violation of privacy and the 4th Amendment, to be considered by a jury and presided over by a US District Court judge, likely in one of the US Districts in Florida.

      The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, an

    • Congress looked into Facebook's gross privacy violations - will it also look into Florida's DMV actions?

      I mentioned this in my post the other day, and some idiot modded it down as "Troll". If the government really cared about protecting people from personal information being sold to marketers, they wouldn't do it themselves. The Facebook thing is just a legalized version of the mob "protection money" shakedown, with a veneer of it being done for the public good.

      Get a speeding ticket in Florida and you'll soon discover your mailbox full of junk mail for various traffic schools. Nothing will be done about th

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by gtall ( 79522 )

      Won't matter, with Donald "The Grifter" Trump in the White House, a few paying visits to the "right" golf courses and stays the "right" hotels will result in zero being done. The Republicans in Congress will find a way to "support" the idea of selling citizen info as "good for America" because of all the jobs it will create.

  • Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Saturday July 13, 2019 @04:49PM (#58921032)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • Big savings! (Score:5, Insightful)

      by DogDude ( 805747 ) on Saturday July 13, 2019 @05:01PM (#58921096)
      In 2018, Florida had a population of a little over 21m. If 3/4 of those people are drivers, then that means that Floridians saved a whopping $4.88 each! Yay! Good for them! Sure, your data gets sold to everybody with a pulse, but $4.88?!?!! I hope that Floridians are basking in their newfound wealth.

      • Assuming that tax cuts are distributed equally (Score:5, Insightful)

        by rsilvergun ( 571051 ) on Saturday July 13, 2019 @05:43PM (#58921230)
        they're not. A few at the top got $76 million in tax cuts and the remaining $1 million (or less) would get divvied up with the rest.

        I'm reminded of an old joke: Two workers are sitting at a table with a rich man. There's 12 cookies on the table. The rich man scoops up 10 cookies and gobbles 'em down. Then he turns to one of the two workers and says "Hey, better watch out, that guy's gonna steal your cookie".

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by DogDude ( 805747 )
          Yup, you're right of course. My example was a *best* case scenario.

        • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

          by Anonymous Coward

          A rich man was riding in his limousine when he saw two men along the roadside eating grass.
          Disturbed by the sight he ordered his driver to stop and he got out to investigate. He asked one man: "Why are you eating grass?"

          The poor man replied: "We don't have any money for food. We have to eat grass."

          "Well then, you can come with me to my house and I'll feed you," the rich man said.

          "But sir, I have a wife and two children with me. They are over there, under that tree."

          "Bring them along," Turning to the other p

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by shanen ( 462549 )

      I think you're confusing the sales pitch with the reality of the inferior product. Most advertising is bullshit because the last increments of real quality are quite expensive. Much more profitable to sell average toothpaste as superior. However in politics it has gotten even worse than that because explicitly negative advertising is even cheaper and more effective. Fear is the most powerful motivator. You don't even have to pretend that your own candidate is a good person as long as you can lie loudly enou

    • So your claim is that if we just give more money and power to the government they will behave better?

      I am skeptical.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by hey! ( 33014 )

        The thing to do is look at similar countries and see what the tax burden is. The US is somewhat below the OECD average in tax burden on a median worker, but Canada is even lower, so I'd say Canadians are getting a better deal than we are. On the other hand, take Norway, the president's favorite example of a non-shithole country. The median worker there pays a bit more than the OECD average. The same goes for Denmark and even more so Finland.

        Again, these Nordic countries are pretty well-run, but you can'

    • The only positive aspect of this is that Florida has a higher than average percentage of the generations that started the "starve the government, what could possibly go wrong?" mentality.

      The problems from this mentality are staring us right in the face, and Florida still voted in 2018 to elect a Trump lackey as Governor. We're still rejecting the ACA subsidies, which means if you're low-income and can't afford healthcare, too fucking bad (Gillum tried to explain this to voters, but all most of 'em heard was "Blah blah blah socialism blah blah blah!"). Don't even get me started on I4 Ultimate - it doesn't get much more corrupt than expanding a public interstate with toll lanes. That shoul

  • The issue with Florida (Score:5, Informative)

    by TuballoyThunder ( 534063 ) on Saturday July 13, 2019 @04:54PM (#58921064)
    Is that they have an open records law. Almost all records (there are a few exceptions likes divorce decrees, banking account information, law enforcement officers) are available to the public. The local governments are able to charge a fee to cover the cost of providing the data, but they cannot hold back the data.

    In general the law is a good thing because it makes it more complicated to hide things. In practice it makes people who cannot afford to keep their information private visible while those who can afford the various methods or are are willing to break the law keep their information private.

    The Florida Sunshine Law is one of the reason why Florida buffoonery is in the news. Police reports and mugshots are available to public and news reporters will follow the low-energy path.

  • Marketting is one of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse. It is Pestilence

  • surprised they were able to sell it (Score:3)

    by RhettLivingston ( 544140 ) on Saturday July 13, 2019 @06:22PM (#58921390) Journal
    Florida makes virtually all data public. The sunshine laws here are the most extreme of any of the seven states I've lived in. For example, voter registrations are searchable online listing every registered voter, often across multiple years, their address, and their birthdates. You can look up the owner of any property on public sites. You can easily access the records of every time any property has sold, the tax assessments, and also the details, including submitted designs, of every permit to do work on that property. Court transcripts are often available online by the time you exit the court. And on and on and on.
  • I don't live in Florida and I don't care if what they did is legal or not they should not be allowed to do that!
    Fire everyone involved with it.
    • A Florida form for bidding on a gov't contract asked for phone numbers and email addresses of lots of company positions. One of our sales staff put the real contact info instead of the throw away spam bait ones. My internal email address never got spam until then. First I got spam advertising help with bidding on Florida gov't contracts. Then federal contracts - then other states - then gov't service spam - then regular spam started from those same servers. That address peaked at 10,000 a day making it usel
  • Since their tax dollars funded this, it just makes sense that the 77 million should be divided up amongst the taxpayers.

  • This is not new (Score:4, Interesting)

    by john.r.strohm ( 586791 ) on Saturday July 13, 2019 @09:45PM (#58922010)

    In 1985, I bought a used car in Fort Worth TX. I registered the title. The title clerk misspelled my name.

    A few weeks later, I started getting TONS of junk mail come-ons for everything under the sun, all addressed to that misspelled name.

    This crap is not new, and, as long as state governments can make money doing it, it will continue.

  • Ohio, too. (Score:3)

    by uvajed_ekil ( 914487 ) on Sunday July 14, 2019 @03:01AM (#58922654)
    Never a state to be left out of a bad idea, it recently came to light that Ohio has been surreptitiously selling driver license pictures (at least) to the FBI. I haven't yet heard if the associated dollar amounts have been uncovered but it has been going on for at least three years without citizen approval in any way, shape or form. The Ohio AG has launched an investigation, presumably to see under what authority this was done and why it was kept under wraps. The FBI is interested in pictures for facial recognition, of course, and ICE has definitely been using such data.

  • Ohio does it but seems to deny it (Score:3)

    by Hall ( 962 ) on Sunday July 14, 2019 @01:10PM (#58924904)

    A few years ago, while looking for a car part as well as auto insurance quotes, some sites let you input your vehicle's license plate number. If you do that, it comes back with the vehicle it matches from somewhere and of course wants you to confirm that it's accurate (and it always was). In the case of auto parts, yeah, you had to maybe then select a trim level, etc to fine-tune the results.

    Anyway, the state of Ohio is the only entity that has my license plate number. My insurance agent/company never asks for that. When I had a loan, the financial company never asked for it. Unless I'm missing something, it can only from the state of Ohio. If you go to their website, at least last time I looked, they claim that they do not sell this information though.

  • Who would want to live in this hell on Earth? Seriously...

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