The U.S. federal government is not the only one keeping information about citizens
in public records databases. States have large, comprehensive collections of personal
information, too.
Congress enacted the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act in
1994 after the murder of actress Rebecca Shaeffer. Her assailant had gotten her
address from the California Department of Motor Vehicles. While this law may have
been an overreaction — responsibility for the crime lies squarely with her
assailant — the Shaeffer case shows how personal information in public records
databases can be misused.
Another example comes from Arizona, where the Motor Vehicle Department's
"ServiceArizona" Web site allows Arizonans to register their cars online. In early
1998, the site also allowed visitors to view a list of logs for each day's online
transactions. The list included name and address information, make and model of
car, car value and license-plate number, and owner's credit-card number and
expiration date.
Because responsibility for Rebecca Shaeffer's murder lies with her assailant,
and because it is not known that information from Arizona motor vehicle records was
ever used to harm someone, these cases only exemplify the threat to privacy in state
public records. They also show how governments are in a position to abuse citizens'
information. Because they can demand personal information in exchange for the
privilege of driving, governments lack proper incentives to treat personal
information as precious.
Links:
License to Steal by Liz Garone, Phoenix New Times (April 23,
1998)
Comments? comments@privacilla.org
(Subject: StateDMVRecords)
[updated 04/17/02]
