Florida sold citizens’ driver’s license information for $62 million

By Eric W. Dolan
Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011 -- 6:04 pm
rawstory.com

The State of Florida made $62,968,946 from the sale of Floridians driver's license information in the last fiscal year, a practice that has been occurring almost unknown for years.

I-Team investigator Michael George reported that the state's Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles sells drivers' license information, including Floridians full name, date of birth, address, and driver’s license number, to ten different companies.

The companies are Acxiom Information Securities Service, Inc., Choice Point, E-Funds, Explore Information Services, LexisNexis, Line Barge, Goggan, Blair, & Simpson, Inc., SC Services, ShadowSoft, TLO LLC, and West Services Inc.

The department said it only sells the information to companies that intend to use it for legal purposes, and not for marketing or advertising.

American Civil Liberties Union attorney Shelbi Day told George that the sale of Florida citizens' personal information was a violation of privacy rights. “I would assume that most Floridians have no idea that this is even occurring, and I think that most would be deeply disturbed,” Day added.

A group of Florida residents tried to shut down the state's deal with the companies, but a judge ruled that the sale of citizens' driver's license information was legal and the group has no plans to appeal the decision.