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Personal information of 7.2 million Tennessee drivers sold to companies by state agency


YOUR PRIVACY FOR SALE
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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WZTV) -It used to be oil, silver, and gold were the must-have commodity for businesses and investors. In the 21st century, your personal data is in many respects just as valuable.

Thanks to algorithms behind our online shopping habits, search queries, and social media profiles, the world has become more connected and in many ways easier. But in order to know what might fit your needs, these algorithms need data; your data.

While it is no surprise services we willingly use collect our information, it may come as a surprise your government is also part of the data-selling market. In specific, your driver's license information.

In Tennessee, the Department of Safety and Homeland Security -which oversees driver's licenses, sells your information to four companies, generating nearly $1 million in revenue. The sale of personal information is legal under the Federal Driver Privacy Protection Act of 1994 and the Tennessee Uniform Motor Vehicle Records Disclosure Act.

Under the department's rules of regulation, the department can sell bulk data "on all drivers in Tennessee," according to Director of Communications Wes Moster.

FOX 17 News reached out to the department asking if and how personal data of Tennessee drivers is sold to businesses. After citing the federal and state acts involving records, the department provided the following statement:

"These sales of bulk data are regulated under the Department’s rules at 1340-08-01-.04. Under these rules, the Department can provide information on all drivers in Tennessee at the time of the request, other than the social security number. Companies that request this information include insurance support organizations and other authorized entities. The Department receives anywhere from $62,000-77,000 a month for preparing this information for the authorized recipient depending on quarterly/monthly billing. The remaining is revenue related to individuals pulling data records, which is less than $1,000 each month.

When the Department receives a request for a driver’s information, the Department only provides such information if the requestor is authorized to receive it under state and federal law," Moster said. Based on records, the department reports 7.2 million licenses have been included in this "bulk data." This includes valid licenses, revoked and suspended licenses, and even drivers who used to live in Tennessee but have transferred out of state.

The next question we posed to the department was which companies were receiving our data? The department listed five companies: Acxiom Corporation, Drivers History, Explore Information Services, Lexis Nexis, and Samba Holdings.

As the department states, many of the companies provide insurance or risk-management services. Samba Safety for example, states on their website they provide driver risk management software for employers and insurance providers by "collecting, correlating, and analyzing motor vehicle records."

According to the company profile on their website, Explore Data provides support for insurance companies and employers, to determine your insurability.

In addition, the data of Tennessee drivers is also sold to Acxiom Corporation, a company which creates targeted marketing campaigns. The company is self-described as "A leader in ethical data use and identity for more than 45 years, Acxiom is dedicated to helping marketers achieve superior business results by creating experiences that deepen customer connections." The website also touts Acxiom's reach, stating it has data on 68% of the world's digital population.

According to a New York Times opinion piece last year, Acxiom Corporation is the "nation's largest data broker," worth over $2 billion and holds 500 million consumer profiles. The company lists Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, Pandora, Spotify, Roku, and Verizon Media among its partners. FOX 17 News reached out to the company twice but did not receive a reply.

Tennessee Code 55-25-107 also extends the release of your data to a licensed private investigative agency or licensed security service. That same code outlines other aspects of the law when it comes to releasing your data. Recalls, advisories, monitoring the performance of vehicles, and vehicle theft are other reasons your personal information might be released.

If you look at the application for a Tennessee driver's license, wedged in the middle of the form is a question asking for consent to release your personal information from your driver's record. Although you can refuse to give consent for release when it comes to "individual lookup" or for "mailing advertising," Tennesseans cannot block release for other reasons.

As stated from the department, "The DPPA (Driver Privacy Protection Act) through Federal and Tennessee state law requires that personal driver information be kept confidential. However, the DPPA and the corresponding state statue authorize disclosures for certain purposes. Citizens can authorize the release of their information by checking “yes” on question #9 on their driver license application for “mailing advertising option” and “individual lookup.” The state law is 55-25-101 et seq., the Federal law is 18 USC Section 2721 et seq. The laws do not contain a provision for citizens to block the release of their information for any other purpose."

Individual request and mailing are the key words in the question but there is no specification when it comes to companies, businesses, or firms. Therefore, even if you check no, these five companies still get your information. When asked if Tennesseans would be surprised at the revelation, Moster said "I think they would be surprised. There's not an opt out option under the federal or state law. So again, the department is authorized to provide that information to companies that are authorized to received that information."

Moster added, "any changes to the federal or state law, the measures will need to be taken up by the lawmakers either federal or state."

FOX 17 News turned to a lawmaker whose committee oversees the Department of Safety in the state. Dan Howell, Chairman of the Tennessee House Transportation Committee says as a result of our report, they will be examining the issue. "The legislature in an interest to correct a situation may run into something later that's called unintended consequences and that could be the situation here and we're looking into It. I have talked to the department of safety about it," Howell says.

Others had a much more direct response to the issue. Ben Cunningham, President of the Nashville Tea Party says he thinks the state is being "tone deaf." "I think people want this information to be restricted. And I think it's incredibly tone deaf of the state to allow this information out without "A" asking our permission. "We're passing laws about social media sites and how they can use our information. For the state to be using our information and selling it to private companies without our permission is incredible these days. It should stop. It should stop right now."

Thanks to algorithms, things thought previously impossible are now possible. The trade-off for all of this progress -in some cases, will be your personal data.

The situation in Tennessee is not unique, but the "opt out" question on driver's license applications is misleading at best. Tennesseans can go to each of the companies that buys the information and opt out individually.

ACXIOM: https://isapps.acxiom.com/optout/optout.aspx

SAMBA SAFETY: https://support.sambasafety.com/s/

LEXIS NEXIS:https://consumer.risk.lexisnexis.com/

EXPLORE DATA: https://exploredata.com/company/contact-us/

*Tonight on FOX 17 News at 9 pm, Scott Couch investigates the issue and speaks with legislators to see what is being done to make sure your data is being used for the right reasons. WATCH BELOW starting at 9:15 p.m.*



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