State Investigating Misuse Of Driver Data Officials Say Web Sites Selling Records Without Legal Access

Washington state officials are investigating illegal buying and selling of driver information on the Internet.

Department of Licensing officials say a growing number of Web companies are selling driver records without following state guidelines.

Licensing Department Director Fred Stephens said in a statement, “We are alarmed by the number of Internet Web sites selling information that could only be obtained by illegally accessing driver records.”

For years, Washington has had restrictions on who can obtain driving records.

State law allows insurance companies and prospective employers to pay a fee to obtain an individual’s driving history. That record includes personal information such as age and address.

In years past, those requests always were funneled directly to four major out-of-state companies. Those companies paid the state for each valid request for a driver’s record.

But as people-finding firms and public record-hunters have multiplied on the Web, many states worry that driver records are ending up in the hands of those with no legitimate reason to have the information.

The state is now auditing those four companies, wondering whether they allowed driver records to be delivered to others without proper authorization.

At the same time, state officials suspect that most of the illegal activity comes from Web site operators misrepresenting themselves as insurance companies or possible employers.

Illegally obtaining state driver records is a misdemeanor crime with a possible one-year penalty, said state Assistant Attorney General Jerry Anderson in Olympia.

Under separate federal laws, a person whose records were illegally released also can file a civil lawsuit for damages against the person who obtained them, Anderson added.

State investigators won’t say if they’ve established clear evidence of illegal selling of driver records.

“During an investigation, it would be premature for me to lay out the exact nature of our concerns,” licensing department spokesman Mark Varadian said.

The audit will determine if the four vendors that obtain driver records in Washington have followed the strict guidelines requiring proof of identity and authorization from those requesting records.

If the audit finds one or more of the companies violated the guidelines, the licensing department can terminate the contract for that service, Varadian said.

It’s uncertain how long the audit will take, he said.

The investigation started after licensing staff noticed an assortment of Web sites offering Washington driving records.

Some Web sites seem to be providing those records to people who are not insurance agents or someone researching a job applicant’s driving record, Varadian said.

“Washington law is very clear. If someone is just being nosy and wants this information, that doesn’t cut it,” he said.

Other states have been addressing the same issue in the past three years.

“Those concerns are all based on the fear that someone will get your driver’s license, then find your address and start stalking you,” said Joe Hoover, who runs an Oregon-based Web-search service called How-to-investigate.com.

Another concern is that records easily reveal a person’s Social Security number, date of birth and address, said Anderson, the state attorney assigned to the Licensing Department in Olympia.

No Washington residents have filed complaints of wrongly obtained driving record information, Anderson said.

Washington officials last week started an audit of the four large out-of-state companies that gather and distribute driver records.

The four are Insurance Information Exchange from College Station, Texas; American Data Research in Salem, Ore.; ChoicePoint in Atlanta; and DAC Services of Tulsa, Okla.

The four firms sell driver records to insurance companies and prospective employers nationwide. Washington law also permits driver records to be sold to operators of alcohol or drug treatment programs.

Last year, the four companies requested about 2.2 million driver records from the Washington licensing department. They paid $4.50 for each request, so the state earned about $10 million and placed the money in the state highway safety fund.

Washington is considered one of the most restrictive states in safe-guarding driver information.

Only California is more restrictive; it does not sell its driver records to anyone.

Several states allow access to portions of a driver’s record to a wider group of requesters. Many states, including Idaho, sell such data to private investigators, for instance.

Idaho - which has five contracted companies that request driver records - allows wholesale sales of selected driver data to mail-order companies and credit companies.

That option ends June 1. Idaho legislators have created new privacy safeguards that prevent wholesale sale of personal information from driver records, said Ed Pemble, an Idaho transportation manager.

But even after June 1, in Idaho private investigators still will be able to legally obtain driver records, he said.

In addition to personal data, all states’ driver records include a three-year summary of accidents and driving history. Included are dates of an accident, names of anyone injured or killed, the number and dates of traffic violations or infractions, and whether a license is suspended.

Beyond restricting who can obtain driver records, Washington law also requires a prospective employer to provide written releases for the information from job candidates.

The law also requires the requesting person to sign a statement verifying there is a legitimate business need for such data.

Many Web sites say they can find driver records from nearly any state. For instance, the American Information Network - found at www.ameri.com - offers driver records from 47 states for fees of $30 or more.

That Web site also says a request for a Washington record must be accompanied by a written release from the licensed driver.

Yet many Web site operators can easily fabricate written releases, said Betty LaGrae, who operates a people-finder Web site in Coral Gables, Fla.

“They (some sites) will say whatever it takes to get the information,” LaGrae said.