Winehole23
11-26-2020, 11:14 PM
The Watchdog’s revelation (https://www.dallasnews.com/news/watchdog/2020/11/20/your-texas-drivers-license-vehicle-information-and-lien-holder-were-stolen-in-a-huge-data-theft/) last week that personal information on 27 million past and present Texas driver’s license holders is for sale on the dark web leaves many Texan incensed.
Texas state government sells its data sets to outside parties who are not allowed to use them for marketing purposes. But some of these companies then re-sell to companies who do use it to sell and annoy us.
A Denver company, Vertafore, works with the insurance industry and accepts blame for the data heist. A statement said it was caused by “human error.”
The FBI and the Texas Attorney General’s office are investigating.
If you get a boatload of calls, for example, like I do, trying to sell me an extended car warranty, you can thank the state.
In the breach, stolen information includes your name, address, date of birth, driver’s license number, VIN,make, model, color and year of car and the lending institution to whom you make car payments.
Some other states do not sell this data, but Texas does. State lawmakers could change the law in their 2021 session. (https://jadserve.postrelease.com/trk?ntv_at=390&ntv_ui=7e5e64fb-c812-4acb-9cea-6cafc258449f&ntv_a=sEIGAVHxIApfoPA&ntv_fl=JzcRavNhgJO5ZAF89qqTrvzSuZJMl5f4eAuExuL0Yhu eL5sU0js6C6z2_y-7EksAimOAsex4LdUzE3suB6b28RsKTDjEpMKVJko_lN_WHiPmS v9Aj57sYbY16JU95k_r9GpQ-NIzMyxb-gef6TdRxx9Qg2ht8XiuvqiFz_PKqofqolH7ylBlmr-b81FVYYrJIuchZMIdct6fESrDPBxLXo7Knxg6afFGLswhMp761 riIh0pAOc8z9Zy8Az7ljyOxv_q7K-af2hw18CTISaMGsYP4DS1pcb4RO3S7mQwJHow2hmOhjPWdiWg5 j6nPKslFwnh2Qdd6dVQzAz21D0lQMV4WoAqjV_NFoIzx3lcT32 hwJi7gh2GEzZ7sY8X4sn_BXk1EYV2yojXX8f_wI-I03OuLQfe1SAW5vRgF_P0v4NHZUByNu8rtJUZoPaErRJCc&ord=1927031483&ntv_ht=xXrAXwA&ntv_r=http://www.nativo.com/about/adchoices)
I first reported this in 2015 when I learned that several state government departments sell information to outsiders. In an open records request that year, I learned that in 2014 the Department of Motor Vehicles earned $2.4 million in sales.
This year, CBS 11/KTVT reporter Brian New updated those numbers (https://dfw.cbslocal.com/2020/02/20/texas-dmv-selling-drivers-personal-information/). DMV made more than $3 million in 2019 selling drivers’ names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses and VIN information, he reported.https://www.dallasnews.com/news/watchdog/2020/11/26/after-27-million-drivers-license-records-are-stolen-texans-get-angry-with-the-seller-government/
Texas state government sells its data sets to outside parties who are not allowed to use them for marketing purposes. But some of these companies then re-sell to companies who do use it to sell and annoy us.
A Denver company, Vertafore, works with the insurance industry and accepts blame for the data heist. A statement said it was caused by “human error.”
The FBI and the Texas Attorney General’s office are investigating.
If you get a boatload of calls, for example, like I do, trying to sell me an extended car warranty, you can thank the state.
In the breach, stolen information includes your name, address, date of birth, driver’s license number, VIN,make, model, color and year of car and the lending institution to whom you make car payments.
Some other states do not sell this data, but Texas does. State lawmakers could change the law in their 2021 session. (https://jadserve.postrelease.com/trk?ntv_at=390&ntv_ui=7e5e64fb-c812-4acb-9cea-6cafc258449f&ntv_a=sEIGAVHxIApfoPA&ntv_fl=JzcRavNhgJO5ZAF89qqTrvzSuZJMl5f4eAuExuL0Yhu eL5sU0js6C6z2_y-7EksAimOAsex4LdUzE3suB6b28RsKTDjEpMKVJko_lN_WHiPmS v9Aj57sYbY16JU95k_r9GpQ-NIzMyxb-gef6TdRxx9Qg2ht8XiuvqiFz_PKqofqolH7ylBlmr-b81FVYYrJIuchZMIdct6fESrDPBxLXo7Knxg6afFGLswhMp761 riIh0pAOc8z9Zy8Az7ljyOxv_q7K-af2hw18CTISaMGsYP4DS1pcb4RO3S7mQwJHow2hmOhjPWdiWg5 j6nPKslFwnh2Qdd6dVQzAz21D0lQMV4WoAqjV_NFoIzx3lcT32 hwJi7gh2GEzZ7sY8X4sn_BXk1EYV2yojXX8f_wI-I03OuLQfe1SAW5vRgF_P0v4NHZUByNu8rtJUZoPaErRJCc&ord=1927031483&ntv_ht=xXrAXwA&ntv_r=http://www.nativo.com/about/adchoices)
I first reported this in 2015 when I learned that several state government departments sell information to outsiders. In an open records request that year, I learned that in 2014 the Department of Motor Vehicles earned $2.4 million in sales.
This year, CBS 11/KTVT reporter Brian New updated those numbers (https://dfw.cbslocal.com/2020/02/20/texas-dmv-selling-drivers-personal-information/). DMV made more than $3 million in 2019 selling drivers’ names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses and VIN information, he reported.https://www.dallasnews.com/news/watchdog/2020/11/26/after-27-million-drivers-license-records-are-stolen-texans-get-angry-with-the-seller-government/