Minnesota Ends Motor Vehicle List Sales to Marketers

Minnesota stopped automatically selling its motor vehicle lists for marketing purposes last week.

Under a new policy that went into effect on Aug. 1, licensed drivers and registered motor vehicle owners will have to authorize the state to provide their personal data to third parties.

Although the state takes in about $2.4 million a year through the sale of that data, it estimates it will only lose about $240,000 a year.

But law enforcement agencies, lawyers, insurance companies, private detectives, banks, accident victims, and under certain circumstances, safety experts, researchers and news media, still can access that data on a “need-to-know” basis, determined by the Public Safety Commission, without a person’s permission.

Public Safety Commissioner Charlie Weaver ordered an end to the automatic sale of motor vehicle data last month after state lawmakers failed to act on a driver’s privacy protection bill sponsored by State Senator Don Betzold. The bill died in committee at the end of the spring legislative session.

Weaver said since his department had the administrative authority to act the legislation was not needed. “We believe that limiting access to driving information is an important step toward maintaining individual privacy rights,” he said.

He also said that his action brings the state in compliance with the provisions of a federal transportation appropriations bill and the five-year-old Drivers Privacy Protection Act (DPPA).

Last January the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on a challenge by South Carolina, upheld the constitutionality of the DPPA and its requirement that states provide motorists and vehicle owners with a way of opting out from having their personal data transferred to third parties without permission.

Since that ruling a number of states, including Utah and Ohio, have stopped automatic sales of their motor vehicle lists to direct marketers, mass mailers, and list companies.

Several months earlier Congress approved a $49 billion federal transportation bill that required states to obtain the written permission of licensed drivers and registered vehicle owners before making their personal data available to third parties for marketing purposes. States failing to comply with that mandate face fines of up to $5,000 a day and the loss of some federal transportation aid.

Although he supported Weaver’s actions, Betzold said he would like to see the state’s motor vehicle list closed to everyone but law enforcement.