This is happening in other states too. As soon as you title a new car, you start getting a ton more junk mail that's referring your make/model of car.
The Oregon DMV took in $11.5M last year by selling your information
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Re: The Oregon DMV took in $11.5M last year by selling your information
#12While this is worth writing an article about, the headline seems slanted to draw clicks.
I think a more accurate characterization would be as follows. By state law, some information in a licensed driver's record is public. The DMV regulates access to the information, and charges a fee for the service.
The point to emphasize -- and criticize -- is the law that says the information is public. This is the thing that has to be addressed if the situation needs to change.
The DMV is just executing that law, not, as implied by the headline, going rogue and nefariously trying to make some extra bucks by auctioning off citizens' info.
Re: The Oregon DMV took in $11.5M last year by selling your information
#13This is happening in other states too. As soon as you title a new car, you start getting a ton more junk mail that's referring your make/model of car.
Are you sure this is from DMV records access and not the dealer? (I suppose it could easily be both.)
Re: The Oregon DMV took in $11.5M last year by selling your information
#14This is happening in other states too. As soon as you title a new car, you start getting a ton more junk mail that's referring your make/model of car.
Are you sure this is from DMV records access and not the dealer? (I suppose it could easily be both .)
I'm guessing maybe both. I don't see why my dealer would want someone else trying to sell me a warranty extension; that competes directly with the dealer.
Re: The Oregon DMV took in $11.5M last year by selling your information
#15This is one of the things that happens when you don't raise taxes. (obviously it's more complicated than that...)
Is raising taxes preferable though? In the present scenario, taxes are lower, because the government is making up for it by selling my info to marketeers, who then try to sell me crap I don't want. I don't buy any of it, but a percentage of my more-gullible neighbors do. So, in effect, the more gullible citizens are subsidizing the smarter or at least more frugal ones. Alternatively, if the government stopped selling info and jacked up taxes, I'd lose out on this subsidization. I don't see how this is really a benefit to me. Basically, it amounts to a "stupid tax".
Re: The Oregon DMV took in $11.5M last year by selling your information
#16> "The DMV lets drivers know about that. It's in the DMV privacy act. How many people are actually looking at that, I don't know. But it's there,”
This is not informed consent. Being available if someone is already aware enough to know where and how to acquire the information is not sufficiently informative. There is a duty to ensure that your counter-party is aware of the all eventualities to the transaction that could materially harm their quality of life.
I believe that for all transactions where a party is acquiring data for use beyond the direct fulfillment of the immediate service to the counter-party, the party acquiring the data should require informed consent from the counter-party. Further, in the case of a person transacting with government, with potentially some carful circumscription for aspects of law enforcement, I believe the state should additionally carry the data equivalent to a fiduciary duty for that transaction.
Re: The Oregon DMV took in $11.5M last year by selling your information
#17This is one of the things that happens when you don't raise taxes. (obviously it's more complicated than that...)
Is raising taxes preferable though? In the present scenario, taxes are lower, because the government is making up for it by selling my info to marketeers, who then try to sell me crap I don't want. I don't buy any of it, but a percentage of my more-gullible neighbors do. So, in effect, the more gullible citizens are subsidizing the smarter or at least more frugal ones. Alternatively, if the government stopped selling…
Like I said, of course it's more complicated than that. Also, I will point out, that we are all "stupid" at some point. For instance young people and elderly people are more susceptible to scams/advertisement. If you think you will never be elderly, that's fine, but maybe I want my parents to be protected.
Re: The Oregon DMV took in $11.5M last year by selling your information
#18Earlier quoted context omitted.
Are you sure this is from DMV records access and not the dealer? (I suppose it could easily be both .)
I'm guessing maybe both. I don't see why my dealer would want someone else trying to sell me a warranty extension; that competes directly with the dealer.
The dealer likely hit you with a warranty extension pitch during the sales process. So the only potential sales cannibalization would be from individuals that _might_ have purchased a warranty from the dealer after the sale. The guaranteed revenue from leasing out the list would more than likely makes up for that possibility, especially if it's coordinated at the manufacturer level.
Re: The Oregon DMV took in $11.5M last year by selling your information
#19This is happening in other states too. As soon as you title a new car, you start getting a ton more junk mail that's referring your make/model of car.
Are you sure this is from DMV records access and not the dealer? (I suppose it could easily be both .)
In my state, this happens even when you buy a car from a private person instead of a dealer.
Re: The Oregon DMV took in $11.5M last year by selling your information
#20This is happening in other states too. As soon as you title a new car, you start getting a ton more junk mail that's referring your make/model of car.
Maybe it's because I only buy old cars, but I've bought a lot of them, and never had this happen once. This may depend on your state, I suppose...
However, when I purchased my new house, I immediately got sales people knocking at my door selling me Internet, security, pest control, etc and they all knew that I just moved in.