The Department of Motor Vehicles has been selling and giving away Vermonters’ personal information for years, but journalists in the state never looked into the practice.
VTDigger’s Xander Landen undertook a 2-month long investigation to explore how the practice of the DMV selling private data impacts Vermonters. Through public records requests, Xander obtained the list of more than 700 organizations, companies and agencies that are permitted to buy and receive your personal information from the DMV.
Local news leads to local action
After VTDigger shined a spotlight on the issue, the public raised privacy concerns and state officials took notice.
As a result of VTDigger’s reporting, Governor Phil Scott took immediate action to block the DMV from sharing personal information with private investigators while the state re-examines its policies. House representatives are drafting a bill to address privacy concerns in the 2020 session, and the Senate President Pro Tem says he is committed to looking at ways to curb the practice.
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