Thirteen months ago VTDigger broke the news that the Department of Motor Vehicles had for years been quietly selling Vermonters’ personal data.
VTDigger found that, from 2004 to 2019, the state authorized more than 700 companies and government agencies to purchase or receive personal information about drivers, including where they live, the cars they drive, their driving records and parts of their criminal histories.
The story spurred the department to change its practices, and lawmakers demanded that officials conduct a study of how it sells private information.
That report came out in mid-January. On Thursday, DMV Commissioner Wanda Minoli explained to lawmakers how new protocols and standards have been set for data disclosures.
Minoli told the Senate Committee on Transportation that individuals or companies requesting information must also provide a justification for why they need the data and how it would be used, she said. Requests for driver information must now be approved by the commissioner and the DMV’s operations director. Authorization for the data is for just one year. Previously, access was granted in perpetuity.
“It really came down to best practices and putting in a clear process that had not been looked at for many years,” Minoli said.
Lawmakers were quick to pat themselves and the department on the back for dealing with the issue, which had drawn tripartisan condemnation last year.
“God, that was pretty easy,” Committee Chair Sen. Dick Mazza, D-Grand-Isle, said.
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