AAC F A M I L Y A N D F R I E N D S » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » Watch out for DPPA violations
criminal fines and civil liability. Tis federal law is found at 18 U.S.C.A. §§2721-2725. Just “looking up” a picture or other personal information is enough for liability. Recent “Real-Life” DPPA violations Illegal uses include looking at photos, social security numbers, driver identification numbers, names addresses, telephone numbers, and medical or disability information for any reason other than official county business. Examples: n A man who used to work at the Minnesota Department of Natural
D
Resources is facing serious criminal charges after he accessed over ten- thousand driver’s license records of
mostly women. n A former police officer got more than $1,000,000 from settlements with several Minnesota cities after she al- leged that her information was looked up by more than 140 officers over a six-
year time period. n An insurance trust representing
you’re curious about how many people in Arkansas share your same name? What if
“C
Minnesota counties will pay more than $2,000,000 to settle a potential class action suit after a county child support officer allegedly looked up more than 4,000 photographs in the Driver and Vehicle Services database over a two- year period. Her county administrator was quoted by the local newspaper as saying, “She looked up friends and neighbors and co-workers and workers in other counties ... just people she knew ... .” County employees must have a valid “county” reason. What if you’re cu- rious about how many people in Arkansas share your same name? What if you need the addresses of your high-school classmates to send invitations to the class reunion this summer? What if you’re trying to find new contact information for your neighbor who moved away? What if you want to look up the picture of your cute co-worker just for fun? Don’t do it. Permissible DPPA purposes Te DPPA allows the use of a driver’s personal information for gov- ernment agency functions (court or law enforcement), motor vehicle or driver safety, theft, emissions, product alterations and recalls, motor ve- hicle research, and for business purposes to verify the accuracy of personal
We want your news
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you need the addresses of your high school classmates to send invitations to the class reunion this summer. ... Don’t do it.
”
on’t use the DMV database for anything other than official county business! It can cost YOU!! Te Drivers Privacy Protection Act (the DPPA) prohib- its non-official use of DMV data. Violators are subject to
ounty employees must have a valid “county” reason. What if
information submitted by an individual. Other permissible uses include civil, crimi- nal, administrative, or arbitral proceedings, research activities and reports when the in- formation is not published, re-disclosed, or used to contact individuals, for insurance reasons, for notice to owners of towed or impounded vehicles, for use by licensed private investigative agencies or security services, by employers regarding commer- cial driver’s licenses, private toll transpor- tation facilities, in response to requests for records with the express consent of the person at issue, for bulk
County Law Update
Mike Rainwater Risk Management Legal Counsel
distribution for surveys, marketing, or solicitations with the express consent of the person at issue, by any requester who has obtained the written consent of the individual at issue, or for state-specific motor vehicle or public safety uses. 18 U.S.C.A. §2721. Permissible Arkansas purposes Arkansas law provides even more pro- tections than the DDPA requires. Ark. Code. Ann. §27-50-901 et seq. Permis- sible purposes include disclosure to the driver, a person authorized in writing by the driver (including an employer that has the driver’s written consent), courts, law enforcement officers for use only in
the line of duty enforcing traffic laws, and governmental departments and agencies that can show why they need the information to carry out their duties. Additional examples include limited information provided to in- surers and military recruiting coordinators, and driver’s license status re- ports released to rental car companies. Ark. Code. Ann. §27-50-906-907.
(Mike Rainwater, a regular contributor to County Lines and lead
attorney for AAC Risk Management, is principal shareholder of Rain- water, Holt and Sexton, P.A., a state-wide personal injury and disability law firm. He has been a lawyer for more than 30 years, is a former deputy prosecuting attorney and has defended city and county officials for more than 25 years.)
Did an aspect of county government “make news” recently in your county? Did any
of your county officials or staff get an award, appointment or pat on the back? Please let us know about it for the next edition of County Lines magazine. You can write up a couple of paragraphs about it, or if something ran in your local paper, call and ask them to forward the story to us. We encourage you or your newspaper to attach a good quality photo, too: e-mail
sperkins@arcounties.org.
COUNTY LINES, FALL 2013
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