MIAMI, July 26 (UPI) -- The state of Florida took in $73 million in a year from selling driver's license information to private companies, officials said.
If the state didn't sell the information -- names, addresses and driving records -- it would have to give it away because it's public record, a spokeswoman for the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles told The Miami Herald.
But the American Civil Liberties Union has called for an end to the practice, which has been in effect for decades. The state collected the $73 million from July 1, 2010, to June 30 this year.
In a letter Friday to Gov. Rick Scott, ACLU Executive Director Howard Simon said the practice lacks oversight and violates the privacy of 15.5 million licensed drivers in Florida.
"As governor, you should protect our personal information, not sell it," Simon said. "Just because the state can do something does not mean the state should do it."
Scott's office did not return a call from the Herald.
The information is sold to auto manufacturers that need to inform customers of recalls, insurance companies that use driving records for underwriting, towing companies looking for abandoned vehicles' owners and bus lines and school boards that want histories of drivers.
The bulk of profits come from selling electronic records of citations and accidents at $8 to $10 per record.
