Florida drivers, we have good news! The State of Florida has decided to take identity protection more seriously. Recently Jimmy Patronis, the CFO of the State of Florida’s CFO, had his identity stolen. His security problem was linked to leaks within State agencies’ handling of personal information for local drivers. As a result, the State will require greater security for driver’s license information handling and management, as well as getting third party vendors to hold higher standards for handling driver information.
You can read the letter from Jimmy Patronis at this link.
The DMV Responds to the State's Push
Terry Rhodes, Executive Director of the DHSMV, replied to the letter with the following statement.
“I thank CFO Patronis for taking the initiative to champion such an important issue. Protecting our customers’ personal identifying information is critical, which is why the department took immediate action and terminated its agreement with the entity in question. However, public records exemptions must be applied consistently across all types of records in Florida law. The department fully supports any proposal that seeks to limit the amount of personal identifying information that may be provided under Florida law, as it will undoubtedly make it harder to obtain Floridians’ most valuable possession: their identity.”
Read the full press release from the Florida DMV at this link.
How Are Drivers' Identities Protected on the Federal Level?
The Federal Government currently has rules regarding who may request driver information, but it does not include specifics about how the data is handled internally. While no major security breach has occurred at the Florida DMV, we’re unclear on how they plan to improve their security, and they do not consider identity theft to be a part of a major security breach. The rules are fairly lax and nonspecific. Hopefully we can get stronger legislation on the State level. Check out the rules on USCode.House.gov at this link.
A Note About Safety
Florida is one of the biggest states for insurance fraud and scams, so any improvement in security and data management of drivers’ personal information is a big deal.
Be careful who you give your license to! Your driver’s license number is an easy way to get your identity stolen. And never, EVER put your driver’s license on social media.
Contact Auto Tags of Florida today to get your car registered, custom license tags, renewals, and more without having to deal with the DMV.
