If a private company had the right to legally force you to turn over personal information about yourself and then it sold that information to other companies, any state attorney general would be camped out in front of that company’s door holding a news conference about the legal action he’s taking against the company. But if it’s the state itself doing that, well, it’s OK. The rules are different for Big Brother than they are for us.
In Florida — as in every state — you’re required to hand over various information about yourself if you’d like to drive or own a car (or do just about anything). Now it turns out that the state is selling the information that it forces people to hand over. According to a Miami TV station’s report, the state is selling people’s names, addresses, dates of birth and lists of the vehicles they drive.
The state is selling this information to companies such as Lexus Nexus and Shadow Soft, which resell that information to other companies. But the state says it requires those companies to sign documents saying that they won’t harass people. That’s comforting, isn’t it?