Washington sues to protect personal information of millions of drivers

Attorney General Nick Brown joined a coalition of 21 attorneys general and the state of Pennsylvania today in filing two lawsuits challenging the Trump administration's demand for states to turn over records containing the sensitive personal information of 17 million drivers who hold commercial driver's licenses. The Trump administration has threatened to terminate more than $10 million in federal funding to the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA) if the states refuse this illegal order.

The coalition filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), which is an administration of the DOT, and AAMVA, as well as an additional related lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The lawsuits claim the DOT, FMCSA and DHS are violating multiple federal privacy laws by secretly setting up their own database with records extorted from AAMVA, with no guardrails on the use or sharing of drivers' Social Security numbers and other personal information, and no notice to the public.

"When Washingtonians provide information to our state, they rightfully expect it will be kept confidential and secure, and used for the reasons the government told them," said Brown. "The federal government is violating privacy laws to serve a political agenda."

The lawsuits also allege that the administration's demand violates the Administrative Procedure Act because the federal government has no legitimate need to take over this database of state records, and it failed to consult the states before making this drastic change.

In 1986, Congress established the Commercial Driver's License Information System (CDLIS) to provide states an efficient means of sharing information about commercial driver's license (CDL) applicants and determining if the applicant is licensed in another state. Since 1988, the DOT has contracted with AAMVA, a private nonprofit organization, to operate CDLIS for the benefit of the states.

To approve a CDL application, states validate the driver's identity, medical fitness, immigration status and each applicant's licensing and driving history in any state where the driver could have been licensed. Once a CDL is issued, states maintain a record in CDLIS of each driver that includes personally identifiable information such as the driver's name, date of birth, Social Security number, driver's license number and the name of the state that provided the record.

Despite the states owning the records stored in CDLIS, FMCSA sent a letter to AAMVA, making the unprecedented demand that AAMVA turn over data for every driver in CDLIS going back five years. When AAMVA voiced its concerns about the new directive, FMCSA made an explicit threat to terminate all AAMVA's federal grants and contracts. Faced with that threat-which could shut down CDLIS altogether-AAMVA told the states it would comply with the federal government's demand, requiring the coalition to seek an emergency order to prevent the data from being turned over. Relatedly, DHS sent an administrative subpoena to AAMVA demanding the same data set.

Brown has joined fellow state attorneys general in several legal challenges to the Trump administration's attempts to unlawfully use Washingtonians' personal data for improper purposes, including immigration enforcement. Washington has successfully challenged the administration's attempt to access Washingtonians' data retained through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Medicaid, and recently filed a similar case released to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program.

Joining Brown in filing these lawsuits are attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont, Virginia, and Wisconsin, as well as the state of Pennsylvania.

Read the first complaint.

Read the second complaint.

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