Austin (1080 KRLD) - Legislation to stop the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Department of Motor Vehicles from selling driver’s license and auto registration information to private companies is one step closer to Governor Abbott’s desk. The Texas House unanimously passed Senate Bill 15 (SB15), which would put an end to the practice.
When rolling out the legislation on third reading in the Texas House, State Representative Phil King said this wasn’t a fault of the state agencies. “Over the years the Legislature and agencies have just authorized the release and sale of this information.”
The practice of DPS and DMV selling the information has been in place since the 1970s. “There are over, if you can believe it, 1200 entities that were able to buy information from the state, and they (the entities) were taking it and in many cases reselling it,” King told his fellow lawmakers.
Ending the practice of selling Texans personal information is an effort to ensure privacy and to curb identity theft, but according to King ending the annoying spam calls, particularly ones about your car’s warranty expiration, is also a top priority. “All of us constantly get phone calls about that warranty, and other things, that’s where that comes from,” said King.
The legislation passed unanimously out of the House with an amendment added, meaning that it has to now go back to the State Senate for final approval before heading to Governor Abbott’s desk.
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