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<p>You can forbid banks, investment firms and other businesses from sharing your personal information with outside companies, but apparently the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has no such regard for your privacy.</p><p>Want to opt out of its profitable information-sharing setup? Sorry, not an option.</p><p>PennDOT generates millions of dollars annually by selling drivers&#8217; data to insurance providers and certain other businesses, some of which then reportedly resell it to more buyers. Are all of those buyers on the up-and-up, or might unscrupulous sorts try to use the information for the wrong reasons?</p><p>That&#8217;s a question raised in recent years by multiple news outlets, most recently WNEP-TV in Moosic, and at least one state legislator.</p><p>State Rep. Rob Matzie, a Democrat who represents portions of Beaver and Allegheny counties in western Pennsylvania, this week reintroduced a bill that would ban third parties from profiting through the sale of PennDOT-supplied driver and vehicle information.</p><p>&#8220;Obviously there are situations where PennDOT should be providing information, like at the request of an insurance provider,&#8221; Matzie said in a news release. &#8220;But it is unacceptable for PennDOT to become a clearinghouse of personal data for anyone willing to pay the right price.&#8221;</p><p>Other states, with Delaware being a notable nearby exception, also sell drivers&#8217; data. It typically includes information such as the license holder&#8217;s name, gender, license class and history of traffic violations.</p><p>Over the past six years, PennDOT&#8217;s sale of drivers&#8217; information to wholesalers and others has generated more than $155 million &#8211; money then used for bridge and road work. The buyers must sign contracts maintaining that the data &#8211; frequently requested as part of background and credit checks &#8211; will be used only for legal purposes.</p><p>PennDOT has cut off access to only a handful of buyers&#8217; accounts for supposed abuses of its policies, according to news reports.</p><p>Additional oversight of this program might be warranted. Lawmakers should study that possibility, as well as whether constituents &#8211; most of whom presumably are unaware of the information transactions &#8211; deserve an opportunity to exclude their personal data from the marketplace.</p><p>Under the current setup, it feels as if Pennsylvania&#8217;s drivers are being taken for a ride.</p><style>
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Our Opinion: Drivers’ information sold by PennDOT, but at what cost to privacy?