By Patrick McGreevy, Staff Writer
Nov. 5, 2019 - Los Angeles Times
SACRAMENTO - Already besieged by problems including long wait times, the California Department of Motor Vehicles on Tuesday said it suffered a “data breach” in which federal agencies, including immigration authorities, had improper access to the Social Security information of 3,200 people issued driver’s licenses.
Notices of the data breach went out to those whose Social Security information — including whether or not a license holder had a Social Security number — was accessed during the last four years by seven agencies, including the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Internal Revenue Service, the Small Business Administration and district attorneys in San Diego and Santa Clara counties.
The issue was discovered by the DMV on Aug. 2 and access to the information was cut off, officials said. The disclosure of the information did not involve hacking or sharing information with private individuals, according to DMV spokeswoman Anita Gore.
“Protection of personal information is important to DMV, and we have taken additional steps to correct this error, protect this information and reaffirm our serious commitment to protect the privacy rights of all license holders,” Gore said. “That’s why DMV immediately began correcting the access error following a legal compliance review, ensured that no additional confidential information was disclosed to these entities, and has implemented several additional layers of review.”
The data breach is a particularly sensitive issue because California lawmakers decided in 2013 to issue driver’s licenses to immigrants who are in the country illegally who can provide proof of identity and California residency. State officials have promised that information on those license holders would not be shared with federal immigration officials.
The information shared with the seven outside agencies included whether a license holder had a verified Social Security card or was ineligible to be registered with Social Security, officials said.
The agency said 83 of the DMV license holders whose information was accessed had AB 60 licenses issued to them without proof of legal presence in the United States. Other license holders had their information accessed by agencies involved in tax and child support investigations.
The San Diego and Santa Clara district attorney offices accessed information in 3,000 of the cases, officials said.
The controversy comes as the DMV has been struggling in the last year to overcome a series of problems, including hours-long wait times at some field offices, computer crashes and mistakes in automatically registering people to vote.
In July, Gov. Gavin Newsom hired tech industry executive Steve Gordon as director of the DMV — its third in a year — to modernize and streamline the agency so that it can more efficiently and securely serve customers.
At the time he announced the appointment, the governor said: “People are outraged by their experience at DMV.”
The new problems come just months after a state audit in March found “significant deficiencies” in DMV operations, including technology and staffing problems and poor management practices.
The long wait times have also been blamed in part on the federal requirement that the state issue a Real ID, a new driver’s license and identification card required for airline passengers starting in late 2020. Officials estimate up to 28 million Californians may apply for the card in the next year, officials say.
The DMV has also faced criticism for glitches in its “motor voter” program. The agency acknowledged tens of thousands of errors as people were unknowingly registered to vote or mistakes were made in their registration status.
The agency has 9,711 employees, 172 field offices and a $1.3-billion budget, and is tasked with licensing 27 million drivers and registering 35.7 million motor vehicles.