The Driver's Privacy Protection Act of 1994 is a United States federal statute governing the privacy and disclosure of personal information gathered by state Departments of Motor Vehicles. The law was passed in 1994; it was introduced by Rep. Jim Moran in 1992, after an increase in opponents of abortion rights using public driving license databases to track down and harass abortion providers and patients, most notably besieging Susan Wicklund's home for a month and following her daughter to school.[1] It is currently codified at Chapter 123 of Title 18 of the United States Code.[2]
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The statute prohibits the disclosure of personal information (as defined in 18 U.S.C. § 2725) without the express consent of the person to whom such information applies, with the exception of certain circumstances set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 2721. These rules apply to Departments of Motor Vehicles as well as other "authorized recipient[s] of personal information", and imposes record-keeping requirements on those "authorized recipients".
The permissible uses are:[3]
The act also makes it illegal to obtain drivers' information for unlawful purposes or to make false representations to obtain such information.[4] The act establishes criminal fines for noncompliance,[5] and establishes a civil cause of action for drivers against those who unlawfully obtain their information.[6]
The bill was introduced simultaneously during the 103rd United States Congress in the House of Representatives (as H.R. 3365[7]) and the Senate (as S. 1589[8] on 26 October 1993. It was eventually signed by President Bill Clinton as part of Public Law 103-322 on 13 September 1994.[9]
The statute's constitutionality was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court against a Tenth Amendment challenge in Reno v. Condon.[10]