California DMV Leak Spills Data from Thousands of Drivers

The California Department of Motor Vehicles has confirmed that Social Security data belonging to 3,200 driver's license holders was improperly accessed by federal agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security, Internal Revenue Service, Small Business Administration, and district attorneys in San Diego and Santa Clara counties, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Over the past four years, seven federal agencies could access drivers' Social Security data, including whether or not an individual had a Social Security number. Some of this information was accessed as part of investigations into tax law compliance or criminal activity, the report states. Affected license holders were notified this week if their data had been compromised.

DMV officials detected the issue granting access to this data on August 2 following a legal compliance review and removed the agencies' ability to obtain it. The DMV reports federal agencies did not need to hack its systems, nor did they share information with private citizens.

Read more details here.

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