7,000 drivers' names sold to criminals

Although the story is a couple of days old it is refered to in a current thread here on ATS Theresa May insists snoopers vital to fight crime


7,000 drivers' names sold to criminals: How DVLA made £21m selling details of 4.85m motorists

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency has sold sensitive personal details of more than 7,000 drivers to a convicted criminal and his company

Agency chiefs knew that Observices Parking Solutions and boss Douglas Harris had been fined £29,850 after a court ruled it had been ‘recklessly unfair’ to drivers last year – but they still sold on the personal details.

The Mail on Sunday can also disclose the DVLA has sold 4.85 million drivers’ names and addresses to parking enforcement firms in the past six years at £2.50 a time – without checking if the companies’ use for the private information was legitimate.

We are literaley pawns, everything about us is given a value and it's milked for all its worth.

And it seems that just about anyone can get there hands on your details.

I was recently sent a letter from a private company acting to claim loss on behalf of a client that they say was involved in an accident almost 2 years ago. There was no such incident.

I understand now why this letter came, I didn't reply, but there will be many that do no doubt.

Back in 2008 captiva opened this thread
Government Department (DVLA) selling your information for £2.50

Unfortuntly he was the only poster on that occaision, but it was interesting to read what was wrote

Our own personal information, Name and Address is being sold for the grand total of £2.50!. The DVLA has the cheek to say they take data protection very seriously and then they sell the information to unscrupulous private car park companies. "These companies set out to fleece people but the tickets they issue are best off completely ignored or ripped up and chucked in the bin. "Their demands for payment are completely unenforceable but the problem is that 99 per cent of people end up paying because they feel threatened." My anonimity is important to me, I think this is an outrage and will be letting the DVLA know first thing tomorrow morning.

Captiva's worries then are still valid today