Peggy Gossett-Seidman files bill to ban for-profit access to DMV records, end ‘shadow rating’

Rep. Peggy Gossett-Seidman wants to end Florida’s controversial and highly profitable practice of selling drivers’ personal information to private companies without their consent. This month, she filed HB 357, which would shut down a long-running data-sharing system within the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DMV) that has quietly sold driver’s license and ID card information to private data brokers, insurance analytics companies and foreign-owned firms. The legislation would ban all commercial sales of Florida driver data, block foreign and foreign-owned companies from accessing DMV records and require written consent before any disclosure to non-law-enforcement entities. Information shared has included license holders’ names, photos, license numbers, birth dates, addresses, driving history, organ donor status and emergency contact information, among other details. A major target of the bill is the use of personal DMV data in “shadow rating,” an unregulated process in which insurers purchase demographic and behavioral information to build private risk-scoring models that can drive up premiums for safe drivers based on ZIP codes, income indicators, vehicle profiles and other non-driving factors. Research from the Consumer Federation of America shows how the use of non-driving data can sharply inflate insurance rates, even for motorists with clean records. HB 357, if passed, would prohibit these practices by banning third-party risk scoring, profiling and marketing, and requiring insurers to rely only on verified driving records. The bill, if approved, would effectively kill a lucrative data marketplace in Florida that Gossett-Seidman’s Office says has generated more than $490 million since 2013, more than half of which came between 2021 and 2023. It’s a widespread issue and hardly unique to the Sunshine State, according to prior reporting by VICE, Newsweek and InvestigateTV, the latter of which found that across 23 states that provided detailed records for 2024, at least $282 million was collected in exchange for DMV data. “Floridians are required by law to provide their personal information to the DMV, and it is our responsibility to ensure that information is never misused,” Gossett-Seidman said in a statement. “The State of Florida is not in the business of selling your personal information. Under my bill, it never will be again.” Gossett-Seidman, a Highland Beach Republican who worked for decades as a journalist, said that in the past few years, she’s heard from residents whose identities had been compromised shortly after they renewed their driver’s licenses. Others, she said, found their mailboxes “stuffed with attorney advertisements after minor citations, or had marketers show up at their doors.” “For years, this system operated without public awareness,” she said. “Even high-ranking state officials were not fully informed.” Take U. S. Rep. Jimmy Patronis, Florida’s immediate past Chief Financial Officer, whom Gossett-Seidman said privately confirmed to her that he was never told that ID holders’ information was being sold at a massive scale. Patronis, she said, called the practice “horrible” and urged her to “blow it up.” A press note from Gossett-Seidman’s Office predicts HB 357 would force fair competition among insurers and lead to lower premiums by eliminating third-party risk scores created by using DMV data, prevent shadow rating based on non-driving factors and require insurers to use only verified state driving records. “Floridians deserve privacy, security and control over their own information,” Gossett-Seidman said. “HB 357 ends the era of driver-data sales and restores trust in our state systems. This issue spans many administrations and is not about blame. It’s about fixing what went wrong and protecting Floridians moving forward.” HB 357, which would go into effect July 1, has been referred to the House Government Operations Subcommittee and State Affairs Committee. It does not yet have a Senate companion. The 2026 Legislative Session begins Jan. 13. Preliminary committee meetings are ongoing.
https://floridapolitics.com/archives/766092-peggy-gossett-seidman-files-bill-to-ban-for-profit-access-to-dmv-records-end-shadow-rating/