NoSSN - State faces suit over numbers on licenses

State faces suit over numbers on licenses
August 9, 2002

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State faces suit over numbers on licenses

http://www.arizonarepublic.com/arizona/articles/0809mvd0809.html

By Carol Sowers

The Arizona Republic

Aug. 09, 2002

Motorists who argue that Social Security numbers on their driver's

licenses violate their privacy and pose an identity theft risk filed a

$500 million class-action notice of claim this week against the Arizona

Department of Transportation.

"Identity theft is a whole new ballgame, and thieves can use these numbers

pretty aggressively," said Ken Countryman, a Phoenix attorney representing

the group.

Included in the claim are the cases of two women who say their identities

were stolen because their Social Security numbers were on their driver's

licenses.

The complaint says that since 1985 the state Motor Vehicle Division has

violated the federal privacy act by failing to inform motorists that the

use of their Social Security number was optional.

As a result, it says, about 55 percent of the state's 3.6 million drivers

use their numbers. The plaintiffs are asking $55 million in damages to

cover the $4 cost of reimbursing motorists who have paid for new licenses

without the number, provide free renewal in the future, compensate people

whose identities have been stolen, print new forms advising of the

optional use of the confidential number, and pay attorneys' fees and court

costs.

MVD spokeswoman Cydney DeModica said license application forms have always

given motorists the option of using their Social Security numbers. She

added that the government banned the use of Social Security numbers on

licenses in 2000, replacing them with computer-generated ID numbers.

"About all a Federal Reserve note can legally do is wipe out one debt and replace it with itself, another debt, a note that promises nothing. If
anything's been paid, the payment occurs only in the minds of the parties ...." -- Tupper Saucy, author of "The Miracle On Main Street"

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