Republicans block Porter amendment to ensure personal data is no longer sold without consent by BMV

Today, Rep. Gregory W. Porter (D-Indianapolis) stood up for consumer safety and privacy by offering an amendment to Senate Bill 290 to curb the BMV's practice of selling personal information without consent. Republicans blocked the amendment – and with it allows the BMV to continue selling personal information to third parties for most customers.

Porter's amendment would have expanded SB 290's protection of veterans' personal information when sharing information with the department of veterans' affairs to more expansively protect the data of all BMV customers. It would have prohibited the BMV from selling personal information to third parties unless the person consents to the disclosure. This amendment was blocked on procedural grounds by Republicans.

Porter issued the following statement on the vote:

“I thought we valued personal privacy in this state, but apparently House Republicans don't agree with me. The BMV has made nearly a quarter of a billion dollars in the past decade from selling personal information to third parties without consent. That is simply not okay. My amendment would have stopped this practice and forced the BMV to obtain customers' consent before selling their information. This is a common-sense consumer protection step – but Republicans elected to not even take a vote on this critical matter.

“The state should not make a profit from selling personal data to third parties. We must stand up and put an end to this practice. I will continue fighting to protect Hoosiers' privacy at every opportunity.”