PINGS VIOLATE CIVIL RIGHTS ... WHAT GIVES YOU THE RIGHT? For Immediate Release September 12, 2013 St. Paul, MN - This morning eighteen current and former Minnesota citizens filed a federal lawsuit in the United States District Court District of Minnesota. These plaintiffs allege federal and civil rights violations based on governmental defendants who violated the federal Driver’s Privacy Protection Act (DPPA) and state common law claims for invasion of privacy. The plaintiffs’ protected private driver’s license records were illegally targeted at least 600 times since April 18, 2003. These illegal accesses have been constant and targeted against a citizen group, including elected officials who politically participate together in Wabasha County government. It is the belief of the plaintiffs that the Wabasha County government defendants were illegally accessing the legally protected records of group members to see if they could be a criminal or political target by exposing information such as driving violations, suspended license, expired car license tabs, warrant for arrest, etc. In each instance, in the act of doing so, the defendants violated the plaintiffs’ legally-protected privacy, by obtaining and using the protected individual data contained in the driver’s record. The government employees illegally and repeatedly obtained and used data that included the dates of birth, driver’s license numbers, addresses, driver’s license photos, weights, heights, social security numbers, various health and disability information, and organ donor instructions of each plaintiff. Deb Roschen, a Wabasha County Commissioner, and member of the group, says, “these people violated my trust in government, my feeling of safety, and my family’s security. Why are they pouring over data about my daughter and my husband? Who is holding these people accountable?” “Government’s abuse of the private personal data of citizens engaged in participation in their own government is stunning. It is the role of government to carry out the law, not to violate the law,” said State Representative Steve Drazkowski. “They even went after the private data of my wife and my daughter – why?” These flagrant violations of law by the people we entrust with it, are an abusive exercise of power.”
Posted on: Thu, 12 Sep 2013 14:15:20 +0000
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