An employee of a repossession company gained illegal access to the motor vehicle records of thousands of Minnesotans, state officials said Friday.
The state said about 3,700 Minnesotans may have been affected. The data included what is found on vehicle registrations: vehicle identification numbers; vehicle description; and name, address and birth date of the owner.
The state said its preliminary findings do not indicate that the information was used criminally. However, the agency added that it's sending letters to those affected and recommending that they consider monitoring their credit reports.
The access was detected in an internal audit by the Minnesota Department of Public Safety's Driver and Vehicle Services (DVS) and was halted.
An employee of a Minnesota car dealer, who was authorized to access vehicle data to process consumer sales, provided his system login to a friend who worked at a vehicle repossession company, according to the audit. That unauthorized individual either viewed the data or allowed others within the company to do so.
Unauthorized access of driver and vehicle data violates state and federal laws. The agency's findings have been turned over to law enforcement for possible charges.
The state did not reveal the identities of any of the companies or individuals involved.
"Protecting private data is a priority for DVS, and we won't tolerate any illegal or unauthorized access of vehicle records," Public Safety Commissioner Mona Dohman said in a statement announcing the audit's results. "We will continue to aggressively monitor and audit the DVS system in order to prevent abuse and address any illegal activity."
