Van cam suit poses The American Civil Liberties Union has sued both the city and state alleging that they are violating privacy laws by releasing motorists' personal information to the private company that operates the traffic camera program.
privacy questions
The ACLU objects to the photo
firm getting drivers' ID numbersBy Rod Antone
rantone@starbulletin.comThe Hawaii chapter of the ACLU said the lawsuit seeks to prevent motorists' Social Security numbers, which appear on all state drivers licenses issued prior to January 2001, from being given to the company.
"It is an individual's right to decide who has access to their Social Security number and under what conditions," said ACLU Legal Director Brent White. "When the government gives away this identifying information to private individuals, companies and other government agencies, it violates an individual's right to privacy."
Neither officials from the state Attorney General's Office nor the state Transportation Department said they could comment on the lawsuit, which was filed yesterday, because they had not seen it.
City Corporation Counsel David Arakawa, in a release issued today, said the city is inappropriately named in the lawsuit because it "merely collects information from driver's license candidates, using the application form prepared by the State of Hawaii."
The state is responsible for the administration and operation of the statewide records system, he said, and also it's the state that has been providing driver's license information to the private contractor.
The Transportation Department began its three-year photo enforcement project this January. Transportation officials said the project goal was to reduce the number of speed-related traffic accidents, injuries and deaths by using the camera vans to get people to slow down. Based upon public outcry against the traffic van citations, however, some state legislators have asked the that program be altered or scrapped altogether.
The lawsuit alleges that turning over motorists' Social Security numbers to the company that runs the camera vans -- Affiliated Computer Systems -- violates a citizen's rights to privacy under the U.S. Constitution, the Federal Privacy Act and Article One, Section Six of the Hawaii State Constitution, which says "the right of the people to privacy is recognized and shall not be infringed without the showing of a compelling state interest."
The lawsuit was brought on behalf of two individuals cited under the traffic camera program and whose tickets were later dismissed.
The ACLU also argues that federal law requires that the government tell people what they intend to do with a person's Social Security number before someone provides that information. Because the ACLU argues that since the state failed to tell people that their information could be turned over to ACS, then the state is barred from disclosing Social Security numbers as part of the program.
"There is no notice as to how the state is giving over that number to ACS for the purpose of processing those tickets," said attorney Brook Hart, who is listed as co-counsel for the ACLU's case. "None of us bargained for that when we applied for our drivers licenses.
"You'd have to put that on the driver license application form and then give people a choice as to whether or not they want to hand that information over."
Hart also said there is an inherent danger in the government releasing important personal information that could eventually wind up in the wrong hands.
"This puts our Social Security numbers out in the community where they can be used against them," said Hart. "We all know the terrible things that can happen when it comes to identity theft."