DMV Lawsuit Investigation Looks into Potential Privacy Violations
Last Updated on September 28, 2023
Investigation Complete
Attorneys working with ClassAction.org have finished their investigation into this matter.
Check back for any potential updates and take a look at our open investigations here. The information on this page is for reference only.
At A Glance
- This Alert Affects:
- Anyone who lives in South Carolina or Kansas, renewed their driver’s license or vehicle registration online in the last four years, and has a Facebook account.
- What’s Going On?
- Attorneys working with ClassAction.org believe that Meta (formerly Facebook) may have illegally obtained drivers’ personal information through tracking tools installed on the websites of certain states’ motor vehicle departments. They’re now looking into whether class action lawsuits can be filed against Meta over potential privacy violations.
- How Could a Lawsuit Help?
- A class action lawsuit could help compensate drivers in South Carolina and Kansas for any violations of their privacy and force Meta to stop any unlawful access of consumers’ motor vehicle records.
Attorneys working with ClassAction.org want to hear from South Carolina and Kansas residents who renewed their driver’s licenses or vehicle registrations online within the past four years and have Facebook accounts.
They have reason to believe that Meta (formerly Facebook) may be secretly intercepting drivers’ private information through tracking tools installed on the websites of South Carolina’s Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and Kansas’ Division of Vehicles. These tools could potentially be used to collect any information inputted by users when they fill out forms, renew licenses and registrations, schedule appointments, pay parking tickets or take any other actions on the websites.
The attorneys are now investigating whether class action lawsuits can be filed against Meta over potential privacy violations – but they first need to hear from more drivers who may have been affected.
How Could DMV Websites Be Sharing Data with Facebook?
Many website operators gather data about the people who visit their websites by using an invisible tracking tool called the Meta pixel.
The pixel, which can be embedded on any webpage, can be programmed to record every action a visitor takes, such as the buttons they click, the searches they perform and the content they view. Data collected through the Meta pixel can be used by both the website operator and the social media giant to better target advertisements to their users.
In this case, attorneys are looking into whether the pixel is being used on the official DMV websites for South Carolina and Kansas to secretly collect drivers’ private information – including when they fill out forms, renew their licenses and registrations, schedule appointments and classes, pay parking tickets and more.
It’s believed that Meta may have violated federal law by obtaining personal information from motor vehicle records through its use of tracking pixels.
How Could a Lawsuit Help?
Class action lawsuits against Meta could help compensate affected drivers for any violations of their privacy. A successful lawsuit could also force Meta to change its data collection practices and ensure that consumers’ private information is not illegally obtained without permission.
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