Provides that the commissioner of motor vehicles shall affix a cost for the sale of registration lists and title information or other records in bulk at the annual cost not to exceed $1,520,000; authorizes such commissioner to impose other requirements; makes related provisions.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A7868A
SPONSOR: Cunningham TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to establishing
a fixed fee for the purchase of registration lists and title information
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
The purpose of this bill is to amend New York State's Vehicle and Traf-
fic Law to establish a set fee for the release of vehicle records;
ensures conformance with federal permissible uses; and increases safe-
guards.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1: Amends paragraph 4(a) of section 202 of the Vehicle and Traf-
fic Law to allow the Commissioner to contract with any successful
bidders rather than just 'one highest bidder; adds a fixed fee for the
bulk purchase of registration lists and title information; amends para-
graph 4(b) to align with the federally permissible use of these records
for motor vehicle claims investigation activities, antifraud activities,
rating or underwriting; amends paragraph 4(c) to allow the Commissioner
to contract with any successful bidder rather than just one highest
bidder; adds a new paragraph to give the Commissioner the option to
require a number of protections including requiring the successful
bidder or bidders to post a performance bond in an amount of not more
than $1 million; a prohibition on the sale or redisclosure of the
personal information for the purpose of marketing extended vehicle
warranties; a requirement that the bidder or bidders provide proof of
general liability and cyber-threat insurance coverage in an amount spec-
ified by the contracting agency; a requirement that the bidder or
bidders include in each contract with a third party that receives the
personal information from the bidder or bidders that the third party
must comply with federal and state laws regarding the records; a
requirement that the bidder or bidders and any third party receiving the
personal information from the requestor protect the personal information
with appropriate and accepted industry standard security measures for
the type of information and the known risks from unauthorized access and
use of the information; and a requirement that the bidder or bidders
annually provide to the agency a report of all third parties to which
the personal information was disclosed under this section and the
purpose of the disclosure.,
Section 2: Establishes the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
The federal Driver's Privacy Protection Act (DPPA) requires the state
Department of Motor Vehicles to release motor vehicle records for the
purpose of safety recall. The DPPA permits states to charge an adminis-
trative fee. The New York Vehicle and Traffic Law contains a state-ena-
bling section that provides protection for data being released by the
New York Department of Motor Vehicles however, there are no cost parame-
ters on how much permitted entities must pay to purchase registration
lists and title information that adequately reflect the public safety
benefit reasonable access to this data provides. This bill sets a
reasonable flat fee, providing a consistent revenue stream to the State
while adding clarity to the bidding process and safety recall process.
In addition, with the continued increase in fraud related to vehicle
purchases and automobile insurance, this legislation would also add the
federally permissible use of these records for motor vehicle claims
investigation activities, antifraud activities, rating or underwriting
as well as adding several safeguards to prevent misuse.
Millions of New Yorkers look to buy pre-owned vehicles each year, and
drivers looking to purchase a used vehicle deserve to know the full
vehicle history when making such a large purchase. The Department of
Motor Vehicles currently has the authority to sell non-personal vehicle
accident data and has been doing so for many years with the understand-
ing that having the entire history of the car, and whether it had previ-
ously been in an accident is critical.
The statute currently allows for distribution on a per-vehicle basis and
does not address the sale of data in bulk. This bill would authorize the
DMV to offer the sale of vehicle accident data to companies in bulk, in
the same manner as currently provided for registration and title infor-
mation, so that customers are not left in the dark about the history of
their potential new vehicle.
This information has significant utility in protecting used vehicle
consumers as it both identifies vehicles involved in crashes and further
illuminates the nature and severity of those crash events. Without
access to the more than 1.4 million annual VIN-level crash records that
have been permissibly provided for more than 2 decades, New York consum-
ers are now left blind to the safety and value implications of a used
vehicle previously involved in a crash. This information is essential
for public safety and strengthening consumer protection across New York
State.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
The adoption of this bill ensures that existing DMV fees are set in
statute, providing a consistent revenue stream to the State while adding
clarity to the bidding process.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7868--A
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
April 11, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. CUNNINGHAM, LUPARDO, ALVAREZ -- read once and
referred to the Committee on Transportation -- committee discharged,
bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said
committee
AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to establishing
a fixed fee for the purchase of registration lists and title informa-
tion
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 4 of section 202 of the vehicle and traffic
2 law, as amended by chapter 61 of the laws of 1989, the subdivision head-
3 ing and paragraphs (a) and (e) as amended by chapter 496 of the laws of
4 1995, and paragraph (b) as amended by chapter 293 of the laws of 1989,
5 is amended and a new subdivision 6 is added to read as follows:
6 4. Registration lists and title information. (a) The commissioner
7 shall have discretion to contract with [the highest responsible] any
8 successful bidder or bidders to furnish the registration information
9 specified in this section from the records of all vehicle registrations
10 from any registration period, or number of periods not exceeding five
11 years in the aggregate, with respect to a given territory or information
12 on titles. In such event, the fees provided by this section shall not
13 apply to copies of records furnished under any such contract. Any such
14 contract entered into by the commissioner pursuant to this section shall
15 not be for a term of more than two years and shall contain language
16 prohibiting [the] any successful bidder or bidders from assigning the
17 contract and from any use or resale of the information received which
18 use or resale is contrary to the public policy of this state or is
19 contrary to the public morals or welfare. In addition, any such sale of
20 registration information shall be limited to only that part of the vehi-
21 cle registration records describing the name and address of the owner of
22 the vehicle and the make, model, year, weight, body style, number of
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD09568-03-5
A. 7868--A 2
1 passengers and cylinders, fuel, license number, type of registration and
2 transaction, validation and expiration date and vehicle identification
3 number of the vehicle.
4 (a-1) The commissioner shall affix a cost for the sale of such lists
5 or other records specified in paragraph (a) of this subdivision in bulk
6 not to exceed the annual cost of one million five hundred twenty thou-
7 sand dollars ($1,520,000).
8 (b) The commissioner shall notify each vehicle registrant that the
9 registration information specified in paragraph (a) of this subdivision
10 has been or will be furnished to the contracting party. The commissioner
11 shall inform each vehicle registrant when such registrant first makes
12 application for a vehicle registration or when such registrant applies
13 to renew an existing vehicle registration how to achieve the deletion of
14 such information from the contracting party's file. The contract between
15 the commissioner and the contracting party shall provide that, upon the
16 request of the registrant made in such manner and in such form as shall
17 be prescribed by the commissioner, such registration information shall
18 be deleted from the contracting party's file for all purposes, except:
19 (i) issuance of manufacturer's warranty, safety recall or similar
20 notices, or (ii) statistical complications, or (iii) for use by any
21 insurer or by a self-insured entity or its agents, employees, or
22 contractor, in connection with motor vehicle claims investigation activ-
23 ities, antifraud activities, rating or underwriting.
24 (b-1) Vehicle accident report information and emissions information.
25 The commissioner shall have discretion to contract with responsible
26 vendors to furnish the vehicle accident report and emissions information
27 specified in this subdivision from the records of all vehicle accident
28 reports and emissions information in bulk for all accidents and emission
29 inspection records occurring during the course of the contract for use
30 in vehicle history reports. The vendors shall pay a fee for such infor-
31 mation with the combined cost not to exceed thirty percent of the bulk
32 title and registration fee. In such event, the fees provided by this
33 section shall not apply to copies of records furnished under any such
34 contract for the vehicle accident information. Any such contract entered
35 into by the commissioner pursuant to this section shall not be for a
36 term of more than two years and shall contain language prohibiting
37 successful vendors from assigning the contract and from any use or
38 resale of the information received which use or resale is contrary to
39 the public policy of this state or is contrary to the public morals or
40 welfare. Such bulk data set may include all requested relevant fields of
41 data but shall not contain personal information.
42 (c) Any material violation of the terms of such contract by [the] any
43 successful bidder or bidders not corrected or discontinued within thirty
44 days following receipt of notice of such violation will automatically
45 cancel and void its contract with the commissioner and disqualify it
46 from bidding for the five successive years following such cancellation.
47 (d) Any contract authorized by this section shall be subject to the
48 provisions of article nine of the state finance law.
49 (e) The commissioner may from time to time require that the contract-
50 ing party pursuant to this section submit written reports, in form
51 satisfactory to the commissioner, concerning the use of such registra-
52 tion or title information.
53 6. Additional requirements. The commissioner may require:
54 (a) Each successful bidder or bidders to post a performance bond in an
55 amount of not more than one million dollars;
A. 7868--A 3
1 (b) A prohibition on the sale or redisclosure of the personal informa-
2 tion for the purpose of marketing extended vehicle warranties;
3 (c) A requirement that the bidder or bidders provide proof of general
4 liability and cyber-threat insurance coverage in an amount specified by
5 the contracting agency that is:
6 (i) In the amount of three million dollars; and
7 (ii) Reasonably related to the risks associated with unauthorized
8 access and use of the records;
9 (d) A requirement that the bidder or bidders include in each contract
10 with a third party that receives the personal information from the
11 bidder or bidders that the third party must comply with federal and
12 state laws regarding the records;
13 (e) A requirement that the bidder or bidders and any third party
14 receiving the personal information from the requestor protect the
15 personal information with appropriate and accepted industry standard
16 security measures for the type of information and the known risks from
17 unauthorized access and use of the information; and
18 (f) A requirement that the bidder or bidders annually provide to the
19 agency a report of all third parties to which the personal information
20 was disclosed under this section and the purpose of such disclosure.
21 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
