​Records show the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FHSMV) made $77 million in 2017 by selling drivers' personal information to more than 30 private companies, including marketing firms, bill collectors, insurance companies and data brokers — and made
Now, one Lakeland woman says she received an onslaught of robocalls, and direct mail offers as a result.
Sonia Arvin lives with her twin sister, Tonia Baston, who just moved from Idaho. Arvin takes care of Baston, who has an intellectual disability, and is her legal guardian.
"We took her to get an ID because she's a Medicaid patient," Arvin said.
Days later, Arvin said Batson started receiving direct mail offers for lawn service, credit cards, cell phones and insurance. They now receive constant robocalls, and salespeople have even started showing up at their door.
In Idaho, Batson lived in a group home where someone else handled her finances, daily living and healthcare arrangements. She had no digital footprint because she can't read or write.
That's why Arvin wanted to know how marketers got her sister's personal information.
"The only one that had it was the (FHSMV)," Arvin said. "Even if it's a public record in Florida – if we tell them we want it private, it should be kept private."
While the FHSMV sells driver data to private companies, those companies are not permitted to use that data for marketing purposes. Once FHSMV officials were alerted to Baston's case, the state opened an investigation.
It turns out that not every company plays by the rules.
Florida says it has banned data sales to three companies since 2017 for misusing driver and ID cardholder information. Under the law, FHSMV must provide driver information but said federal privacy laws and its own rules limit how outside companies can access Florida residents' personal information.
Read the state's privacy statement by clicking here.
One of the data brokers accessing Florida DMV information is Arkansas-based marketing firm Acxiom, which has an agreement with the state to buy driver and ID cardholder data for one cent per record.
On its website, Acxiom claims it has collected information from almost every adult in the United States.
"Acxiom provides clients with access to 2.5 billion customers and two-thirds of the world's population," a promotional video on Acxiom's website says.
The video also claims the company has a client list that includes banks, automakers and department stores.
When asked how Axicom is using Florida drivers information, a company spokesperson declined an on-camera interview but provided a statement through email.
"Acxiom acquires information from a variety of sources to inform its marketing and commercial products, including Acxiom's identity verification and fraud prevention products. We maintain all information in strict compliance with state and federal laws. But because sound data governance, including ethical and responsible use of information, is foundational to our business, we go beyond legal compliance to ensure additional transparency and clarity for consumers. To learn more about Acxiom's products, and the choices consumers have regarding the use of their information, please visit Acxiom.com."
Miami attorney Al Saikali, who advises his clients how to legally and ethically use public data for commercial purposes, said his clients are increasingly using public records laws to obtain information for a cheap price.
"We're only going to see this continue over time. Companies are going to continue to seek more data about you," Saikali said. "Companies are essentially paying for information, for leads, for lead generation."
Saikali said consumers can limit the number of marketers contacting them by setting up a secondary email account to give government agencies — which are only checked periodically for renewal notices and other important information — and only giving a telephone number to government agencies when it's necessary.
A state spokesperson said there's no way for drivers to opt-out if they don't want their personal information sold.
"The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles provides public records as legally required, in accordance with federal and state law, and as a necessary function in order for customers to efficiently conduct everyday business. The department has successfully instituted proactive security measures to ensure customer information is protected and any misuse of customer information will be pursued to the fullest extent of the law."

​Total annual revenue generated from specialty license plates continues to try to get back to the annual revenue amount that was generated from the program prior to the significant increase in registration fees and taxes that were introduced by the DMV in August, 2009.
In 2008, 1,524,608 specialty license plates were sold, generating $34,383,524.65, compared to 1,446,623 ($33,509,016.00) in 2018.

Prior to 2009, specialty license plate sales increased every year, despite the economic recession. The 2009 Florida State Legislature significantly increased vehicle registration fees, particularly with respect to purchasing specialty license plates. In 2008, annual sales of Florida Specialty License Plates amounted to 1,623,486. Since 2009, there has been a 19.78% decline in Specialty Plate sales, reflecting approximately $7 million lost in annual revenue. 
In September, 2013, the Florida Legislature reduced some fees associated with vehicle registrations, however, did not address the significant increase in the cost to purchase a new specialty license plate that was imposed in 2009.

​Florida officials discovered a two-foot plastic shower hose in the stomach of a seven-foot-long dead male dolphin that washed ashore earlier this month, CNN reports. 

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission announced on May 17 that the dolphin was found at Fort Meyers Beach a week before. Biologists performed an autopsy, which revealed the hose and other plastic parts in the dolphin's stomach and esophagus. 

"Your actions can make a difference - secure and properly dispose of trash, take part in coastal cleanups and share information on how to reduce marine debris with others," the agency wrote in a Facebook post.

The dolphin is the second stranded one that officials have found at the beach in a month. A months-old dolphin was found on April 23 with a piece of balloon and two plastic bags in its stomach. Biologists determined that it was in poor health and decided to "humanely euthanize" it. 

"This finding highlights the need to reduce single use plastic and to not release balloons into the environment," the commission said at the time. 

More than 700 species of marine animals come across litter, much of which is plastic, according to the University of Plymouth. An estimated 12 million tons of plastic waste enter the ocean every year, the institution further notes. 

Several states have made an effort to limit the use of plastic in response. In 2015, Hawaii became the first to ban plastic bags in all of its counties. California and New York have since followed suit with similar legislation.  

For more info, click here

​The 'Blue Angels' specialty license plate managed to jump off the train and soar above onto SB 620, after the bill had passed all of its committees, sponsored by Doug Broxson, R-Pensacola (and the Rules and Military and Veterans Affairs and Space Committees). The Blue Angels is the first specialty license plate to be approved in Florida for many, many years and not for want of trying.

​The 2018 license plate bill in the House (HB 505) was once again sponsored by James ‘JW’ Grant, R- Tampa, a 36 year old entrepreneur who attended Auburn University and Stetson College of Law. He is a member of Ducks Unlimited, Tampa Bay 100 Chapter, General H. Norman Schwarzkopf Children's Home Sporting Clays Classic, and the National Rifle Association. It has been a number of years now that Rep Grant has took the helm to lead the charge for new specialty plate rules and new specialty plates and failed. Among the over 30 proposed license plates that were contained in HB 505 and SB 1104 were plates that have been trying to gain legislative approval for over five years. Lobbyists for Orlando City Soccer Club, Coastal
Conservation Association, Lauren's Kids, the Independent Colleges & Universities, Moffitt Cancer Center, Rotary's Camps, Tampa Bay Lightning, Orlando Magic, Florida Off Road Foundation, Donate Life, American Legion, Veteran's of Foreign Wars, Ducks Unlimited, Florida Association of Healthy Start Coalitions, Florida Beekeepers Research Foundation, Dan Marino Foundation, Inc., New College Foundation, Broward County, Florida Municipal Electric Association, Florida Tax Collectors, Inc. and numerous tech companies all lined up on either side of the bill with conflicting opinions on language, as well as the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles own paid lobbyist, Kevin Jacobs.

​Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute Foundation, Inc., a direct support organization of Florida Atlantic University, that now has five specialty license plates under its belt, mobilized 8 lobbyists in this year's legislative session to fend off a challenge from the Florida marine mammal stranding network members, spearheaded by One Ocean One Health Research and Conservation Institute, based in Marineland. Amendments were filed to attempt to take the Protect Wild Dolphins and Protect Florida Whales specialty plates from Harbor Branch, claiming that research and funding was being limited to FAU staff and employees and that over $2 million was being withheld by the DSO as a "reserve". Source