Russell v. ChoicePoint Services, Inc.
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana
302 F. Supp. 2d 654 (2004)
- Written by Miller Jozwiak, JD
Facts
The Louisiana Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) obtained personal information from automobile drivers as a part of its administration duties. Public-safety concerns grew that the personal information collected by state DMVs could be used by stalkers and other criminals. Therefore, Congress passed the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act of 1994 (DPPA). The DPPA restricted DMVs’ abilities to obtain and disclose drivers’ personal information. But the law authorized some disclosures. Specifically, the DPPA allowed authorized recipients to resell or disclose personal information for limited purposes, so long as the purposes were not impermissible under the statute. Betty Russell (plaintiff) sued Reed Elsevier Services, Inc. (Reed Elsevier) (defendant) for violating the DPPA by impermissibly obtaining drivers’ information from the Louisiana DMV. The Louisiana DMV had authorized Reed Elsevier to obtain the information. Russell, however, did not allege that Reed Elsevier impermissibly used the drivers’ information. Reed Elsevier sought to dismiss the case, claiming that the DPPA required an allegation of impermissible use to state a claim.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Duval, J.)
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