Is USAA selling my information, including my car VINs and personal email address?

[Hall]

The Illinois Secretary of State's office releases vehicle owner data (to outide non-governmental agencies), even though they firmly deny it.

Ohio BMV does the same thing, at least I'm 99.9% positive they do, and they also deny doing it. One reason why I say this is my insurance company doesn't know my plate #, i.e. I never provided it to them. When I purchased my two most recent cars, my credit union didn't know my plate # either. Only the BMV starts with that detail along with the VIN, of course. If you use a auto parts selector, some sites allow you to input your license plate # (or the VIN or let you pick year, make, model) and it will ID your car correctly. I've also encountered it when getting auto insurance quotes online and after inputting some details, but nothing about our vehicles, it pops up a window asking "are these the vehicles you'd like insurance quotes for?" and it's correct information.

As for my email address, now that online annual registration is so quick and painless, I've been using that and it asks for an email address somewhere in the process. I can't remember now if it's just part of the data they ask for or if it's for where to send the order confirmation and receipt. Either way, they can connect things to my email address now too.

 

[wpod]

Almost all personal information is public . Do a name search of yourself on the internet. The government probably sells your info.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

There are companies that have cars equipped with cameras that scan license plates. They are looking for vehicles that are up for repossession, but it makes you wonder what they do with the data from the other license plates that they scan. They could package that data and sell it to dealerships or others looking for potential customers who just moved to a new area or something like that.

My understanding is that the readers are comparing photos off a database purchased by the towing company. They're not storing the data in which they read.

 

[wag123]

Did you get an insurance quote from another company after you moved (particularly on-line)?
Have you ever entered your VIN to anything in your computer?
Do you have a roadside assistance policy (like AAA)?
DuckRyder has a valid point. USPS has been in dire financial straights for many years. I wouldn't put it past them to be selling information.
BMWTurboDzl has a very valid point. Credit bureaus sell information about you. This is how they make money.
As far as your email address is concerned, do you have a free email account (gmail, yahoo, etc)? Well there you go. That is how they got it. How do you think Google makes money?

 

[Hall]

Got a source on that?

They deny it so there's no source, just speculation. See my post on why I believe very strongly that Ohio does the same thing. Answer this: Does your insurance company know your vehicle's plate numbers ? Go to Advance Auto Parts website, choose to add a vehicle, and input your plate #. See if it works.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

That all seems very feasible-except when it came to my personal email. That is the part I can't connect. The correspondence did not come in the US mail, it came exclusively through my personal email.

You've only given your personal email to USAA? Personal email is public record as well. I see it whenever I do a LexisNexis search.

 

[GON]

Did you get an insurance quote from another company after you moved (particularly on-line)?
Have you ever entered your VIN to anything in your computer?
Do you have a roadside assistance policy (like AAA)?
DuckRyder has a valid point. USPS has been in dire financial straights for many years. I wouldn't put it past them to be selling information.
BMWTurboDzl has a very valid point. Credit bureaus sell information about you. This is how they make money.
As far as your email address is concerned, do you have a free email account (gmail, yahoo, etc)? Well there you go. That is how they got it.

Did you get an insurance quote from another company after you moved (particularly on-line)?
NO

Have you ever entered your VIN to anything in your computer?
NO

Do you have a roadside assistance policy (like AAA)?
YES. We have AAA, but have not used AAA on the Acura, and AAA doesn't track the vehicles we own, they track the people covered by the roadside assistance. I am sure AAA may track a vehicle AFTER a service call, but I am no aware that they are tracking before a service call. But you definitely bring up a possibility I missed. Thanks.

 

[GON]

You've only given your personal email to USAA? Personal email is public record as well. I see it whenever I do a LexisNexis search.

Thanks, I did not know Lexis/Nexis, and the credit bureaus, tracked personal email addresses. Fascinating for many reasons.

 

[wag123]

There are companies like Google that tie all of your personal information together, and then sell it (do you have an Android phone?). And they aren't the only company that is doing this. If you have an iPhone, Apple is doing it too.

 

[CKN]

There is no such thing as privacy anymore...period. Unless you don't own anything, don't pay taxes-and live in a cabin in the middle of nowhere Montana.

 

[brianl703]

My understanding is that the readers are comparing photos off a database purchased by the towing company. They're not storing the data in which they read.

The one that I'm somewhat familiar with, the database is hosted online and the reader is sending everything it scans along with location back to that server. Whether that server stores that information or not is unknown. I suspect that it does. I suspect that the company that runs that service has the ability to look up every license plate ever scanned by their system and see when and where it was scanned.

 

[wag123]

The one that I'm somewhat familiar with, the database is hosted online and the reader is sending everything it scans along with location back to that server. Whether that server stores that information or not is unknown. I suspect that it does. I suspect that the company that runs that service has the ability to look up every license plate ever scanned by their system and see when and where it was scanned.

Many police departments continuously scan license plates from their patrol cars, and have been doing it for many years.

 

[brianl703]

Many police departments continuously scan license plates from their patrol cars, and have been doing it for many years.

They're not likely to be using a service that would aggregate that information and sell it.

 

[wag123]

Do you have a roadside assistance policy (like AAA)?
YES. We have AAA, but have not used AAA on the Acura, and AAA doesn't track the vehicles we own, they track the people covered by the roadside assistance. I am sure AAA may track a vehicle AFTER a service call, but I am no aware that they are tracking before a service call. But you definitely bring up a possibility I missed. Thanks.

I would be willing to bet money that AAA knows what vehicles you own.

 

[dadto2]

The database(s) up in the cloud have everything. Your file probably says that Acura is registered to YOU, and your address is 123 Fake Street in Washington. The dealership didn't ask where the car is registered, they searched the database for Vehicle = Accura and Owner's address within 100 miles of "here". Boom, that's you.

 

[GON]

The database(s) up in the cloud have everything. Your file probably says that Acura is registered to YOU, and your address is 123 Fake Street in Washington. The dealership didn't ask where the car is registered, they searched the database for Vehicle = Accura and Owner's address within 100 miles of "here". Boom, that's you.

The Acura is not, and has never been registered to Washington. I do comprehend that enough information in the cloud may have outputted that information, but it did not whatsoever come from the vehicle registration, nor my driver license.

 

[wag123]

They're not likely to be using a service that would aggregate that information and sell it.

Yes, they do. They all contract with outside companies that sell the systems and manage the data for them. Police departments don't do this themselves.

Police License Plate Readers Company Directory

Find contacts & request information from Police License Plate Readers companies & manufacturers in Police1’s company directory.

www.police1.com

 

[brianl703]

Yes, they do. They all contract with outside companies that sell the systems and manage the data for them. Police departments don't do this themselves.

Police License Plate Readers Company Directory

Find contacts & request information from Police License Plate Readers companies & manufacturers in Police1’s company directory.

www.police1.com

I understand that, but police departments, being as secretive as they tend to be, likely have contractual requirements with these companies that any information sent to them is to be kept confidential.

 

[alarmguy]

A few weeks ago, I received a correspondence from an area Acura dealership about service on my Acura, to include the Acura's vin.

I frequently move, and never updated this Acura's registration address to reflect Washington State. Nor have I had this Acura at any dealership for any services since I purchased the car in California almost five years ago (self-maintained). I did not have a good experience at the dealership in Washington that sent me the email.

I began to wonder "how this dealership found me"? If I had found them, I would have done google reviews of the dealership. But since they found me, and sent such a warm and nice e-mail, I let my guard down. So, a review of everything points to only one probable source of the personal information the dealership had to market me. USAA. They know where the car resides, they know the VIN, and they know my personal email address. I speculate my assumption is accurate, and if so, to think an insurance company is selling a VIN tied to my personal email address, is not a good overall feeling.

My speculation may be wrong. I know insurance companies share information with a industry database hosted by Lexus/Nexis or a like peer, and a data farmer could have taken the Lexis-Nexis information, and then crossed it to other databases to find my e-mail, and then sell my information. But that seems less likely, although possible, than USAA packaging information on its policies and selling that information for supplemental income on the polices they write.

I guess you could always call them and ask for a copy of their privacy policy if you’re not happy with whatever answer they give you

 

[JohnnyJohnson]

Everyone is doing it why do you think a lot of big companies can offer free shipping etc.