Lawsuit Challenges Federal Government’s Bid to Gain Personal Data from CDL Holders

WASHINGTON—Today, the AFT moved to join an ongoing lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Transportation, seeking to stop the agency from seizing the personal records of 17 million commercial driver’s license (CDL) holders from the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, the nonprofit that maintains the national database of driver records. The AFT is represented by Public Citizen Litigation Group and Murphy Anderson PLLC.

The AFT represents approximately 13,500 transportation workers, including school bus drivers and maintenance drivers, many of whom hold CDLs. The government’s demand puts their sensitive personal data—including names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, license numbers, and state of record—at risk of being collected, shared across agencies and used for purposes they never consented to. 

“Many AFT members require a CDL to work as school bus drivers or Department of Transportation employees—and we must protect them and their privacy against the vindictive nature of this president and his cronies,” said AFT President Randi Weingarten. “Just like we sued the Department of Government Efficiency for trying to mine personal information from millions of working-class Americans, today we intervene against the U.S. government’s attempt to strong-arm the AAMVA to turn over CDL holders’ private information. This illegal demand puts millions of people’s personal data up for grabs without their consent, people who had no choice but to provide their personal information to the states so they could simply work, and who have no way to remove it from the database.”

The Trump administration has demanded that AAMVA turn over sensitive personal data without legal authority, without following privacy safeguards required by federal law, and for purposes that have nothing to do with truck and motor vehicle safety. The AFT’s complaint alleges the administration intends to hand the data over to the Department of Homeland Security for immigration enforcement.