Attorney General Kathy Jennings and a coalition of 24 attorneys general have announced that a U.S. District Court judge has granted a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump Administration from gaining access to a database of state-owned records containing the sensitive personal information of 17 million drivers nationwide. The order also blocks the Administration from retaliating against the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA) by terminating more than $10 million in federal funding if it does not hand over that information.

“This ruling is a crucial step in ensuring that Delawareans’ sensitive data is protected while we fight to end this lawless attempt at extortion for good,” said Attorney General Kathy Jennings. “I look forward to continuing to make our case in court.”

In August, Attorney General Jennings and the coalition filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), and AAMVA, as well as an additional lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The lawsuits claim that DOT, FMCSA and DHS are violating multiple federal privacy laws by secretly setting up their own database with records extorted from AAMVA, with no guardrails on the use or sharing of drivers’ Social Security numbers and other personal information, and no notice to the public.

Just a week after the coalition filed the lawsuits, the court issued a temporary restraining order, blocking the Administration from obtaining this sensitive information for two weeks. Today’s preliminary injunction blocks the demand as Attorney General Jennings and the coalition continue to litigate the ongoing case.

Attorney General Jennings filed these lawsuits alongside the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin, along with the Governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania.

Print