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AAPS Opposes HB2614, Disclosure of Personal Information; MVD
4/26/2006
Dear Representative: The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, a national, nonpartisan professional association of physicians in all specialties founded in 1943, opposes HB2614, Disclosure of Personal Information; MVD. Citizens of the Arizona are required to have a State-issued identification card in order to interact with the state as citizens and to do business with financial institutions and other such businesses as a customer. At the present time, without a State-issued identification card, individual citizens are not free to participate in the political or economic sphere. In order to obtain this card, citizens are forced to provide the Motor Vehicle Department very sensitive information about themselves including medical information, social security number, private address, date of birth, and biometric information. If this information must be obtained and stored at all, then minimal privacy protection requires restricting access. No third parties such as financial institutions, data brokers, private investigators, insurance companies, or other businesses should have access to this very private information. No other government agency should have access to the information without the informed consent of the citizens or by subpoena. We are especially concerned with the private medical information collected by the Motor Vehicle Department and sold or given to third parties. Insurance companies do not need to have access to MVD records since all of their activities should be limited to their own customers, with whom they have a private contract. The courts, law enforcement, and other government agencies should only be able to access confidential medical data with a subpoena or non-coerced consent from the individual citizen. In many cases, such as disability hearings, the patient is eager to provide medical data in order to further his pleadings. There are simply no legitimate reasons that a third party needs access to an individual's medical records from the Motor Vehicle Department. The MVD should not create a data mine for private brokers, as misuse of information or promulgation of inaccurate information can create serious problems for citizens. Businesses that profit from selling information should first have to purchase it openly from its legitimate owners, the individual citizens. If medical information is not confidential, patients are likely to withhold information from their physicians, causing delays in diagnosis, increased costs, and even preventable tragedies. Sincerely,
Jane M. Orient, M.D.
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