Meta Secretly Tracks South Carolina DMV Website Visitors, Class Action Alleges

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A proposed class action claims Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook) has illegally collected information about South Carolina drivers by “surveil[ing]” them as they use the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) website.

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The 23-page lawsuit alleges the tech company uses a piece of code embedded into the webpages of SCDMVOnline.com to secretly track visitors’ actions “down to the very last button click” as they browse the site. This tracking technology—known as the Meta pixel—then transmits a “trove” of highly sensitive information to the defendant without users’ consent, the case contends.

“For example, [when a visitor] clicks on the ‘Schedule a Road Test,’ ‘Renew my Registration,’ or ‘Change my Address’ buttons on the various webpages on the South Carolina DMV website, Meta knows this particular individual has scheduled a road test, renewed a registration on their car, or moved,” the filing says. According to the complaint, the tracking tool also allows Meta to know when a particular driver is seeking to renew their disability placard or driver’s license, order a custom license plate or request a driver’s license hearing.

The suit claims the Meta pixel also lets the defendant track exactly who is browsing the South Carolina DMV website by collecting their Facebook ID, a string of numbers that can be used to locate a Facebook profile and any personal information publicly listed on it.

“A Facebook ID allows anybody—not just Facebook—to identify the individual driver with a Facebook account,” the case says. “If one types www.facebook.com/[FacebookID] into a web browser, it will load that individual’s Facebook page.”

Per the complaint, Meta uses the data it collects from SCDMVOnline.com visitors to help it deliver targeted advertisements across applications it owns, such as Facebook and Instagram.

The case alleges that Meta never secured consumers’ express written consent to obtain or use their private information for advertising, in violation of the federal Drivers Privacy Protection Act (DPPA). Enacted in 1994, the DPPA prohibits companies like Meta from knowingly collecting or using personal information from a motor vehicle record for marketing purposes without first obtaining an individual’s permission, the suit relays.

The DPPA defines a “motor vehicle record” as any record that pertains to a driver’s permit, vehicle title, registration or ID card issued by a state’s DMV, the filing says. As the case tells it, webpages on the South Carolina DMV website are a type of motor vehicle record within the meaning of the DPPA.

What’s more, under the DPPA, “[h]ighly restricted personal information—such as a person’s medical or disability information—can never be used for marketing” regardless of whether a consumer has provided their consent, the complaint shares.

The lawsuit looks to represent anyone in the United States who has a Facebook account and visited SCDMVOnline.com since October 5, 2019.

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