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Legal Research Digest 71 NATIONAL COOPERATIVE HIGHWAY RESEARCH PROGRAM July 2016 LIABILITY OF TRANSPORTATION ENTITY FOR THE UNINTENTIONAL RELEASE OF SECURE DATA OR THE INTENTIONAL RELEASE OF MONITORING DATA ON MOVEMENTS OR ACTIVITIES OF THE PUBLIC This report was prepared under NCHRP Project 20-06, Topic 21-04, âLegal Problems Arising Out of Highway Programs,â for which the Transportation Research Board is the agency coordinating the research. The report was prepared by Larry W. Thomas, The Thomas Law Firm, Washington, DC. James B. McDaniel, TRB Counsel for Legal Research Projects, was the principal investigator and content editor. Background State highway departments and transportation agencies have a continuing need to keep abreast of operating practices and legal elements of specific problems in highway law. The NCHRP Legal Research Digest series is intended to keep departments up-to-date on laws that will affect their operations. Foreword Transportation entities collect various amounts of data for transportation-related purposes. Without debating the legitimacy of the purpose for the specific data collected, what liability exists for the accidental release of data that was to be securely held by the entity for a transportation- related purpose? Similarly, what liability exists for the intentional release of data generated from the monitoring of the movements or activities of the public? The Division of Motor Vehicles in each state collects secure data, also referred to as âsensitiveâ data, on vehicle ownership and driversâ Social Security numbers, address- es, and medical information. The data are used by law enforcement agencies to locate a vehicleâs owner to enforce traffic violations recorded by roadside cameras. Data on individuals are protected by the Driverâs Privacy Protection Act of 1994 (DPPA) and may not be used for purposes prohibited by the DPPA. Intelligent transportation systems, electronic tolling, and other technology may be used to reduce congestion, improve mobility, save lives, and optimize the use of existing infrastructure; however, there are privacy issues associated with the use of technology to collect, use, dis- close, or maintain secure data or monitoring data on members of the public. Whether data are or should be secure depends on the purposes for which the data are being collected, with whom the data may be shared, the length of time the data are or may be retained, and on law enforcement agencies. The main objective of this research is to review the statutes, regulations, and common law regarding the release of data collected for transportation purposes. Included in this research are questions concerning the application of public records laws and the application of any constitutional, statutory, or common law privacy rights. The digest also researches and identifies statutes and common law dealing with the collection of data on the activities of the public, includes a literature search of topics addressing these issues, and also includes a search of state and federal laws focusing on this and similar topics. It should be useful to transportation officials, particu- larly those involved with recordkeeping; attorneys; free- dom of information officials; those responsible for releasing such data; and the persons who are the subject of the collected information. Responsible Senior Program Officer: Gwen Chisholm Smith LRD 71_COVER_final.indd 1 7/11/16 8:51 AM