“We told you so.”
That’s what privacy and immigrant advocates are saying about a federal subpoena to a national clearinghouse of DMV records. This summer, they tried to warn Gov. Gavin Newsom that sharing data about California driver’s license holders could put noncitizens at risk.
As CalMatters’ Wendy Fry and Khari Johnson explain, Newsom’s office, the California DMV and state authorities earlier this summer confirmed plans to share driver data to a multistate verification system run by the nonprofit American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, or AAMVA. Advocates denounced the move, raising alarm that it could put undocumented Californians in jeopardy of deportation if federal agencies get ahold of the information.
Ten days after the governor signed the bill that enabled data sharing, the California DMV learned on July 23 that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security had demanded data from AAMVA on 17 million people with commercial driver’s licenses, including their names, birthdays and Social Security numbers.
Less than a month later, the federal department escalated its demands by subpoenaing AAMVA.
- Ed Hasbrouck of the civil liberties group The Identity Project: “We hate to have to say, ‘We told you so.’ But in this case, we told you so.”
The Trump administration’s demands appear to be part of a broader crackdown on non-citizen truck drivers. But California officials argued that if the state did not share its data on non-commercial drivers, it would be out of compliance with federal law, which could lead to the rejection of its state IDs at airports.
Newsom’s office says concerns about the federal government’s demands of AAMVA are overblown — echoing its reaction to critics who first decried the data sharing risks.
- Diana Crofts-Pelayo, Newsom spokesperson: “The federal government’s demand … is for bulk access to (commercial license) data — not the individual searches that federal officials already conduct — and California has not provided the requested bulk data.”
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Other Stories You Should Know
A Trojan horse for Big Tech?
Newsom in the coming weeks will consider a bill that proponents say protects small businesses from unnecessary privacy lawsuits. But critics of the measure argue that the bill is actually a Trojan horse for Big Tech, writes CalMatters’ Katherine Ortiz.
A nearly 60-year-old state law regulating unauthorized surveillance is being used against small businesses with predatory lawsuits alleging privacy violations. In the last four years, attorneys representing small companies targeted by the suits say more than 4,000 claims have been filed.
Sen. Anna Caballero, a Merced Democrat, authored a bill that her office said would address and curb this “frivolous litigation.” But some of the biggest names in national privacy advocacy, including the ACLU and the Tech Oversight Project, argue that the measure actually strips away an individual’s right to sue companies for consumer tracking violations.
The bill is also backed by Amazon, Meta, X and Google, and bill opponents say that a retroactivity clause included in the bill has the potentiality to sink a high-profile privacy case against Meta.
Spend the money, please
In a rare showing of bipartisanship, the Assembly in its final floor vote unanimously passed a measure that would clarify how school districts should spend California’s $1 billion in arts education, reports CalMatters’ Carolyn Jones.
The bill would iron out some details of Proposition 28, a ballot measure voters passed in 2022. Prop. 28 requires schools to use their new arts funding to supplement — not replace — existing programs. But confusion over its rules led dozens of districts to return their arts money to the state over fears that they’ll get sued if they spend the funds incorrectly.
Austin Beutner, a former superintendent of Los Angeles Unified, for example, sued the district in 2025, accusing it of cutting existing arts programs and replacing them with Prop. 28 money. L.A. Unified denies the claim and the case is ongoing.
Beutner initially opposed the bill, arguing that it would undermine Prop. 28, which he authored. But following news coverage of the bill, including CalMatters’, Beutner reached a compromise with legislators and withdrew his opposition.
And lastly: No new rules for license plate readers
A bill that would have regulated how license plate data is collected and shared quietly died Monday before reaching the Assembly for a floor vote. This was the fifth attempt lawmakers tried to push that would have reined in license plate readers, amid mounting public backlash over their potential privacy risks. Read more from CalMatters’ Khari Johnson.
California Voices
CalMatters columnist Dan Walters: Even though Democrats control every lever of political power in California, wildfire liability and the multibillion-dollar question of who bears the financial burden of wildfires remains a Gordian knot for the state.
CalMatters contributor Jim Newton: With giant sums of money and a short window to prepare before July 2028, Olympic organizers are balancing an array of logistical challenges to host the games in L.A., during a time of supercharged political tensions.
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A plan to eradicate the deer on Catalina Island will proceed, organizers say // The New York Times (gift link)
Bezos, Judge Judy, Rihanna: LA County assessor goes after celebrities’ jets for unpaid taxes // Los Angeles Times (paywall)
