Department of Revenue to stop scanning sensitive documents

The Missouri Department of Revenue announced Monday it will stop scanning sensitive documents during the licensing process.

DOR issued the directive to license offices after pressure from state lawmakers.

According to an internal departmental email, the change in scanning procedures mirrors Senate Bill 252.

Monday afternoon, Gov. Nixon signed the bill into law. The bill has many provisions, but it prohibits the scanning and retaining of certain source documents involved in the issuance of a driver or non-driver license. The policy change took effect as law immediately.

In April, it was discovered the agency’s clerks were making electronic copies of applicants’ personal documents, such as concealed carry permits and birth certificates.

Republican lawmakers had raised concerns about the potential for people’s privacy rights to be violated.

DOR had even sent a list of all concealed carry weapon permit holders to the Social Security Administration.

The new law prohibits the department from keeping copies of such documents and requires the ones it already has gathered to be securely destroyed by the end of this year.

“While the Department has yet to provide adequate answers regarding why so many Missourians’ private information was put at risk in the first place, their decision to finally put an end to most scanning shows that the legislature’s hard work to protect Missourians’ privacy is having a significant impact,” said House Speaker Tim Jones in a statement.