Was Your Personal Information Sold in WA DOL Data Breach? Lawsuit Claims It Might Have

The WA Department of Licensing admints there was a data breach, but a new lawsuit says they failed to quickly or adaquately correct it. Now what?

  Tort (Damage) Lawsuit Filed Several Weeks Ago

The Center Square is reporting, more than two weeks after the tort claim was filed against the DOL, they have yet to respond.

A Tort Claim is a non-criminal, it's a 'lawsuit' asking for damages and compensation for persons who were harmed by another person, or parties actions or negligence.

   DOL Admitted There Was a Breach, But...

From 2018 until 2025, the DOL had admitted there was a backdoor flaw in their License Express online system, and reportedly notified several thousand drivers they could be victims of ID Theft. However, the lawsit brought by the Ard Law Group says DOL attempted to minimize the issue, and did not quickly or adaquately take steps to close the 'backdoor.'

Joe Ard of the Ard Law Group told the Center Square March 20th:

“It's our understanding that the very first investigative file on this is dated 2019 and involves several hundred misdirected licenses .It appears that the problem existed from Labor Day of 2018 to the second week of February, 2025."

 Hundreds of Licenses Were Directed to A Single Address.

The backdoor was finally closed in 2025. Ard said DOL routinely had batches of "dozens" or "hundreds" of licenses that were redirected to a single address. He said they were paid for with prepaid Visa cards, and even what are called burner Visa cards.

READ More:  WA State has some of highest breach numbers, including government agencies.

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Burners are a single-use virtual debit or credit card middleman 'account' used for one-time purchases. They allow funds to be transferred without revealing the original source of the money. Burner visas have commonly been associated with criminal financial activity, from money laundering, to even supporting terrorist activities.

 Officials Say This Could Also Have Enollred Thousands of Illegal Voters.

Besides the data breaches, Ard, as well as House GOP Rep and State GOP Presdient Jim Walsh are also very concerned about how this affects Motor Voter Registration;  with hundreds of potentially fraudulent licenses being issued.   These fraudulent licenses could result in hundreds (or even thousands) of fraudulent people voting in WA elections.

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The Center Square said they were told by DOL they are looking into the matter, take it very seriously.