Court says nothing wrong with RMV stuffing ads in registration renewal notices

A federal appeals court said today a state contract with a Globe subsidiary to include ads in car-registration renewal notices a few years back did not violate a federal law aimed at protecting the privacy of drivers' personal information.

The ads included with the registration notice for his 1998 Toyota so offended Matthew Downing that he found a lawyer to file a class-action lawsuit against Globe Direct. Downing charged that by including the ads, which he never asked for, the company had violated his privacy rights under the federal Driver's Privacy Protection Act.

A federal judge dismissed the suit because Downing did not include the state of Massachusetts, which had the contract with Globe Direct, but which could claim sovereign immunity.

Downing appealed. In a ruling today, the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston said the lower-court judge was right, but then went further in saying that even if the state's involvement were not an issue, Downing's basic point was wrong and that his privacy rights were not violated.

The court said the ads fell under a provision of the law that provides an exemption for government agencies or their contractors performing necessary government functions - in this case, the goal of reducing government costs through revenue from the included ads. The court added that neither the Registry nor Globe Direct ever forwarded any driver information to the advertisers, and that the company used driver's address information only to address envelopes to them.

• Complete ruling, Downing vs. Globe Direct, LLC