Committee advances bill to restrict disclosure of sensitive state-held personal data and limit MVD sales to data brokers

Senate Bill 36, which would create a Non-Disclosure of Sensitive Personal Information Act and add protections around motor vehicle records, won a do-pass recommendation from the House State Government, Elections and Indian Affairs Committee.

The bill has two principal parts: a uniform duty across state agencies to protect designated categories of sensitive personal information and a new restriction on sale/access to Motor Vehicle Division (MVD) records by nongovernmental entities. Sponsor testimony described a practice in which MVD records are distributed to a contractor (identified in testimony as New Mexico Interactive, a third-party vendor with corporate ties to Tyler Technologies), packaged and then sold to private data brokers such as LexisNexis, Experian and Thomson Reuters; testimony said such brokers may re-sell records to government or private entities, including immigration enforcement. The sponsor said the bill would require private data brokers to certify they would not sell MVD data for immigration-enforcement purposes as a condition of access.

Supporters described the bill as a public-safety and privacy measure for survivors, immigrant families and LGBTQ New Mexicans. "Transgender New Mexicans who choose to change their gender identity on official documents deserve to know that that information is shielded," Nathan Saavedra of Equality New Mexico told the committee. Mary Ellen Garcia of the New Mexico Coalition Against Domestic Violence said the bill is "about public safety, trust in our institutions, and ensuring that all New Mexicans can live without fear of violence or retaliation." Multiple immigrant-rights witnesses described fear that state-held data could be used to locate or detain family members.

Committee members asked about law enforcement access and whether the bill would obstruct criminal investigations. Sponsors and staff said the bill contains exceptions to allow disclosures for law-enforcement functions, particularly to preserve criminal-investigatory access. The bill also includes an enforcement mechanism: the MVD director could revoke a nongovernmental entity’s access if the director determines the entity used or disclosed records for immigration enforcement outside the bill’s permitted exceptions.

After questions and public comment, the committee voted to give SB 36 a do-pass recommendation. The committee recorded the outcome on the record; numeric roll-call tallies were announced during the hearing but are not fully specified in the transcript excerpt.