Lawsuit targets Washington DOL over data breach | FOX 13 Seattle

Added: 2026-06-01

[00:00:00]An alleged security lapse has prompted a class action lawsuit against the State Department of Licensing. Fox 13 has brought you stories from several victims, including this woman. She says someone bought a Jaguar after making a fraudulent ID and stealing her identity.

[00:00:16]The claim accuses the agency of leaving an online program wide open for thieves to steal sensitive information, affecting thousands of Washingtonians.

[00:00:26]>> [music] >> Unfortunately, in 2026 in America, these kind of data breaches are all too common.

[00:00:33]>> In this class action lawsuit against the Washington State Department of Licensing, it claims a glitch in the state's License Express website allowed thieves to easily steal personal accounts and redirect physical driver's licenses to new addresses.

[00:00:47]>> They're absolutely obliged to take the highest level of care and caution in protecting that vital personal information. I mean, the driver's license database is the treasure trove for somebody who wants to engage in identity theft, and they were absolutely required to protect it far better than they did.

[00:01:06]>> Attorney Joel Ard filed the lawsuit earlier this month, as well as a tort claim back in March after tracing numerous identity fraud cases back to a flaw in the DOL system.

[00:01:16]>> I'm fairly confident that DOL itself is aware of close to 10,000 people who had a driver's license mailed to a a new address.

[00:01:28]>> The department is disputing allegations of widespread fraud, saying it found no evidence of a data breach through its License Express service. DOL says it reviews system transactions for irregularities and suspicious activity to identify potential fraud. Its fraud team flags and investigates suspicious attempts to access customer records and contacts affected individuals when they detect bad actors using stolen information.

[00:01:53]>> I think we're going to find plenty of evidence that it went on.

[00:01:55]>> While the alleged system labs is no longer an issue, Ard says the damage has been done for thousands of victims and argues there could be more people who were exposed.

[00:02:05]>> We're going to push forward with the lawsuit and the goal here, of course, is to make sure that everybody who was adversely affected uh is is put right by the state.

[00:02:16]>> Ard says he is working with DOL, Washington State Patrol, and the Attorney General's Office to gather documents as this litigation moves forward. The DOL says it has no comment on the lawsuit.