An understanding of the legal issues surrounding the Driver's Privacy Protection Act is important because the statute represents a belief by many people that open records constitute an invasion of privacy and an invitation to stalkers and identity-thieves. Many journalists and other proponents of open government, though, have argued that access to public records had done more harm than good.

   This research concluded that even if a constitutional right of privacy in the nondisclosure of government records exists, such a right does not pertain to information targeted by the Driver's Privacy Protection Act because drivers have no reasonable expectation that such motor vehicle record data will be kept secret. However, the study also concluded that a First Amendment right of access would not require the records be open.

   The paper noted that while the conflict between individual informational privacy and public access to millions of government records is at the heart of the statute, its fate more likely depends upon how the U.S. Supreme Court resolves a conflict between the Commerce Clause and Tenth Amendment. The research concluded that Congress unconstitutionally commandeered states' freedom of information policies when it enacted the statute.