Tort claim alleges WA DOL left backdoor your info

Name: WA Dept. of Licensing responds to data breach claims
Uploaded: 2026-03-05T13:26:52-08:00
Description: The Washington Department of Licensing is disputing allegations of widespread fraud, saying there's not evidence of a data breach through its license express services.

WA Dept. of Licensing responds to data breach claims

The Washington Department of Licensing is disputing allegations of widespread fraud, saying there's not evidence of a data breach through its license express services.

SEATTLE - A local attorney is suing the Washington State Department of Licensing (DOL), alleging the agency left a "backdoor" open for hackers to steal the personal information of millions of residents for more than six years.

What we know:

The claim was filed by attorney Joel Ard of Ard Law Group, who is representing Washington resident William Black. It claims the DOL was aware of severe security vulnerabilities in its License eXpress system but failed to act, even as hackers actively targeted the portal.

The filing estimates there are likely thousands of victims.

According to the eight-page tort claim, the breach occurred through the online system used by residents to renew licenses and manage their accounts. The lawsuit alleges that the DOL not only refused to close the security gaps but also failed to fulfill its legal obligation to notify those whose data had been compromised.

"In-between Labor Day of 2018 and February of 2025, anybody could find the directions on how to get into the License eXpress system, pick a person and change the address on their license, and order a new license," Ard told FOX 13 Seattle.

Ard described this as "blatant and unmistakable," and noted the department maintains highly sensitive data, including:

Social Security numbers
Birth dates
Driver’s license numbers
Addresses
Residential addresses linked to motor vehicle records

According to documents, the department's failure to implement a known technical fix allowed one alleged fraudster to complete more than 1,000 identity thefts, with many of the stolen licenses being sent to a single apartment in King County.

"It looks like they could change certainly the address but maybe also physical descriptions and then order a new license," Ard said.

The claim warns that such exposure puts victims at high risk for tax identity theft and long-term damage to their credit reports and financial stability.

The tort claim asserts that the DOL faced massive identity theft issues for several years but "did nothing to fix that problem" for over half a decade despite having the means to do so.

Tort claim alleges Washington DOL security flaw exposed driver data for years

A newly filed tort claim alleges a system flaw at the Washington Department of Licensing allowed criminals to change personal information and order duplicate licenses for years.

The response from the Washington DOL

The other side:

The Washington Secretary of State's Office responded to a FOX 13 News inquiry with this statement:

"While our office is aware of the tort claim against the Department of Licensing, we are not aware of any specific mention or claim relating to the state's voter roll maintenance processes. DOL is required by state law to report to the OSOS if they identify that a fraudulent voter registration application is submitted."

"We don't know, again, the extent to which, there might have been any connection between someone saying 'Hey, I'm going to change the address on 300 driver's licenses'," Ard said. "Does that change the address on 300 ballots as well? We simply do not know."

He believes many people took advantage.

We covered the case of Kyle Wayne Rittenhouse, who was convicted in 2024 in a $100,000 fraud scheme using similar tactics in Pierce County.

"There have been stories of people who, 'Oh, look, he had, you know, 35 or 50 licenses.' We kind of think these are tied together, but we're not sure how readily anybody could make the connection," Ard said.

Ard alleges in 2021, a senior DOL employee asked Washington State Patrol to help, but WSP was getting more cases than it could handle by 2024.

According to WSP, the agency was asked to investigate suspected fraudulent use of the DOL's License eXpress system in Aug. 2021.

"The investigation pursued evidence of identity theft. However, in September of 2021, WSP investigators informed DOL the case was closed due to a lack of active leads," said WSP Director of Public Affairs Chris Loftis.

Now, Ard wants the DOL to confirm the issue was resolved last year.

The Department has 60 days to respond.

The DOL sent this statement on the tort claim to FOX 13 Seattle:

"The Department of Licensing is reviewing the tort claim notice filed with Department of Enterprise Services on March 3, 2026. DOL disputes the allegation of widespread fraud and has found no evidence of a data breach through its License Express service. That service requires customers to input personal credentials (such as birth date and Social Security number, if applicable) before gaining access. DOL takes allegations of fraud seriously."

Ard said every person in Washington State with a driver's license should assume their personal information was exposed and should take action with identity theft protection.

FOX 13 News reached out to the Washington State Attorney General's Office about the claim. The office forwarded us to the DOL.

We have contacted the DOL by phone and email as well as WSP for a response. So far, we have not heard back from either.

The Source: Information in this story came from original reporting by FOX 13 Seattle.