In a surprise, Texas says it will stop collecting fingerprints of driver’s license applicants

[TexasTowelie]

In a surprise move late Friday afternoon, the Texas Department of Public Safety reversed its position and promised to stop the practice it quietly began a year ago.

The fingerprinting ends as quietly as it began. DPS rolled out the program in January 2014 without any public announcement. Even driver’s license applications didn’t mention the requirement.

What did this mean? For the first time, Texans never suspected of a crime were required to submit their full fingerprints to the government.

Nobody noticed until June when The Dallas Morning News Dave Lieber Watchdog column broke the story.

Read more: http://thescoopblog.dallasnews.com/2015/02/texas-dps-stops-collecting-fingerprints-drivers-license-applicants.html/

[Downwinder]

1. Not required for my voter ID.

[They_Live]

2. It started long before 2014,

I remember when they took my thumbprint with some kind of laser scan when I was renewing my driver's license and that was over 8 years ago. Looking at my current license, it must have been in 2005. I remember being pissed about it, and that it didn't seem legal. I have no criminal record other than minor traffic violations, and if I did, they would already have my prints. So will they now delete my thumbprint scan?