DMV ProtectDMV Protect

Public Policy Skeleton

Driver Account Identity Matching Policy

This policy defines how DMV Protect may detect existing, previous, closed, or duplicate driver accounts without relying on unsafe automatic name/date-of-birth matching.

Last updated: May 18, 2026

Purpose

  • Driver account identity matching helps DMV Protect determine whether a driver is new, active, previous, closed, cancelled, inactive/closed, or requires additional review.
  • The goal is to reduce duplicate accounts, protect privacy, direct users to login or recovery when appropriate, and correctly apply reactivation rules where prior covered claim activity exists.
  • Identity matching must be handled carefully because incorrect matching can create privacy, billing, claim, or account-access risks.

Primary Matching Fields

  • Driver License Number is the strongest primary matching field.
  • Phone Number is a strong secondary primary matching field.
  • Email Address is a strong secondary primary matching field.
  • Any one of these fields may trigger previous-account detection and account-status review.

Restricted Automatic Matching Fields

  • Full Name alone must not automatically match, merge, link, or reactivate accounts.
  • Date of Birth alone must not automatically match, merge, link, or reactivate accounts.
  • Full Name + Date of Birth together must not automatically match, merge, link, or reactivate accounts.
  • Names may be similar, entered differently, misspelled, abbreviated, changed, or shared by different people; date of birth is sensitive and can still create false matches.

Matching Process

  • DMV Protect may normalize submitted driver license number, phone number, and email address before matching.
  • DMV Protect may search existing driver records by driver license number first, then phone number, then email address.
  • If any primary field matches, DMV Protect may check account history, account status, prior covered claim activity, cancellation/closure status, and reactivation requirements.
  • If the matched account is active, the user should be directed to login or account recovery instead of creating a duplicate account.
  • If the matched account is closed, cancelled, or inactive/closed, the user may be directed to the reactivation workflow where appropriate.

Allowed Uses of Full Name and DOB

  • Full Name and Date of Birth may be collected for profile completion, ticket/citation claim details, identity review, manual verification, fraud-prevention review, and conflict resolution when primary field matches are unclear.
  • Full Name and Date of Birth may help DMV Protect review possible duplicates after a safer primary match exists or when conflicting records require manual analysis.
  • Full Name and Date of Birth must not be the only automatic basis for linking, merging, reactivating, or granting access to an account.

Review and Help

  • Conflicting driver license, phone, or email matches may require additional review by DMV Protect.
  • Account linking, duplicate resolution, merge decisions, reactivation routing, and identity-match questions should be handled through secure account review workflows.
  • Alex may explain identity matching policy, but Alex cannot verify account ownership, merge accounts, or approve reactivation based only on user statements.