metrognome
Big Bling – I forgot to mention that it does sound creepy. I did some more research and found the legislative history; here is the rationale from the committee report:
‘Staff Summary of Public Testimony: PRO: This bill passed in its present form out of the Senate last year. The primary purpose driving this bill is the safety of a private investigator (PI) or attorney. There are many protections built into the system before you can access this vehicle owner information. You have to contract with DOL to get this information. The notification puts PIs and attorneys in jeopardy by giving their name and address to a person being investigated. Often times these peoples are felons or violent people and attorneys and PIs often work out of their homes so a person who is upset about being investigated or sued now has a PI’s or attorney’s home address. This bill has been worked on for a long time and we have accommodated other stakeholders. The time has come to move this forward. We are licensed, bonded, and experienced hard-working professionals. The first thing that I do is a background check, so if there is a protection order in place we would know. We are not going to abuse the system and go after a domestic violence victim. We are good, law abiding people who are trying to protect ourselves and our families.’
here’s the entire legislative history:
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=5182&year=2013
I truly hope this turns out to be a non-issue.