Governor May Try to Halt State Photo Sale

Colorado Gov. Bill Owens condemned the sale of more than 5 million driver’s license photos to a private company and said he would do whatever he could to stop the planned transfer next week, his spokesman said. Owens’ comments are the latest in a growing chorus of criticism of a plan by Image Data LLC to create a national database of personal information and pictures to help retailers prevent fraud. The Washington Post reported last week that South Carolina and Florida had already sold license information and photos to Image Data. Owens, inaugurated just more than two weeks ago, was “greatly surprised” to hear Colorado also was intending to release photos to Image Data. It remains unclear what, if anything, Owens can do. State officials said the vote allowing the sale to Image Data was made more than a year ago with virtually no publicity.