None of the data is classified as personal information, and the state is investigating the situation, said Rachel Whitten, spokeswoman for the Kansas Department of Revenue.
Last month, Gov. Jeff Colyer announced the state would begin using PayIt, a Kansas City, Mo.-based software firm, for online registration renewals. Hailed as part of the governor's efforts to make government more modern, effective, efficient and accessible, the system allows anyone with a cellphone, tablet or computer to renew their registration online.
The encrypted transactions are initiated by entering a license plate number or the PIN number associated with the renewal. In a Tuesday post on the social media network Reddit, an anonymous author described how to experiment with variations of the PIN number and discover entries for random vehicles.
The random results don't include owner names or other identifying information. However, they do reveal tag numbers, the name of an insurance company, policy numbers, and the cost of registration.
Whitten said the state considers the activity to be an illegal, purposeful attempt to breach the system and access personal information.
"It is illegal to use a PIN belonging to someone else to try to access information in the vehicle registration system," Whitten said. "Fortunately, there is no privileged personal information to be accessed, even with the illegal use of a PIN number. State authorities are investigating the attempted breach."
The PayIt program, which was field-tested in Shawnee County, is accessed through the state's iKan application. John Thompson, CEO of PayIt, said during last month's announcement that transactions would be completed securely, quickly and conveniently. Customers pay a $2 fee.
On Reddit, people complained that the ease of accessing information was too convenient.
"I started to experiment and it allows you to try forever and doesn't seem to care if you are just browsing the PIN numbers," one person wrote.
Others compared the information to other publicly available records, such as county appraisals and home ownership.
"Got it to work," one person wrote. "Doesn't give away anything important. You could pay for someone else's tags though."
©2018 The Topeka Capital-Journal, Kan. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
