The DVLA is making £160,000 a week by selling motorists’ details to private parking firms, statistics released under freedom of Information legislation have revealed.
The agency’s income from passing on driver details has risen every year for almost a decade, collecting £8.3m last year.
The agency is legally entitled to pass on information from its database of 36.5 million vehicles.
Parking firms use the data to issue tickets, paying £2.50 to the DVLA each time.
Simon Williams, of the RAC said: “The practices of some of these companies are often called into question and disputed by motorists who feel they have been poorly treated.”
A DVLA spokesman said the agency does not aim to profit from the practice and that its fees only cover the cost of providing the information.
He said: “We take our responsibility to protect information extremely seriously and we have robust safeguards in place to ensure data is used correctly.”