I recently received a letter from a private parking company notifying me of a penalty for late payment of a parking ticket in Eugene. This ticket was never put onto my vehicle. Can private companies hand out parking tickets? I, as a private citizen, cannot obtain private information on an individual from a license plate. Why does the DMV give this information to a parking company?

-- Sven N., Gold Hill

To quote the Oregon Driver and Motor Vehicle Services Web site, "While it may sound surprising that anyone may access these records, they are public and anyone can obtain them. However, the records available are 'sanitized,' or wiped clean of personal information such as: driver license, permit or ID card number, name, address (or) telephone number."

These sanitized records are made available to individuals, businesses or employers. However, businesses can obtain additional information beyond the sanitized version if they have legitimate business reasons. So, Sven, we here at Since You Asked could find out information about you or anybody else if we had good enough reasons.

Dave Thompson, spokesman for ODOT, said the information is basically part of the public record, and, as such, must be made available to anyone who has a legitimate business use. By the way, as to private companies issuing tickets, Thompson said the city of Portland also has a contract with a private company that issues tickets.