5/8: Robert Blake's Wife/Calif DMV

[Undertoad]

This is a picture of the wife of actor Robert Blake; she was shot dead in a bizarre shooting on Friday.

That's not what's interesting here. What's interesting is that this image showed up on Yahoo! News, credited as having been taken by the California Department of Motor Vehicles, and being an AP photo. The caption also says that the CA DMV says her name is listed as different on her driver's license; she was going by "Bonny Lee Bakley" but her driver's license says "Bonny Lee Lewis".

I'm assuming, then, that A) the CA DMV is storing photos of folks when they get their driver's licenses; and B) giving those photos out to the wire services, along with any other personal details they see fit, and C) checking the details of celebrated people and giving those out, too.

Maybe they only do this after you're pronouced dead, or something, but to me it seems like an incredible violation of privacy. I guess the bottom line is that you really should comb your hair before going in for that picture. You never know who might see it.