Technology

Nearly a decade ago, I was purchasing beer for a friend’s party at a drug store and the cashier wanted to scan my drivers license. I refused and her manager said my ID had to be scanned to make my purchase. The cashier was surprised no one had refused a scan before. Sometimes people have scanned my IDs before I could stop them, so I put a sticker on the back of my drivers license. Increasingly, more businesses and restaurants are demanding this invasive tracing of customers for entry or alcohol purchase. No matter how much a bouncer may claim “we don’t store your information,” they have literally no way of being sure of that. If you value your privacy, do not let venues or stores scan your drivers license.

I wanted to make these stickers for a while. They can be placed over the barcode on the back of your license, indicating clearly you don’t want your barcode scanned in order to preserve your privacy. They also contain a QR code with a link to this article, which contains information for consumers and business owners. They can be printed on standard Avery 6525 compatible labels which you can pick up from most office supply stores.

• Privacy Guard 6525 Label PDF
• Privacy Guard Source Code Repository

I suggest using a label you know you can remove if you have to. You may have to remove these stickers for police officers during traffic stops (although honesty, they should be able to verify your information via their patrol laptops without scanning your license if you ask politely).

I haven’t flown in years, and am unsure if airports now require drivers license scans to fly. If they do and won’t let you opt out, you may choose to carry your passport or passport card even when flying domestically, so you don’t have to constantly remove and reapply the sticker to your drivers license.

There might be other limited situations where a photo of your license is appropriate, such as when test driving a vehicle, employment screening or renting a hotel room. Most places will take a photocopy or scan of the front. But a consumer should consider every request for a drivers license copy carefully and evaluate if it is reasonable and necessary.

In general, for all other requests, including venues, bars and retail stores, simply refuse to let your license be scanned. If you’re not let in, simply leave. There have been times when I was with a group of friends, and I apologized to them saying, “I’m sorry. You guys have a good night.” Occasionally, a bouncer will let me in anyway. If not, stick to your principals. Be a light of privacy advocacy to your friends. Most friends will follow you out of the bar and simply go somewhere else.

It may be valuable, if it’s a venue you enjoy, to come back during low traffic hours and ask to speak to a manager or owner. Try to ascertain why the decision was made to violate their patron’s privacy and see if you can convince them to allow customers opt out of data collection. Be sure to ask for their privacy policies. Be kind and respectful. You want answers, not enemies.

For Business Owners

As a business owner, you might be inclined to say, “We don’t store your data.” If that’s true, then why are you requiring licenses to be scanned? The format of the barcode on the back of all licenses follow the PDF417 standard. The information is not encrypted. It’s encoded in a standard format, and anyone can programmatically create and print their own barcodes using freely available software libraries¹.

The truth is, you don’t know if that data is being send anywhere. I’m a software engineer and I can’t know that for certain without reverse engineering the scanner. I can also tell you, if I were designing those scanners, I would absolutely transmit all of that drivers license data to my own servers and lie about it in my privacy statement. It’s insanely valuable demographic data than can be sold, and it’s much easier to ask for forgiveness or pay for lawsuits after the fact than give up that digital gold.

You might believe that having that information would assist if an incident occurs at your restaurant or venue. However, regular CCTV cameras should be more than good enough, without being invasive. If someone ends up being disruptive and the police are called, you can get their information at that point in order to ban them from your venue. There’s minimal benefit to preemptively mining that information from all your customers.

Your servers, bar tenders and security should be trained to properly identify drivers licenses within your state and neighboring states. If an unusual drivers license is encountered, we have the technology now for your staff to easily look up licenses from all US states and even other countries quickly and easily. A search on a phone should allow them to verify the license looks correct and to identify all the verification features on that particular ID.

There is no reason to scan a customer’s drivers license. Visual inspections show you respect your customers. Requiring scans is not ideal, but allowing for people to opt out at least shows you respect your customers’ privacy.

Everyone Has Your Data Anyway

I often hear “but everyone has my data anyway.” I assure you, that does not have to be true. I always remove all Google Services from my phones. In 2021, I deleted my Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. I run my own e-mail server. I use uBlock Origin on my web browser and AdAway on my mobile device to block tracking. I even run my own chat services and my own SMS gateway.

I realize most people are not like me, and do not have the time, energy or knowledge to take all the efforts I have to preserve my digital freedom. Yet, many people can at least do some of the things I do to protect my privacy. I realize there are limits and compromises that must be made. I still use a credit card for many things, and I do realize my mobile phone carrier is legally allowed to sell all my location data. Still, every little step reduces your data footprint.

Think carefully about what data you give, and always make an effort to opt out when you can. When it comes to having a restaurant, bar or venue scan your drivers license, the choice should be easy. Refuse, and tell all your friends you have refused and why. Blacklist that venue until they respect their customer’s privacy and remove drivers license scanners, or at least allow people to opt out. Every little amount of effort you put in as an individual can help prevent massive unwarranted data collection.