“We don’t know if that information will be misused against us,” said Silka Gonzalez, president of Enterprise Risk Management.īusinesses use the scanning technology to try to verify who is really going into their buildings.
But security experts warn that having your ID scanned through those magnetic strip readers could be putting you at risk for identity theft. Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.At schools, hospitals and even cruise ships, you’ll likely turn over your driver’s license to security without a second thought. Several stores do print this policy on their receipts at checkout, but to us that is too late in the transaction process to properly inform the consumer. “If you don’t want to purchase from that retailer, then you can go someplace else to do it,” says Hill. Hill’s belief that stores who require IDs for returns should make it known to consumers that this is store policy. “To say you’re using that information or taking that information to prevent fraud, you can use that argument for just about anything,” said state Senator Jerry Hill of San Mateo, who adds that his investigation into the matter of ID-scanning by retailers hasn’t turned up any instances of abuse.
One area lawmaker thinks that definition is a little too open to interpretation. The DMV says that it’s completely legal for stores, and TRE, to collect and store this information so long as it’s under the heading of “fraud prevention.” That means your name, address, birth date, hair and eye color, height and weight. If the info is on the stripe, it can be collected. of Motor Vehicles about what information can be legitimately be pulled off the card, he was told… everything. However, when CBS Sacramento’s Kurtis Ming asked the California Dept. It’s never been clear exactly what information is taken when your card is swiped, but we now know that the data could basically include everything on your driver’s license.Īccording to The Retail Equation (TRE), the company that provides this ID-scanning and anti-fraud database service, it uses “several pieces of information from IDs to ensure accurate consumer identification… Typically, this includes identification number, name, address, date of birth and expiration date.”
(CBS Sacramento)For years, we’ve been writing about the now-rapidly growing practice of retailers scanning IDs when customers make returns.
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