Swipe your driver's license and get on to a marketing database
A story in the New York Times describe how scannable data on driver's licenses is increasingly being used by private industry. Already, about 40 states issue driver's licenses with bar codes or magnetic stripes that carry standardized data, and most of the others plan to issue them within the next few years. The article notes that the electronic trails created by scanning driver's licenses are raising concerns among privacy advocates. Standards and scanning are a dangerous combination that essentially creates a de facto national identity card or internal passport that can be registered in many databases. Mr. Barclay, a bar owner, says "You swipe the license, and all of a sudden someone's whole life as we know it pops up in front of you, it's almost voyeuristic." He had bought the machine to keep out underage drinkers who use fake ID's. But he soon found that he could build a database of personal information, providing an intimate perspective on his clientele that can be useful in marketing. "It's not just an ID check," he said. "It's a tool."Finding Pay Dirt in Scannable Driver's Licenses New York Times, Mar. 21, 2002
