The "cataloging" of individuals seems to be increasing. I can understand the need on the part of the businesses in this article (Pubs, Clubs Use High-Tech ID System to Track Troublemakers), but I strongly object to their retaining personal identity information such as birthdays. If the system works by identifying the face, then all it needs is the face. If the bar is going to go as far as requiring personal information, they might as well issue membership cards of their own in order for patrons to gain admission.
I assume they collect the birthdate in order to validate that the customer is of legal drinking age. But really, they don't need to retain that information. An underage patron can be flagged as underaged, with no mention of the actual birthday. When they reach legal age, they simply tell the doorman that they've had a birthday and show identification proving it; the system gets updated, and wha-la, they're granted entry to all businesses using it.
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The full text to which I'm objecting:
Pubs, Clubs Use High-Tech ID System to Track Troublemakers
Soon you may be asked for more than your identification when you go into a bar or nightclub. In Vancouver, Canada, you could also be asked to smile for a camera.
The Vigilance ID check system was developed by Vancouver's TreoScope Technologies. It works by taking your picture as your ID is swiped through a card reader. Your name, birth date, and diver's license number are transferred from the magnetic strip on the back of your card to a computer database where that info, along with your photo, are stored.
"The idea behind it was to create a system that would protect patrons and establishments from people out to make the nightlife unsafe," TreoScope co-owner Owen Cameron says. "It's a 24-hour doorman that never forgets a name or a face."
If you cause trouble, not only can you get kicked out of the club, but bar owners can go through the photos, find you, and red flag you for future visits.
Cameron says those running the system in their establishments can also attach reports to your name and face ? a regular rap sheet for whatever you may have done wrong, from fighting and excessive drinking to drink-tampering.
Rowdy Bar-Hopper Stopper
But if you draw a red flag, don't think you can just go down the street to the next bar or even across town. Every bar that's hooked into the electronic system can find out if you've caused trouble someplace else.
Genesis Security (www.GenesisSecurity.com) is responsible for running the system day-to-day.
"You could have a troublemaker at one bar, send [his information] off to all bars on the system, and the bar would be aware of his history," Genesis' Dave Sukic says.
It's then up to each bar to decide whether to let the patron inside.
Tristan Vanin is the general manager of Vancouver hot spot the Plaza Club. Vanin says the club felt it needed to tighten security in the wake of increasing violence in the area.
"It all starts with the front door and who you are letting in," he says. "It only takes one gunshot or one act of violence, and it'll ruin your club night."
Another Slap in the Face of Privacy?
The Vigilance system, which can also identify fake IDs, was designed to keep patrons out of harm's way, according to the company. But the security network is raising eyebrows among privacy advocates.
Lee Tien, senior staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation in San Francisco, is concerned the information could be used for other purposes.
"Whenever you're collecting information and tying it to their identity, then you have all sorts of problems ... as in, what are the people who get that information going to do with it?" Tien asks.
Genesis Security insists the information will not be used for marketing or any other purposes. It says the information will be kept discrete.
"It's not being released to anybody," Dave Sukic insists. "That information is sent to us directly and will only be released for court purposes."
The information, he says, could be kept for up to two years for legal reasons.
Posted at April 26, 2004 12:00 PM in Social Order