With ID swipe, Big Brother bellies up to the bar

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Ed Biebel <edward () biebel net>
Date: November 21, 2006 11:39:08 AM EST
To: dave () farber net, ip () v2 listbox com
Subject: With ID swipe, Big Brother bellies up to the bar

For IP if you like

http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/index.ssf?/base/ 
news-10/1164091705151690.xml&coll=1

With ID swipe, Big Brother bellies up to the bar
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
BY IAN T. SHEARN
Star-Ledger Staff
It's College Night at KatManDu, a popular Trenton nightclub, and the
late-arriving crowd is predictably young.

Bouncers pat down male patrons and politely ask for IDs. They swipe
everyone's driver's license through a small, yellow electronic box
that reads a bar code and instantly displays the customer's age.

Club managers love the gadget, and it's rapidly becoming standard
issue at the bigger clubs in Manhattan, New Jersey and elsewhere.

But the box does more than just check birth dates. It also retains the
customer's name, address, license number -- even height, weight and
eye color. All that information then can easily be downloaded into a
computer system.

Most patrons have no idea their information is being electronically
stored -- nor are they asked if they mind.

"Why do they need it?" asked Tara Fort, a 22-year-old customer from
Hamilton Township, who became agitated when told the scanning device
was storing personal information.

<snip>


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