Tommy Lloyd, owner of VibeZ bar in Sheboygan holds a hand held ID scanner Friday which he says helps prevent him from serving under-age drinkers. Photo by Gary C. Klein/Sheboygan Press Media
Two articles about ID Scanners in use in Appleton and Sheboygan WI. In Sheboygan, ID Scanners are used by a coalition of taverns (Tavern Safety Coalition (TSC)) to help identify and banned customers who violate their code of conduct. Its also helping to identify and prevent underage drinking.
In a new twist, the police, who owned the ID Scanners, loaned them to local bars and then using the downloaded data, arrested individuals who violated parole. We support the use of ID Scanners to protect patron safety, but this use raises some issues. On one hand, paroles should not violate the terms of their probation and law enforcement is doing their job to catch violators. On the other hand, patrons did not know that the scanners were owned by the police nor were they informed on how how their data was being used. Following the privacy laws in Canada, there would have been a sign posted stating how the data would be used. Here is a post on Alberta’s privacy laws and here is a document created by Alberta for liquor licensees use of Private data