(Mis)Uses of Technology

(Mis)Uses of Technology

by Mike Masnick




Scannable Drivers Licenses Mean Less Privacy

from the you-have-no-privacy-anywhere dept

Well, we all might as well stay home, I guess. Following on the post earlier today about how Harrah's uses data mining on their customers' frequent gambler cards, here's a scary story about how almost any retail establishment can get all sorts of valuable marketing data from you by scanning your driver's license. They talk about a bar that officially scans your license to make sure you're really 21, but then keeps the data about you. They've used that data to see what sort of demographics they have at the bar on different nights based on different entertainment - but even scarier is that they've used it for direct marketing purposes. Thanks to that scan, they've also got your home address. So, suddenly they can remind you each time the band you saw last time is playing again.

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