Why Is This Store Scanning My Driver's License?
Ed went to return a pair of shoes to Finish Line because they were the wrong size. As part of the exchange, the sales associate took Ed's driver's license and scanned it, and he wondered why.
I recently visited a local Finish Line store to exchange a pair of shoes. I had purchased the pair online, but when I received them they were a size too small. My issue isn't with the shoes or for the most part the Finish Line staff. It's with their return/exchange policy. During the exchange, when the sales associate asked for my driver's license, I just assumed it was to verify my license against my receipt. Fair enough. A few minutes later, the Sales Associate swipes my license through the card read, then hands it back to me. I ask her what she just did. "I have to swipe it through. It's store policy."
I had purchased the shoes online with a credit card and was doing a partial exchange (they didn't have the exact same shoes in the right size, so I chose a different pair that were twenty dollars more expensive) I paid the difference with my credit card so why would a license swipe be needed? Where does that information go? How long does it go there? Will my information be encrypted? Aside from this, the exchange went well and the staff was helpful enough, but since when did stores start swiping your license information?
A quick Internet search shows that other major retailers do this, including Famous Footwear and Victoria's Secret. Okay, so it's common. But why do they do this?
Retailers who scan your license use a service called The Retail Equation, which tracks how often you've returned items to stores that use the service, across all stores that use the service. It's part of stores' return policies to use this service and guard themselves against fraudulent returns of all sorts.
The Retail Equation keeps a FAQ and its privacy policy on their Web site, but this material can't exactly printed on your receipt along with the return policy every time you make a purchase. And, as Ed discovered, the real reason why sales associates are scanning your ID isn't made clear. Maybe because "it's store policy" sounds a lot less threatening than "we're checking to make sure you aren't in our massive database of known scammers." The latter may true, but it's not a very polite thing to say.
If you've been denied a return or exchange and would like to know why, you can get your personal report by e-mailing the company. If you want to avoid handing over your ID when returning items to a major store...I'm not quite sure what to tell you.
Information for Consumers [The Retail Equation]
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Comments:
Wal-Mart does this if you *DON'T* have a receipt, however if the purchase was done via credit card I would just charge the company back as it's somewhat a violation of the card agreement since you don't need ID for credit card transactions. Some States also have laws also prohibit this scanning of driver license information. I think a class action law suit is in order for 'The Retail Equation', they may be getting away with this since it's only done on returns which might have some legal grey area loophole regarding Merchant Agreements/State laws, but this is ridiculous. By the way if Wal-Mart uses the same system, this system is beatable in many States simply by getting a State ID and a State Driver license if your State assigns 2 different ID numbers for ID and License, I do it all the time at Wal-Mart with my Texas ID and DL, if too many returns on the TX DL, I just go to another Wal-Mart and show my ID instead, works like a charm.
I'm sorry, I don't have my driver's license on me, how about my concealed carry permit, would that work for ya?!?
JCrew tried to get my driver's license two years ago when I tried to return an unworn pair of pants with the receipt. I refused to give it over. I had the receipt along with the original credit card, and I was happy to give them another ID card with my photo on it... but they said they needed a "government issued ID", like a driver's license or passport. Are they CRAZY?
After I refused to play along with it (not having a specific reason, but just wanting to stand up against this surveillance/anti-privacy creep in our society), they got the manager, who quickly took the pants and credited my card. She never did explain why they needed a gov't-issued ID, but insisted that it was indeed store policy. I haven't bought an other thing at JCrew since.
I smell a lawsuit down the road somewhere.
Where does it state that I could only return an item x number of times? Is this magic number expressed or implied anywhere when the original purchase is made? What if I have legitimate reasons for all the returns and is within the stores' policies?- is that inputted into this system? And why should the number of returns I made to another retailer have any bearing??
This seems rather draconian and is a huge invasion of privacy. If a customer has a return that's well within the stores' guidelines, then what's the problem?
I wonder if you could tell them you don't drive and offer up your passport as a form of government issued ID instead.
This happened to us one time while on vacation in CA. Our situation was a little different though. The VA license doesn't have a mag-strip on the back, but a barcode instead. When we went to return some stuff, the girl kept trying to slide my driver's license through her terminal, but it obviously wasn't working. I tried to tell her that it wouldn't read like a CA license would, but she insisted that that's how the register worked. A few minutes later she gave in and had to have her manager walk her through overriding the process.
Last time I was asked for my license to be scanned my reply was "I'm sorry it's against my policy to let you scan my license." The clerk looked like he was going to argue the point but I just looked directly at his eyes till he looked away and completed the transaction.
Ya, it was kinda mean, I am 6'2 and around 270.
When you make returns at Walmart, Target, and other stores they take your license number also, so they can track to make sure you aren't "returning" things you didn't actually "purchase" on a frequent basis.
@zentex:
Good advice - advertise you have a CCW and your nickname becomes 'Target'.
The only time I have ever used my CCW as an ID was when I was buying some DVDs at Media Play (remember them?) and the extremely snotty clerk demanded my ID along with my credit card. And no, I didn't do or say anything to bring it on.
Amazing how her attitude immediately did a 180... my friend and I were surprised she didn't get whiplash!
I actually work for Finish Line. The Return policy is clearly stated on the back of each receipt, saying an ID must be presented for any Return/Exchange. Only managers can do returns. So the manager should have explained the reason she was scanning the ID. I always make sure I let the customer have an idea of why I am scanning their ID.
I agree scanning your ID seems like an invasion of privacy of some sort, however, it's no different than someone asking for your name and address(and drivers license number I suppose). The magnetic strip or the barcode on the back doesn't have any other special information than that.
I dunno this doesn't bug me too much. Even if an unscrupulous person tries using my OLN most law enforcement officers will still ask for bio information from the dispatcher if the DL is not in possession.
Oh and that Ed guy sure is cute in the picture ;)
I don't allow my license to be scanned, and I have never had a problem. I show it to them, and say "Please don't scan it." If they question me, I tell them I was a victim of identity theft and it shuts them up. I wasn't, but I am sure I will be if I let everyone scan my license on demand.
@morganlh85: OK that doesn't make sense, unless you left something out. I can see swiping DL's to compare your identity against a known scammer database (I don't agree with it, but I can see it.) But making sure you aren't returning something you didn't purchase? How does swiping a DL help that? They don't swipe your license when you buy it, so how would they match up what you bought (especially cash) with what you returned just based on your drivers license?
On a related note:
When I visited my medical specialist last week they stated that a new FDA policy requires them to photocopy a photo ID and keep it on file. Anyone know what is up with this?
@ajlei: I had a friend back in high-school who used to do the same thing with computer games. This was before he had a drivers license, and well before they started tracking that kind of thing. Eventually he got a bad reputation in that store and they started denying him on returns.
It's a little creepy in a way, but I understand why retailers do this. I did my time in retail and saw my share of habitual returners. We would also get a lot of 'renters'... i.e. Buy camcorder, film wedding, return camcorder.
I actually work for Finish Line. I usually always try to explain to the customer that I am scanning or swiping it because that's how the company keeps up with fraudulent returns/exchanges.
I agree scanning your ID sounds like an invasion of privacy, but it's really no different than just knowing your name and address(and your drivers license number I suppose).
@Neurotic1: Some people do it to get the free "rewards" you get from spending X amount of money. I have a friend who worked at Circuit City, and he said people would buy hundreds of dollars worth of electronics, get the free $100 gift card or whatever in the mail, and then return everything.
I imagine that just about everyone who's NOT scamming the system like this doesn't return things often enough to set off any alarms.
@Lucky225: WalMart doesn't scan in your entire license, they just enter your license number. They don't even enter your name. (Unless they've changed things recently.)
@PatrickIs2Smart: When I first moved to California, I still had my Illinois ID. It was downright perplexing to most people who looked at it.
I used to work at Sports Authority and we used to have a system that we would have to scan IDs for all returns/exchanges. They used the system to track returns to see if customers were not "wardrobing" or buying stuff to return it later after wearing it. It really turned into a horrible privacy issue, and we stopped using it to track receipted returns. Instead, we changed the system to track receipted returns (to ensure that certain transactions aren't being returned over and over in different locations) and track non-receipted returns based off of the drivers license number. More than 3 in a year meant the return was denied.
As for Walmart/Target, etc. - they're drivers license info, from what I've learned, is used to limit non-receipted returns. Walmart only offers 3 non-receipted returns in a 6 month period.
Actually if Retail stores follow the same law as the banks, they must accept any form of available "Government" ID such as Drivers License, CCW Permit, Military ID, Passport, etc.......
@SarcasticDwarf: I wasn't aware of that. The first time I visited my current doctor (I'd say two years ago or so), they made a copy of my license and my insurance card. They get a copy of my new insurance card each year the first time I go in that year. I didn't think anything of it, I just figured if they got an insurance audit they'd need backup that the insurance was being used by the person on the insurance card.
@SarcasticDwarf: That's really odd. I just checked the FDA website and found nothing on an updated/new policy for this. In the case of insurance, a lot of them require a photocopy of the identification...but the FDA could really care less who you are.
@Don't take anything aaron8301 says seriously: The key part of a CCW is the first C. Conceal. You're obligated to keep it HIDDEN.
If you're going about showing everyone that you have a firearm, please stop owning guns. You give the rest of us a TERRIBLE name.
Went to a United Artists movie theater, bought my ticket, and when none of my other friends showed up for the movie (boohoo), I went to return the ticket. They didn't ask for ID, but did ask me to fill out a form with my name, phone number, and signature. I refused to do so, they still let me return it. No hassle.
So first and foremost: just say no. I really don't see why I should be required to present any more information for undoing a purchase than what I presented when I made the purchase in the first place.
the rental yard I use scans your drivers license on a little scanner mounted on the side of the register. When you're leaving with a $1000 piece of equipment, they have found it cuts down on theft quite a bit.
@JayDeEm: Even worse than "renting"... when I worked at a grocery store, one woman would always want a refund for meat that she bought and had already eaten. She'd buy some steaks, grill them, eat them, and enjoy them--and then come back and ask for a refund because they were "dry" or some other nonsense. She wouldn't bring anything back into the store except for her receipt. I let it slide a few times, but when it became clear that she was just out to get free steaks, I reported her to the store manager and they cracked down on her.
I mean, realistically, if all of the meat from our store was consistently _that_ bad, why did she continue to buy it from us? Because she got away with getting it for free for so long.
@Don't take anything aaron8301 says seriously:
Hence why one ID w/ one number and a DL with another worx ;)
@tom2133: i think that's just stupid though. all the stores have those reward cards now and bug you to sign up. great, so i sign up and do all my shopping at sports authority. with more shopping inevitably comes more returns for whatever reason. so now i'm being denied legit returns after i've spent hundreds if not thousands of dollars in the store.
because ed was so anal. i wasted 4 mins of my time reading this article when he could have googled it to find out why they swipped his liscense. sheetz swipes mine to buy tobbacco.
google is your friend:). its also a safeguard against junkies who just found that recipt in the trash and go in , steal the shoes and return them.
@rambow681: I tried using a passport once at Target (before I got my California driver's license). The customer service associate told me that Target records your driver license ID# if you don't have a receipt and thus would not be able to process a return without either a receipt or driver's license (or presumably an ID card).
I'm not sure about other states.. But here in CA, the drug stores (CVS, Walgreens, etc) scan your license whenever you purchase Sudafed and other OTC medication that contains pseudoephedrine.
From what I understand, they use that to track how much pseudoephedrine products you've purchased within "X" time frame. Cuz ya know.. They assume everyone that purchases Sudafed is operating a meth lab at home. *rolleyes*
I appreciate that the submitter didn't harass the employees over it. A fair few folk turn hostile pretty darn quick when the ID request is made. Now, the 'policy' line is admittedly lame, should never be used, and I've tried to exorcise that word from my employees. The destiny of your ID information isn't any kind of trade secret. We have to look out for ourselves, too, same as anyone else.
@Lucky225: How many things are you returning at Wal-Mart...?
I'm reminded of this one time I was behind this one guy at Wal-Mart, and he was returning everything he needed for the weekend camping trip he must have just had. It was so blatant it actually made me angry -- for Wal-Mart!
Hope you're not one of those assholes that make retailers treat the rest of us the way they do on returns.
@SMSDHubbard: If open carry is legal in his jurisdiction, he's doing nothing wrong. Some states (I forget now, but I never lived in them so I didn't need to remember) allow open carry without permit and concealed carry with permit.
@humphrmi: Read the complete sentence, including the "on a frequent basis" part. Some stores may just have their own database instead of using a shared one. If you have a pattern of too many returns, they begin to refuse the returns. It's then up to you to press the issue. If they feel you're not a worthy customer at that point, they can ask that you never return to their store. I don't know if they can tell the difference between someone that returns 1 in 20 items or 100 in 2000 items, though. The latter person might get more attention while actually being a better customer. If they do this with the credit card used for payment, maybe they can see it.
@ReverendBrown: So to avoid harassing the employees about it, ask for the manager.
Hey, if you (the store, not you personally) didn't need my ID to buy it, and didn't tell me I would need it for a return (before I pay for it), and you advertise that you do returns, then I say fraud. I might not even have an ID. Maybe I don't drive and took the bus to the store.
OK, so back to the manager. Faced with such a case, call the manager. If I'm a repeat returner without ID, the manager will recognize me.
Nothing really wrong with open carry. I do it fairly frequently. Of course, having a CCW makes it easier for me to carry a BUG as well! Of course, living in AZ, its not a huge deal, until the snowbirds come in from places like California. Besides, what kind of criminal OC's? Not too many, most prefer to hide.
Back to the topic: I'm wondering how the database is tracked. It seems strange to me that the stores have the capability to decode the magnetic stripe or the "bar code" (mine looks more like dots).
@SMSDHubbard: As others have said open carry is legal in most places - in fact it's only completely outlawed in 7 states. www.opencarry.org/opencarry
Not to mention the fact that a permit, in most places, ALLOWS for concealed carry, but doesn't require it. Just like a drivers license allows for driving but doesn't require you to drive if you want to walk instead.
It occurs to me that the biggest concern is someone recreating my license with someone else picture to attempt to use it for illicit purposes (fraud, driving illegaly, etc..). Most concerning for me is the drivers license number itself. Anyone can throw an ID together, but making an ID that matches the address, name and ID number makes an ID that looks and feels legit. As far as I know those police laptops don't pull up your photo.
I live in Georgia and looked through the Georgia code pertaining to drivers licenses. I can find no mention of any definition of defacing or for that matter any section making defacing a license illegal, though im sure if one doesn't exist there is something general about "official documents".
I am not suggesting actually harming your license, but what about a little piece of coloured of opaque tape over the number to prevent it from being scanned in that can be easily removed to present to a law enforcement officer when needed? Or how about a sealed cellophane/plastic pouch with black over that part that can be easily ripped open to present to a law enforcement officer when needed?
Anyone have any information on the legality of that? The number doesn't mean anything to them, they cant cross reference it, they shouldn't care. All they should be interested in is my face, name, and address.
(Oh, and no way on earth would I let anyone scan my CCW permit, let alone present it to anyone other than a law enforcement officer)
@Neurotic1: They can also just stop selling to you, and then you won't have anything to return.
But the problem is with chronic returners, not just average customers. They cause retailers to lose big bucks.
@Lucky225: I believe Target has a similar policy that if you don't have a receipt, they'll need to see your ID.
Working at a bookstore, I'm surprised we don't have something like that. God knows we have the regulars who buy the books, presumably read them, return them saying they changed their mind, and repeat the following week. Providing they have their receipt, there really isn't a lot we can do. But hello people, bookstores != libraries.