B.C. privacy commissioner to rule on ID scans in bars

Vancouver bar owners who scan patrons' driver's licences and log their personal information may soon have to stop, if B.C.'s privacy commissioner decides in February that the practice infringes on privacy.

Information and Privacy Commissioner David Loukidelis has completed his inquiry into whether bar owners can legally continue using card-swiping software that stores digital photos of customers and other personal data for two years, the director of the commissioner's office said.

"If he finds the collection [of personal data] is not reasonable, he can require [the database] to be destroyed, for example," Mary Carlson said. "If he decides this is a completely permissible practice, then he'll just confirm the ability of the bars to collect this information."

Bar owners began using the scanning devices before serving up drinks in 2004, but Loukidelis launched the privacy investigation after a patron at a Vancouver bar complained last year the system infringes on personal privacy.

The B.C. Civil Liberties Association took up the man's case, saying he should not be required to provide so much personal information simply to order a drink.

"If their purpose is to assist the police in crime and other areas, that should be their stated purpose. But it's not what their stated purpose is," Brian Samuels, the association's lawyer, said.

The screening devices store details such as a person's date of birth, gender and driver's licence number. Bar owners using them arguethey keep themselves as well as other customers safe.

"If you've had your picture taken and your identification presented at the same time, you're going to think twice about how you carry on while you're in the place," vice-chair of BarWatch Vance Campbell said. BarWatch is a network of bars that use the screening system.

Campbell said the information isn't used for any purposes other than security and that police can't access it without a subpoena.