Scanning of driver’s licenses causes privacy concerns for some
As a person required to register, I cringe every time I’m asked for my drivers license to make a purchase. Will they notice the statute number on the bottom? Will they know what it means? Will it become uncomfortable for me to continue shopping here? Etc., Etc.
Now, more than worrying about the statute on the bottom of the license, I just discovered they can scan my license and get the same information! Will the software trigger an alert? Will their screen start flashing something in red?
I always thought that it would be ok for police to have access to that information when they pull someone over, but why does the clerk at Walgreens need to know my status? That’s what the following story from Fox4 in Naples, FL asks.
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I could tell discrimination stories all day about the unfair and heartbreaking treatment of registrants in Florida , but I have to say, that I have accompanied my Grandson to the DMV numerous times for lost IDs and other things. Except for one time, he/we were treated very kindly and with the utmost respect. Wish it was always like that.
I’m rather surprised that few people have connected the dots as far as Disney is concerned. It opened in 1971, which began a major transformation to Central Florida and the tourism industry. Today, Florida’s economy is centered around tourism. No surprise there. So, it is in Disney’s best interest, as well as the best interest of other theme parks around, to keep up public perception of being the happiest place on Earth. That is why our elected politicians push for such tough laws against sex offenders in this state. Just look at the amounts of money contributed to certain “tough on crime” politicals. Just as Geppetto pulled the strings of his doll Pinocchio, so too does Disney pull the strings of their politicians and law enforcement.
Just one more comment: it should be of no surprise to anyone that the reason judge’s order convicted sex offenders to refrain from entering any theme park while under probationary supervision is because Disney’s influence. It had absolutely nothing to do with danger to the public. And I am unaware of any empirical evidence that shows registered sex offenders are dangerous to children at theme parks. I follow local Central Florida news regularrly, and from what I’ve seen in the rare occasion where a child is harmed, the offender was not on the registry.
This is why I like shopping at small mom and pop stores for stuff like in the video post. They don’t care who you are. They just want your business $$ and most of them sell at whole sale price – far cheaper than Walgreens or stores alike – at least where I’m at it is like that.
But once you’re a regular customer at those small stores I go to, they already know you and sell to you with their eyes closed – at times even when you’re walking through the door, they already have in hand what you usually get – whether its a brand of cigs you usually get or anything else, so you can pay immediately and on your way. These small stores, their biggest fear is having some person with a mask come in and hold up the place at gun point at the register.
Less than a year ago, i ran into this issue in California. I purchased a car about a year prior and had trouble getting paperwork ready for registering it into my name. The registration was just paid for two years for Oregon plates so I was basically driving on those plates. The vehicle was not registered yet to me, but I carried a bill of sale from the previous owner and insurance.
I got pulled over in my hometown and warned to transfer the vehicle into my name. (How did they know?)
Then when I was in another town, i got pulled over again out on the highway. Again, i was told to change the vehicle into my name. (How the hell did they know?)
Then I went into the DMV to start the process of changing the vehicle into my name (Costs money and requires emissions testing, which I didn’t think it’d pass, which is why i delayed). I was asked to sit down and wait after they looked up my papers.
Shortly after, two officers came into the DMV and talked with me about the car. It was quickly determined that the reason the cops were called in was because there was an “NCIC hit” on the vehicle. Normally, these NCIC hits are reserved for stolen vehicles, vehicles used in crimes, etc.
It was determined that the NCIC “hit” was because of my status as a sex offender. Apparently the Department of Justice (don’t know if it is specifically California, the US DOJ) is now requiring adding NCIC flags on all vehicles associated in some way to a “sex offender”.
As a result, i was pulled over twice and interrogated by police at the DMV. To this day, i cannot get anything done without the DMV making a phone call to the CHP, yes, the CHP to clear this up each and every time I deal with vehicle paperwork for any reason.
This is our reality, folks. Last time i was at the DMV was a couple months ago and I immediately said, ah, you’ll find an NCIC hit on this vehicle, you can opt to simply ignore it. The woman looked at me strangely, saw the hit, called CHP then after says, “I’m really sorry, this is so wrong. Don’t worry, whatever you need today you’ll get”.
The vehicle is finally in my name, which was next to impossible without this NCIC hit, thanks to a missing signature on the bill of sale. So there is a silver lining here, at least in my case.
Many many years ago, I use to reside in California (1972-1978). They were many light years ahead of my home state to which Mom & Dad moved from. As a, soon to been a teenager, I first noticed in some of their newer stores, a new technology began to emerge and be entegrated into the market place: the ‘Bar Code. ‘I can remember clearly some people declaring this new innocent Technology will one day used against the American people. Well, that day has arrived, and it is just the beginning. In the quote of Stalin himself: “We will defeat (change) you, without firing one shot. “Stalin is long dead, but his words proved prophetic. Our politicians, courts and law enforcement are now inacting and practing these unjust laws. But what even makes it more scarier, Congress and the States justiy using computer technology to tract and brand, what they deemed to be the most undesirables of society- Sex offenders. It does not matter how one percieves his/her crime being an innocently event or minor conviction. It’s how the establishment percieves it! And believe me, that hate every person convicted for a sex crime, from the least to the worst. In their eyes, one size fits all. However, simpletons (most Americans) cannot understand, the supporting of and placing a person and all his/her personal info- address, I.D. photo and sex conviction etc.- on a national Sex Offense Registry which invites every American citizen to target, brand, and stigmatize these people, will only pave the future road for the Rise Of One World Government. To be Continued?
If you’re at a Wal-Mart or any other retailer and they ask for your driver’s license, just don’t give it to them. Unless you’re purchasing alcohol, tobacco or a controlled substance at a pharmacy, they have no legal right or obligation to scan your driver’s license. I highly doubt they will refuse to sell to you. After all, many people don’t have driver’s licenses in the first place. You may have to pay in cash, but if that’s the case then so be it.
Many retailers ask for your telephone number for the express purpose of evading the “Do Not Call List” restrictions. I always tell them that my phone number is none of their business and finish up the transaction. Sure, I get a dirty look. But I don’t get calls from their marketing department at dinner time.
Fox 4’s guest implies that it is nobody’s business whether a customer ever has been a sexual offender.
And the Fox 4 reporter encourages viewers, when asked for a scan of ID, to cancel the transaction and go elsewhere.
This is sensible advice and sensible reporting on the part of Fox 4.
I once knew an individual who had “Sex Offender” stamped on his license for having committed a crime on the computer, though he was no longer a threat (this was in another state). He had to show his ID from time to time to make purchases, but the only unusual reaction he ever got was, “I’m so sorry they make you do that!” (He did NOT present it at Disney theme parks, as you can imagine).