Sir, I need to scan your ID...

[RxBoy]

I don't think there's anything to worry about with stores scanning your id, although I have to say I've never been anywhere that's done that. It's not that different from anything that's gone on for years, such as a store writing down your license number when approving your check, for example. And for that matter, if the store you shop at uses any type of preferred customer card for sale prices, they area already recording your purchases.

If you are concerned, I would ask for a copy of the stores privacy policy and read up on how your information may be used and opt out of receiving the promotional mailings if you want to. But just remember that even if they say your information is never disclosed to a third party, they will have no choice but to turn it over if they are given a subpoenia.

The only way to really protect yourself entirely is to never sign up for store cards and to always pay in cash. The best way to protect yourself against identity theft would be to just monitor your credit reports regularly throughout the year.

[bsaana]

So 1Gb = 1,048,576kb, and your number of 307,006,550 would mean that it would require 1 hard drive with about 300Gb worth of space. Now, do I think a massive corporate company would spend $50.00 (typical cost for a drive that size) to keep all that info? Well, yeah - I do. But hey, thanks for launching a bunch of swear words and false accusations saying I am dumb.

You are correct, but what they are allowed to store varies from state to state.

The amount of disk space required would be smaller. They would use a custom database to store this data instead of individual files. A text save of what my license has (yes I have the necessary equipment available to me) shows the data at 288 bytes - and size on disk as 4k.

[MadMike]

OK, some of the tempers are really starting to flare in this thread. Please keep it civil.