Now this is just bullshit. I have had to replace several ATM cards because the stripe will no longer scan, and they looked perfectly good. Obviously the technology is flawed, and the cop has no idea why the stripe doesn’t work. Unless he can prove that you tampered with it, he can do nothing.
…except hold you until they figure out what happened. I suspect if they have evidence of an altered ID they can hold on to you until they can confirm it. Any peace officers around to confirm?
When our cousin was visiting, we took her to a country bar to go dancing.
A few weeks later, we got a postcard in the mail advertising ladies’ night. I couldn’t understand how they got our mailing address…then I remembered they swiped our licenses.
IMHO, the liquor store has no need of your address to sell you liquor. And I would want a better reason than “It’s store policy.”
Where do you come up with this crap? So when my credit card stripe no longer works it’s because I’ve tampered with it? Besides, it’s not as if the information isn’t available in 2 minutes to the officer by computer or voice.
Sam
I think they can hold you for an “altered license”, but I’m almost 100% certain that a non-working mag stripe isn’t grounds for being held. An “altered license” would indicate altered information, pictures, wording, Etc, not a non-working data feature of the card.
Sam
With all due respect, duffer, this has no relevance. If a cop pulled over Raven then the cop has all access to the license that he wants. A private business, such as a liquor store, has no such right. (Unless there’s some strange MA law I am unaware of.) The state, not the liquor store, issued the driver’s license.
I’ve had my ID swiped in Santa Cruz as well, at Laurel & Pacific, and it’s routinely swiped at Beverages & More here in SF.
I don’t know the exact intersection, but my swiping happened at a Quick Stop. BevMo in San Jose also does this, and that(and my lack of drinking in the last 3 or 4 years), is why I no longer patronize their stores.
Sam
Altering a drivers license is an offence in and of itself in most jurisdictions. Altering the stripe on your credit card is not, unless you alter it in an attempt to commit fraud.
A quick cite from California regarding unlawful use of license
Demagnetizing is altering the license from its original form. Now the officer has to rely on just the text and photograph, which the magstripe is specifically designed to enhance. The stripe is there to make fraud more difficult, disable it and an officer has to go through extra steps to ensure no fraud is taking place.
Will it get you tossed in jail? Probably not, but it could get you a fine.
Evidence? What evidence? There is no conceivable evidence that could differentiate between a stripe that has been wiped intentionally or accidentally. They can’t hold you without probable cause, and a technology failure is not probable cause.
Steaky-
To prove offense, the police would have to be watching you as you “altered” it. Since demagnetization happens to cards on a routine basis on accident and through use, while your little theory in the illegality of demagging your card is correct, in practice it doesn’t hold water.
Sam
How many people read Figimingle’s link? Here it is again, because I thought it was very useful.
From that link:
My friend, The_Raven, now you have yet another reason to come do all your alcohol shopping in the Great State of New Hampshire. Bienvenue!
In Virginia, those who are under 21 get a profile shot while 21 or over get a standard picture.
Thanks for the invite, Lily! My company’s right on the MA/NH border, and I do occasionally stock up on the far more reasonably priced cigarettes, but I’ve found that keeping mass quantities of either of my poisons du jour on hand can lead to excessive consumption, if ya know what I mean. Particularly the cigarettes.
I will say that it is truly a sign of civilization that folks in NH can buy beer at the supermarket along with the rest of their groceries. Of course, the supermarket wants you to present their “Super Duper Ex-Sav-A-Ganza” data collection card at the checkout, lest you get ripped off by paying an extra $2.00/lb for that steak.
[Old dude narrating “Conan the Barbarian”]
But that is a story for another time!
[/ODNCTB]
-Rav
I’m not a cop or a lawyer, so this is speculation on my part.
I don’t think intentionally vs unintentionally is the issue. Suppose your driver’s license began to delaminate, you didn’t do anything on purpose but after sending it through the wash by accident it started to come apart. If you presented it to a cop as ID, he or she might want to hold you until they could verify that the information on the card checked out. The cards are designed to show evidence if they layers have been pulled apart in an effort to tamper with the ID. It’s a technology failure on a system that is designed to thwart tampering.
Similarly, if the mag strip was unusable, they might want to take extra steps to ensure that the ID hadn’t been altered in some way. This isn’t accusing you of a crime, but it is taking necessary steps to validate an ID. If the mag strip is there as a tool for verification, and it has been wiped, the the cops may very well take reasonable measures to ensure the data on the card is still correct.
This isn’t about charging you with a crime, this is about being able to verify someone’s identity. You can certainly make good arguements about whether this is the right way to go, but once you accept that the cops have a right to verify your identity in certain situations, any irregularities in your ID are going to raise flags. Whether you get charged with a crime or not is further down the road, this is just about establishing ID.
The cops can enter my driver’s license number and get the same information that is stored on the stripe. If it matches what is printed on the license, what other irregularities are they interested in?
Despite my generally liberal/libertarian leanings, I’ve never been the slightest bit bothered if the supermarket tracks what I buy. Why should I care? How is that going to allow them to take advantage of me in any fashion?
Howyadoin,
I pretty much agree with you regarding supermarket “discount” cards, insofar as the data collected is pretty benign. I was just mentioning them as another beer-purchasing-preference data collection device.
[hijack]
What I don’t like is the fact that the supermarket’s “price without card” often seems ridiculously higher than a normal price, while the “discount” price is usually only slightly lower than the everyday price. Because of this anyone shopping without a card is going to get hosed. It’s another example of the “We’re gonna stick it up your ass, and you’re gonna like it” mentality that business feels free to exercise these days…
[/hijack]
-Rav
I’m not 21 yet but my sister’s bf a couple of years back used to go to clubs with her. They swiped IDs in order to check ages.
A week or two later, they both received the same spam in the postal mail about clubs and events like that. /it’s definitely a marketing ploy because they never signed in or gave their addresses anywhere else.