A strange thing happened at the gas station today

I went in to buy a pack of cigarettes (terrible I know), the cashier asked me for my NY state ID or liscence (I'm from Buffalo). I told her I didn't have one. She eventually sold me the cigs but her reasoning for the ID is what caught my attention. She told me that they now have to scan the ID card or liscence for tobacco and alchohol purchases. I find this to be strange. I was stationed overseas while in the military, so I'm used to ration cards for these items over there and I even understand that they can only import a certain amount, but what would be the reason here. Are they monitoring us or the products? Is this happening in other cities or states? Any info would be greatly appreciated. I don't know whether to be worried or not.

reply to post by DivineFem


I am just guessing they are doing such things to stop people from using fake ID's....just my thoughts! Why don't you save up and go and buy a months worth's of ciggys, and find out if they stop you from buying that much! If not, smoke them, and buy 2 months worth next. If they stop you sooner or later, you will know if they are rationing. Just an idea!

reply to post by DivineFem


Your scan tronned...take care and I mean it.

Wont be long before Google buys out the DMV for Marketing purposes. lol

Never heard of this particular use before, but now that you've mentioned it, I looked and found this interesting summary of data encoding technologies and swiping ramifications and who is doing what and when and why with drivers licenses, state by state: www.preemptivemedia.net...

Cigarette companies are also using driver's license scanners for commercial benefit as part of promotional campaigns. Companies like R J Reynolds will send a young person equipped with a license scanner and free cigarettes into a popular bar on a weekend night. The company gives 1-2 packages of cigarettes to bar goers in exchange for a swipe of their driver's license.

I imagine it won't be long until the health insurance companies buy the data to raise their rates on smokers too.

This is treading a very fine line between government and corporations, yet again. Using a government issued document for commercial purposes.

Weirder and weirder. Deeper and deeper.

reply to post by DivineFem


Nothing new, really.

Although, this does not appear to be mandated by law in the US, it is a fairly common practice in higher-trafficked stores selling restricted products.

It boils down to liability. I imagine retailers may also get some sort of insurance break if they use the scanners. It's all there, documented, no questions, no risks.

However, I would imagine that records stored by these programs may regularly be used in trend research by gov't or corporations.

That said, the level of insidiousness is questionable, but not dismiss-able.

I often think the same thing with these supermarket loyalty cards. They keep a log of what everyone is buying - They say its so they can send you offers / vouchers which only relate to the things you buy, but who knows the real reasons..?

If you do your food shopping online with these larger supermarkets, as soon as you log in it has a record of the things you've purchased in the past too. Its promoted as being for your convenience, and most people buy that story.

...big brother is watching you...

reply to post by DivineFem

It sounds like a new and poorly thought out idea to make life miserable in the name of insuring no one a day younger than they say can buy a cigarette...despite nothing up to this point stopping kids who really want it. They can buy guns on the street and drugs anywhere, but we have to play the stupid games over a legal product. How stupid.


Why scanning specifically? It actually makes sense if you can accept the Nanny state garbage to begin with. It keeps a short record of each ID to prove the cashier isn't just keying in B.S. birth dates to let underage people buy. registers have required SOMETHING be entered in many states when they scan the package, anyway. This insures no fraud occurs. Quite an effort and expense, given the benefit eh?

I have a question about this policy. Obviously the system has gotten smarter about identity forgery. Checking a license with an offsite backup database is a great way to ensure security, but how do we beat it? We can clone a license card easily, but the real question is about the picture. Do they also receive a picture of what your license should look like on the scanner? If it has to match the license, then it would make most traditional methods obsolete. Say the government only checks whether the license is valid instead of actually displaying a picture of what the license holder should look like. You could clone a valid license card but swap out the picture with your own. If that doesn't work, we can still use disguises, so long as they don't check our DNA too. But that will disappear as well when DNA scanners become cheap, fast, and effective.

My preliminary research shows that a scanner can only "see" traditional info like weight, hair color, eyes, etc. So if you found someone who looks like you (same hair color, height, etc.) and cloned their license card, you could still beat the system.

Maybe they just have to have everyone show proof they are of legal age to buy cigarettes?

But my other guess would be that they are keeping track of your purchases. It's a hell of a job though to set up. And the upkeep must be horrible... It just seems like such a mission.

when they scan/run you're id for ciggarettes, its only checks the validity of the id/license.. nothing but the birthdate on the card is revealed to the person scanning it.. (i tried to use an expired id one day and it denied it because well. duh it was expired)

or the way around all of the hassle is to get familiar with the local bodgea owner in your town..

The barcode, supposedly, is your birthdate. Most places don't HAVE to scan, they can often enter your DOB manually just as easily. That's how it is here anyway.

Most likely this business was busted selling to minors.
I know that when you get in trouble for something like this the government will make you prove your innocence in the future.
This is how a company dots it's I's and crosses it's T's.
I know if I owned a store that sold alcohol and tobacco I would not rely on my minimum wage cashiers to check IDs.
Fines for these infractions can be up to six figures and repeat offenders could have their business seized.

I have a Paranoid Disorder (so they tell me) so I tend to see a conspiracy in EVERYTHING, and all this is usually before I think to ask relevant questions. It just seems pointless if you can still buy the cigarettes without a NY state ID and scanning. Memo to self DO NOT get NY state nothing. Thanks for all the responses.

I hate to be the person not denying ignorance here, but isnt it just because fakes have gotten so damn good lately? I highly doubt that the government has a secret lab that is tracking our id for cig purchases. Are they only tracking folks who look 30 or younger??? cmon this is paranoia. sometimes the simplest answer is the right one.

reply to post by DivineFem


They're doing it all over now.

reply to post by bknapple32


I already admitted to paranoia, but thanks for the input.

Whenever I buy beer at my local Walmart, I don't use any grocery card and I'm not asked for an id. You can see I'm obviously older than 27 or whatever cutoff they use. So id is important in some places to verify age. Clerks are still allowed to use common sense in this country and not ask for id everywhere. Maybe that is not policy but I don't know. Some stores could have a policy not allowing common sense following government orders but I haven't observed it yet.

reply to post by DivineFem


sorry man, i didnt mean it as an attack on you. i just feel we are all guilty of this from time to time. i worked at a nightclub and we were scanning ids just to get people in, so i doubt that was being used for some government big brother as well.

reply to post by bknapple32


no prob. The only real heartache I got out of it was the fact that she WASN'T asking me because I look too young.