Tue 7 Oct 2003
What the hell is going on in Vancouver? The Vancouver Sun reports that 35 bars in the city are going to require patrons to swipe their driver’s license and have their pictures taken before entry. This information will then be shared with other bars in the Barwatch network. Of course, the management can also flag the person as a troublemaker if they so desire, and that information will be shared as well.
Owen Cameron who is the co-owner of TreoScope, the vendor most likely to provide the software, is quoted as saying “Most people are willing to give up a bit of anonymity for safety” and “We can start making Vancouver’s nightlife a little safer”. Privacy advocates are rightfully upset. Are the bars and nightclubs in Vancouver so much more dangerous than the nightspots in the rest of the world that they need this sort of security? Vancouver club goers would be best served by avoiding these establishments and taking their business elsewhere.
via Slashdot
October 8th, 2003 at 21:42
Coolfer respects the rights of any business to operate as it sees fit. If this procedures helps make a club safer, so be it. Customers can go elsewhere if they choose.
Privacy advocates always kill me. They too easily exchange the good of the public for the rights of the one that would be affected only in an unlikely scenario. Yes, privacy advocates spread fear as much as Pat Buchanan. They conjure up a worst-case scenario and try to convice the public that it will become commonplace.
I doubt bars/clubs in Vancouver are less safe than similar establishments elsewhere. The difference is that the people of Vancouver are probably not so hung up on the ideals of the privacy advocates.