Jeff Camden
When Calgary law student Nyall Engfield decided to head out for a night of dancing and drinks at one of Calgary’s nightclubs he had no idea he was about to engage in a battle for the privacy rights of all Albertans. As it turned out the bar he was going to Tantra on Fourth St. S.W. was using an ID-scanning system to identify and deter troublemakers. After his licence was scanned and recorded without his permission Engfield became a troublemaker of a different kind: he filed a complaint with Alberta’s information and privacy commissioner.
This occurred back in 2005 and Privacy Commissioner Frank Work has recently come down with a ruling backing Engfield’s claim that the bar ID scanning system infringed upon Engfield’s privacy rights. In his ruling Work added that no evidence was provided showing that scanning IDs was a deterrent to violent behaviour.
Engfield says he was “delighted” with the ruling. “This is a victory for consumer rights. The privacy laws clearly set out the standard for businesses using our information and Tantra was in flagrant violation of that.”
Scanning of IDs at bars has become an increasingly popular practice with clubs in both Calgary and Edmonton employing systems known as BarLink and SecureID. These systems allow bars to record patrons’ personal information which is then shared across a computer network.
For now the commissioner’s ruling affects only Penny Lane Entertainment ordering the owner of several local clubs including Tantra Cowboys and Coyotes to stop scanning IDs and destroy personal information already collected. The ruling extends for 50 days to allow time for appeal after which a more widespread regulation may be created according to Wayne Wood a spokesman for the privacy commissioner’s office.
Penny Lane owner Paul Vickers has indicated that he will appeal the ruling saying that his SecureID system helps make his establishments safer for all patrons and that the information is not used for any other purpose.
For his part Engfield has vowed to carry on the fight into appeal. “You can rest assured I will continue to participate in the process” says Engfield now a patent lawyer working in Ottawa. The experience has convinced him that privacy rights must be protected in an era when issues like identity theft are rampant. Engfield calls bar ID scanning “a great danger to our privacy.” “The information on a driver’s licence is very private we often hesitate to show it to our friends let alone complete strangers” he notes.
