In message <003701c42391$a673e620$19b068d5@ntlworld>, ianwelton
<[log in to unmask]> writes
>(which they have to
>> type in for the till to sell
>> alcohol) rather than my ID.
>
>If that information (DOB linked to credit card info)
It is nothing to do with credit cards. The DoB is taken from your ID
card (which in most cases will also be your driving licence).
{I have wondered about presenting my Amex, whose "Member Since" field
shows I must be over 21 (unless they issue cards to people before they
are born), but haven't felt cheeky enough yet.}
>provides the proof I am sad for those who might mistype
If they type in a date that's "too young", I expect it will beep at
them. They can then try again.
>during the very busy periods.
None of this takes more than a couple of seconds. In an event, most
American supermarkets posh enough to sell alcohol at all actually have
enough staff (including one to bag your groceries for you - they can get
quite upset if you do it yourself) to cover the busy periods. It's
called "customer service"!
> Are D/L's scanned to stop that possibility?
No, there's no apparatus to scan them mechanically. They are scanned
with the eyes.
> What restrictions are there on the use of information collected in
>that way?
On my DoB? Probably none. But remember, they aren't gathering my *name*,
if I pay by cash. Americans don't mind people knowing their age or birth
date. It might add a little to the blizzard of direct marketing junk,
but that's totally out of control anyway.
>> Parents *do* get sued when they "allow" their teenage kids to give
>>alcohol to their teenage friends and death or injury results.
>
>Does this mean the retailer is not sued but the offending children's parents
>are?
Yes, because the alcohol was obtained from the parents' house, not a
shop.
>> They gain the advantage that wrong-doers (eg everyone else)
>> are more easily caught and prosecuted. Well, that's what they think.
>
>Is the gain then a perceived control of other groups, without that control
>having direct affect on their group?
Correct! (In the sense that "their group" isn't doing anything wrong,
and therefore has nothing to hide).
> That seems to relate back to a power
>issue. A most unhealthy scenario containing only a very low level logic
>which seems contradictory to other logical decisions stated to be made by
>the same groups. It would also seem to go against the spirit of some US
>legislation the DP Directive and DPA, indicating that reliance on USA laws
>to provide a necessary level of protection for EU personal data would not be
>achievable.
There's some localised special pleading creeping in, but in general
that's true at the moment as far as I can see.
>The scenario logically extended from that statement does not
>appear congruent to the stated intentions or actions of the parties
>involved.
You keep going on about "stated" this that and the other. Do you mean
the Constitution? Whatever that might say, the rights of individual
Americans have been eroded since way back when. The original statement
that "all men are created equal" was interpreted as "all white property
owning males are equal" for centuries, for example.
As for rights in the employment situation, Americans are spied on more
by their employers, subjected to things like compulsory drug tests, and
so on. Their view is largely "if you can't stand the heat, get out of
the kitchen".
--
Roland Perry
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