tuscl

Strip Clubs and ID Scanning

vajmon
Love Canal
Tuesday, March 15, 2016 12:00 AM
About 3 years ago one of my favorite strip clubs (Cadillac Lounge in Providence, Rhode Island) began scanning every patron's drivers license. It doesn't matter how old you are or look, they demand to see your ID at the front door and then without your consent insert it into a device that looks like a credit card reader. This thing not only verifies that your ID is real, it displays on a screen your name, address, DOB and it shows how many times you've visited the club in the past. Looking at the screen it even looked like it could be used to record how many drinks you buy if a credit card is used. To make matters worse, all that info lingers on the screen until the next patron comes in and gets scanned. Before Cadillac Lounge started scanning IDs I had never encountered this anywhere else in my many years of strip clubbing. However since Caddy started a few other strip clubs I have visited around the Northeast have started doing this same ID scanning bullshit.  I can understand that a club might need to cover their ass against an underage kid trying to sneak in with a fake ID. But nobody would mistake me for being under 41 let alone under 21! I mean even when strippers try to butter me up, it's with "you look really good for your age" or "I like older guys". And whenever I've asked bouncers at the door if I look like I could in any way possible be under 21 they always look at me like "you've got to be kidding" and basically say no, not a chance in hell.  So why scan people like me? I asked two of the clubs that I've visited why they scan obviously older patron's IDs. One club said they were required "by law" to scan every patron's ID regardless of age. Not sure if it was the town or state that required this. But I always thought that the government can't require people to carry IDs (some constitution thing). Perhaps it was a condition of their liquor license?  Another club claimed it was done because the Fire Marshall requires them to track how many people are in the club so that they don't exceed capacity. So they claimed the scanner acts like a counter. That was the official explanation. But the scanner doesn't register when people leave the club. Nothing else does either for that matter. So this explanation really doesn't make any sense. The unofficial explanation I got from someone I know at the club was that Uncle LEO was sending in underage kids to try to buy liquor and other kids to try to get jobs there all with the intent of raiding the club and using that shit to either close the club or exact concessions/shake it down. Ok... but that still doesn't explain why they're scanning someone like me who's obviously not underage by any stretch of the imagination (I'm mostly gray, balding, have wrinkles)  I don't like being scanned because I fear that I could end up getting scammed or even canned! Let's face it, there are a lot of douche bags and desperate crazy drug addicts that work at strip clubs. These are not places where you want your name, address or credit card info floating around. A couple of examples... The former manager of one club where they scan was arrested by the FBI for extortion activities relating to the club and allegedly was in the mob. Also a dancer working there was arrested for going to a custie's home with her pimp bf and another dude and robbing and beating him at gunpoint. A stripper at another club I frequent just robbed a bank... twice! That's just some of the shit that was in the news. A lot of other shit has gone down that was not in the news. Aside from getting robbed, somebody that works at a club might use info obtained by scanning to blackmail a custie or get revenge. I've seen custie's names and addresses being posted on SCL, probably by jilted strippers or unhappy staff. I will admit that over the years I've met many strippers, waitresses/shot girls OTC (even at my place). I know some may say why then worry about scanning. The answer is with OTC at least I'm the one controlling the information. I'm the one making the choice about who to give my info to, what/how much info I want to give out and when. I can at least screen who I want to give my name (never last name) and (rarely) address to.         Another reason why I don't like getting scanned is that unfortunately there's still a stigma attached to visiting "gentlemen's clubs". I know rappers and movie stars have made them more cool/trendy lately. But if you go to strip clubs roughly once a week all the time like me, most people still think you're a weirdo. Unfortunately for me I work in an office where people are really uptight. If my boss knew I spent most of my free time and disposable income on strippers I'd probably get fired.  I also don't want "big brother" to know what I'm doing. That's why I NEVER use a credit card at a strip club. Perhaps the company running the ID verification is going to sell my personal information (like credit cards do) to insurance companies, credit reporting agencies or agencies that do employee background checks so they can come up with some excuse to jack up my rates or otherwise screw me over. Worse yet maybe some government or religious wackos end up getting this info. For instance maybe strip club habits could be used to show that someone could afford to pay more in alimony or child support or used to claim that someone earned more than what they declared. Maybe if Ted Cruz becomes President he'll use that info to round up all us perverts!  I know there's already face recognition software, traffic cameras, smart phones, license plate scanners on cop cars and all kinds of crap that theoretically can be used to track someone's whereabouts. But that technology is still not utilized that much. And when it is, it's done almost exclusively by LE with a warrant for legitimate purposes (catching real criminals), much like an old fashioned tail. And let's face it, you can outsmart that shit relatively easy by leaving your real phone at home, parking down the street and not posting too much shit on social media.     So how do I deal with scanning. At one club the first time it happened I ended up making a u-turn at the door and instead went to another club. Later my ATF there at the time told me that they only scanned on Friday and Saturday nights. So for a while I switched to Thursday or Sunday nights. Then I just started meeting her OTC instead. So in the end it was their loss. When I started going there again after about a year I used a trick that I saw used at another strip club. At that club (which didn't scan) I saw a bunch of kids use foreign passports to gain admittance. That gave me an idea. So when I went back to the club I brought along my passport, which doesn't fit in the scanner and thus couldn't be scanned. At first the bouncer at the door was like "WTF, don't you have any other kind of ID?" But I got in that time and other times. After a while they started recognizing me. And eventually they caught on and just stopped asking for my ID all together. At another club I was able to get out of scanning by bitching and threatening to go somewhere else (there's about a dozen other clubs nearby). But at one club I ended up giving-in. I figured that getting scanned one time was probably harmless (could always claim it was just for a bachelor party or something). Plus I didn't live nearby, the club didn't look that shady and- the biggest reason- I was already there and really wanted to check out the ladies! But I won't return. And if I had known before I went there that they scanned, I probably would've skipped that place. I wish TUSCL would make a category where one could indicate if a club scans or not when filing a review.        So that's my rant... Does anyone out there legitimately know anything about the services that verify driver's licenses? Do they sell the info they have about your bar/club habits? Can they legally do this without disclosing it in their "privacy policy"?  Anyone out there work at a club that scans IDs and know the real DL on this? Anyone know of other clubs that have mandatory scanning of all IDs regardless of age/appearance?      In the Northeast, clubs that I know of are: Cadillac Lounge, Providence, RI Rhode Island Dolls, Woonsocket, RI Mardi Gras2, East Windsor, Ct

26 comments

  • JohnBuford
    •
    8 years ago
    Vajmon, I go to RI Dolls fairly regularly and I have NEVER shown ID, much less had anything scanned.
  • Call.Me.Ishmael
    •
    8 years ago
    I am also in Rhode Island. Caddie used to be my go-to club. Since they started scanning, I switched to Desires and sometimes Foxy. I have no idea about the companies that provide scanning software / hardware, but I share your concerns with regards to leaving a digital trail at a strip club. I fear that the only way to fight it is to take your patronage (and money) elsewhere.
  • pensionking
    •
    8 years ago
    You must visit elsewhere. You must tell them as you are making a U-turn at their entrance the reason for your departure. You should encourage the dorrman/toll collector to tell the owner. This is the ONLY way to reverse this ridiculous, intrusive policy. The ONLY WAY! Capitalism can work. Vote with your feet.
  • twentyfive
    •
    8 years ago
    I will stop going to strip clubs, before I will allow them to scan my ID. If necessary I have no objection to showing it, to prove that I am legally allowed to go inside, even though I cant imagine anyone mistaking my 62 year old self for being underage, there was another thread a few months back where these very issues were discussed in detail.
  • twentyfive
    •
    8 years ago
    ^^^^Here is a link to the discussion threads I referenced in my post above [view link]
  • ButterMan
    •
    8 years ago
    my regular club is known to scan id's. I have a VIP card there and once i show that they never, ever scan my ID.
  • lopaw
    •
    8 years ago
    The only club that I visit that consistently does the ID scan is Spearmint Rhino. I let them do it a couple of times when I first started going there but now if they ask me for ID I show them and refuse to hand it to them. If they insist then I walk. Plenty of other clubs nearby that don't do that shit. You gotta vote with your feet.
  • rh48hr
    •
    8 years ago
    I don't go in a club that scans id's. The first time it happened to me I didn't realize it was going to be scanned. Since, I just say thanks I'll go spend my money elsewhere.
  • Dominic77
    •
    8 years ago
    I'm 50:50. Either I would not patronize the place or I would just hand then a fake ID.
  • rick33
    •
    8 years ago
    If I say no thanks they generally let me in anyways
  • s88
    •
    8 years ago
    Around me, SCs and civie nightclubs with dancing but not plain bars requires a "guest registry" that any police officer can inspect no warrant. If you dont have a DL that can be scanned, but a passport or other ID, it will be photocopied, then a POS receipt stapled to the copy, then placed in a manilla tag folder. I guess there is also an ejection or LEO sting aspect to it.
  • ellocohombre
    •
    8 years ago
    Yea the dickheads at Platinum Plus in Allentown, PA scan ID also. It's fuckin bullshit. I was told straight up if I didn't like it to leave, which I did. Your info stays on there until 3000 customers are scanned. I agree with the jilted dancer getting this info from the gate keeper. That's what happens when you sell alcohol to minors,and promote prostitution. You get put on probation. Then us law abiding, tax paying customers get our rights violated Drop your dollars elsewhere. People bitch about this but the clubs take a hard line,not willing to budge.
  • Corvus
    •
    8 years ago
    I hate the ID scans and have often considered no longer visiting the SCs that scan IDs. Unfortunately in the local area the oy clubs worth visiting scan IDs. However, they recently started to enforce an ordinance requiring dancers wear latex or other covering on their nipples. These two things combined will keep me at home and out of the clubs. Good point about who sees, controls, or has access to the scanned info.
  • Dominic77
    •
    8 years ago
    It's probably more likely the SC owner would extort you than any of the employees (incl. managers). And even then, like Hotstuff69babi mentions, it's still a low percentage of owners. I think most of the clubs treat customers like gold these days. She had a point.
  • CTElectricLand
    •
    8 years ago
    While it sucks, there are legitimate reasons for scanning ID. Number one is compliance; clubs, any kind, live and die by their liquor licenses and enforcement agencies know this. The number one rule of survival for any business is to cover it's ass, even it means taking pictures of yours. If they check 100% of ID's, can show that they do (on tape and with that scan record) no one can accuse them of being lax. If they track your alcohol consumption and record it, when you go and wrap your car around the pole down the street they at least have grounds to say "we didn't serve him too much." It's all about covering their asses in that respect. It also allows them to identify potential "problems" such as Grabby McDrinks claiming no he didn't have 3 appletini's at Deluxe Cleavage so he's disputing the charge.... wait, they have tape and records that clearly show him doing just that.... whoops. That all being said, there are nefarious reasons to do it as well but nowhere near as evil as some think (well, there's always that one bad apple but that's true anywhere... make a system where some people have access to valuable goods/information and eventually someone gets greedy or righteous). Tracking customers, seeing when they visit, what they tend to spend and on what, etc. Almost the same thing your supermarket rewards card does and if your strip club scanning your ID gets you fired up you should never use a rewards card again (what you buy/eat, when, how much... meta data supermarket chains use to profile you and your family so they can sell you more... your local Stop'n'Shop probably knows more about you than your doctor and spouse do). The sky isn't falling and big brother doesn't care that much about you I'm sorry to say. Can I prove it? Nope. That said strip clubs are just slowly catching up with the same thing supermarkets and department stores have been doing for decades; keeping better records to cover their asses and sell more asses.
  • DoctorPhil
    •
    8 years ago
    @CTElectricLand “Tracking customers, seeing when they visit, what they tend to spend and on what, etc. Almost the same thing your supermarket rewards card does and if your strip club scanning your ID gets you fired up you should never use a rewards card again (what you buy/eat, when, how much... meta data supermarket chains use to profile you and your family so they can sell you more... your local Stop'n'Shop probably knows more about you than your doctor and spouse do)” every supermarket affinity card i have is anonymous so they don’t know shit about me. supermarkets quickly began offering the anonymous option when they got push back from people who didn’t like their Big Brother info collection tactics. if you are laying down and accepting this shit then drone on. there is, IMO, no reason to give up your privacy, anonymity, and freedom to subservient yourself to the whims of a supermarket and especially not a strip club. vote with your feet and if you care, make sure that management knows why you aren’t bringing your money into their fine establishment. whether the club changes their policy or they go out of business the practice will stop if enough people refuse to be bullied. and if they do go out of business then i say good riddance.
  • 623
    •
    8 years ago
    While it is similar to a having an affinity card/number scanned by a different business others are not going to judge you because you go to a grocery store. A few years ago several local government officials here in Las Vegas lost their jobs when they were recorded at a strip club and the owner decided that unless he got favorable treatment he would release the video. Pretty much the same thing except that the video recording that goes on in ALL clubs is usually without customers knowledge. Don't kid yourself though, all clubs have some surveillance going on and being recorded. Scanning at a night club is often done so those records can be reviewed when some asshole gets knifed in the parking lot or some other such event. While rare these events do happen. Even when LE is looking for certain bad guys and they just have a hunch that they went to a club they will request those records. Of course if you are not said bad guy they wouldn't notice your 12 entries in the same week but... Bottom line is that records that are not gathered can not be misused. Between hacking, lazy or careless attitudes, disgruntled workers or maintenance people, downright dishonest or malicious uses and a host of other concerns it is only a matter of time. Not IF but WHEN the wrong name is on the wrong list shown to the wrong person. The e-trail you leave when you take Uber, use a credit card at a club, have your ID scanned or even carry your phone with you to an unsavory location will eventually trip you up.
  • Papi_Chulo
    •
    8 years ago
    The only club I know off in South FL that scans IDs is Showgirls near South Miami. When I was there about 2 months ago I told the girl at the register that I knew people that did not visit that club solely b/c of the ID scanning – she said she understood but that it was for “safety purposes” in case anything happened in the club and that “all the data was deleted the next day” (which I don’t quite believe). I’m a single-guy so for me it’s not a huge deal but yeah having a business have my personal info feels a bit of a violation. I think Showgirls is part of a corporation and I wonder if the more corporate-type clubs impose this more.
  • skibum609
    •
    8 years ago
    I boycotted RI Dolls over the issue and went back one afternoon to tell management why. They no longer even ask, but I had to walk out twice, and I have been a customer there for 25 years. When I am asked for my ID (58) I ask why. If they don't respond I proffer it and say you cannot scan it. A few times they said no scan, no entry. Just say good bye.
  • IwillLapAdancer
    •
    8 years ago
    They have not started scanning in Maryland, that I know of. There is one club that is a members only club, where I had to fill out an application of sorts. It has been awhile, if I remember correctly they took the drivers license number and my name, but no scanning at that time. I am single and work a job where no one really cares if I waste my livelihood on strip clubs, so at the time it wasn't that big of a deal. Nowadays, with the overly zealous righteousness of the LE and media, I would say no thank you to being documented for entering the SC and how often.
  • minnow
    •
    8 years ago
    As PK, and lopaw say- vote with your feet at this practice. Thanks to OP for writing this article. Maybe we should start a "sticky" with the list of clubs that insist on scanning ID's.
  • vajmon
    •
    8 years ago
    Lot of good points made in the comments. I agree the easiest way to avoid the whole issue of being scanned is to stop going to a club that does that. However for me that's sometimes easier said than done. Especially when it happens to be a club that has the best looking ladies or an ATF works there. Asking me to stop going to my favorite club is like asking a smoker to give up cigarettes cold turkey or an alcoholic to stop drinking. As for bringing up scanning concerns with owners/management, I've tried that without any luck. They always responded by claiming that the scanning was harmless and then justified it with some bullshit excuse. None agreed to stop scanning me, even at the club where I know the owner and told him I was going to go elsewhere.          @25- excellent link to previous discussion. After reading that thread I'm even more paranoid! Also several clubs that scan are listed in that discussion.  @hotstuff- you must work at a very tame and clean club. At the clubs I've gone to I've encountered almost every scam, hustle and shake down that you could possibly dream of! Including one time a stripper who thought she was going to blackmail me (although this did not occur at a club that scans). @JB- RI Dolls tried to scan my ID last time I went there which was in October. It was either a Friday or Saturday night. Like skibum, I told the doorman I was going to walk and then he let me in without scanning. He said he would let me slide "just this one time" because I had already paid the cover. I haven't been back since (and probably won't). I was never scanned there before or back when it was K2U. I'm not sure if they scan during the day or on week nights as I only visit on weekend nights. Finally thanks to Lopaw, Papi, el loco hombre, 25 (via link to thread) and others for naming other clubs that scan.
  • 2tall
    •
    8 years ago
    They are scanning in Maryland at Fantasies. I refused and they said the owner requires it. A manager said it was to determine where people live to focus advertising and age to determine the kind of music to play. I said I would give my zip code and age if he wanted it, but he refused. He also said they have less trouble, since beginning to scan. I am not going to have my identity spread across the internet that I visit SC's. I took my money some where else! They are not the only club in town!
  • skibum609
    •
    8 years ago
    Anyone who ever allows their ID to be scanned is an idiot. Around here The Cadillac Lounge scans, makes no exception for me, so I never go. When Rhode Island Dolls started scanning I stopped going at night because they didn't scan during the day. The manager asked where I had been and I told him. I haven't been scanned or asked to pay a cover since. As a lawyer of almost 34 years who used to do liquor liability cases the simple fact is that there is no valid reason to do so, other than the fact if you start trouble, they might be able to figure out who you are. I am almost 60 so fuck that. Nothing is worth getting your ID stolen.
  • Juslovin
    •
    8 years ago
    Not in the Northeast but in Northwest Indiana, Industrial Strip scans. I was talking to someone about this recently and the reason i was given was it has something to do about the liquor license. I didn't catch all the points but you gave some good info, and ill have to make some adjustments.
  • Jascoi
    •
    8 years ago
    in las vegas scanning is very common. in the LA area it has happened to me a couple of times. i remember it was deja vu coi. it was just after a raid.
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