So I arrived at the HL about 9:30 tonight for a little fun, and a very official looking gent was scanning driver’s licenses. I told him I would gladly show him my ID, but I wasn’t going to allow him to scan it. Apparently nobody had ever refused before, and he looked befuddled. He asked another bouncer, and he said the owner now requires everyone to have their ID scanned to enter the club. I’m an older PL, dressed normally, no gang attire, no tats,no chains, no backward hat or baggy shorts. I told the door guy I’ve been coming to this club for more than 20 years, but he didn’t care. I told him I had $300 to spend in the club, but those dollars were about to walk back to my vehicle and leave. No dice. To the owners, this ID scanning policy is a deal killer for me. Also, I was there earlier in the afternoon, no scanning, and the club was packed. I’m going to text every HL dancer I know on night shift and tell them their owner’s fucked up policy kept my money out of their hands. Anyone who values their privacy at all, will tell the HL to shove their scanner up their ass and refuse to step foot inside. What’s next, scanning license plates on vehicles? Mark my words, the next time there is a shooting or other criminal activity, the police will want their list of scanned IDs to interview potential witnesses, and exactly how will you explain it when they show up at your job or your home?
Azdd - sorry you went through that my friend. I went through the same thing last Saturday night after they weren't doing it the previous night. Iin todays society many of the people who are going to clubs for fun are advertising it on social media so scanning their ID is not a big deal to them.
I won't be going to HL at night until this policy ends. If it means I never go there at night again, so be it.
I also will never allow HL, or anyone, to scan my ID. I’m hoping this is a temporary thing during the Cactus League. The fact that they don’t seem to be doing this during the day is encouraging.
Any club that tries to scan my ID never gets a dime. One time the manager tried lying and saying it's a safety issue so we know who is in the club If there is a fire. I responded that they'd have to scan on the way out. He then said he would not argue with me, but would make an exception. Six months later I returned when they stopped.
One possible explanation for the scanning is it provides a tool for thoroughly checking IDs during busy times. When 20 people are entering at once, the bouncer might be inclined to give only a cursory look at the ID. The scan is a thorough check against fake IDs and underage patrons.
During the day, with much lighter attendance, a manual review of the ID ( and skipping IDs with old farts ) is good enough.
I’ve seen the HL scanning before, but it was discretionary, and seemed to be focused on patrons that looked like thugs. I’m way too old to be carded, so insisting on scanning everyone is just stupid IMHO.
When told they must scan my ID, I give them my passport card. They are not quite sure what to do with it. I wonder if their DB is limited to driving licenses. When they fail to scan it, usually they let me in anyway.
At the HL, he was using what appeared to be a mobile phone camera, and he was taking an image of the front and back of the DL. I wondered later what would have happened if I just told him I didn’t have any ID, left it at home. Probably the same result.
@tahoecruz I did the same in SF about a month ago. My driver license had expired so I gave them my passport card to scan. It scanned just like a regular ID.
Every SF club (DejaVu owned) scans ID's, even the shitty clubs. I'm not really worried about it.
Went to HL this afternoon, no scan, just asked to see ID. From talking to my fave things were pretty dead before the cactus league. I don't see it continuing when sporting training is done.
The Cactus League brings lots and lots of new customers ( and dancers) to the HL in March. The club is packed. Most of the customers are not recognizable to the bouncers. Lots of out-of-State IDs.
The rest of the year, the bouncers can maintain control without scanning IDs. Fewer people. More regular customers. A calmer atmosphere.
During March, I suspect, they need to scan to assure no fake IDs or underage people are getting through. Anyway, that’s my theory.
Hey sorry to bump an old thread, but just giving an update. I stopped in at the HL last Wednesday night (7/17) about 10pm, didn’t look exceptionally crowded, and the door guy asked for my ID to scan. I said are you kidding me? I said I was leaving, and he said have a good night. Once again $300 walked away because of their stupid policy. So, it ain’t just for spring training, it now appears to be SOP.
Thanks for the update. A couple of my buddies went to HL during dayshift a few months ago. I didn't ask about it, but they are not the type to submit to ID scanning, and I think would have mentioned it to me if they'd even been asked.
They said the talent wasn't good that day, and ended up at Bourbon St
ID scan is a deal breaker for me. I will turn around and walk away. Just once, when ID scan is requested, I would like to say "Okay. Since we are sharing our detailed personal information, let me take a photo of your driver's license on my phone. I'll trust you if you trust me."
I have a bit different take. My favorite club does scan. Fairly often, there are guys who have attempted to hurt or stalk dancers, including a few of my favs. These guys have been banned from the club, for anywhere from three months to life. How can the club enforce this? With a licence scan at the door.
The club has never, to my knowlege, used my scan for any nefarious purpose. If it keeps everone in the club safer, then I am OK with it.
-->"The club has never, to my knowlege, used my scan for any nefarious purpose."
ATAC, Pretty unlikely you'd have any knowledge though, don't you think? Every license scan goes into a database. That database may be accessible over the internet and is like backed up to a remote site. Everything I just said is a place where nefarious things can and DO happen.
You are, for example, giving employees more opportunity to collect your license info (which is enough in many cases to steal your identity); and the database and backup are opportunities for hackers.
I don't necessarily think it's the end of the world -- I sometimes go to clubs that ID scan, mostly because it's that, or don't go clubbing (although the ID scan is yet another factor in my more and more frequent choice to not go clubbing). But I recognize the not-insignificant risk. I also recognize that strip clubs have been banning customers for years, and enforcing those bans, before ID scanning started occurring
I’ve stopped going to HL because the LE activity has made it miserable. The golden age of strip clubs in Phoenix is over. Might be time for me to find a new hobby.
I am not a fan of scanning either, and at time would not go in. In the past two years I have probably had more my id scanned at least ten times. I have never had anything bad come of it.
Interestingly, many who will not let their ID be scanned will give SA all types of personal information (name, phone number, credit cards). I think far worse could come of that.
My opposition is more on principle than real concern about how the data might be misused. I have multiple online subscriptions to various online sites, all of which required my real identify and credit card, so I’ve willingly and knowingly taken that risk. My irritation at the HL is that it appears to serve no actual purpose, other than perhaps complying with some bullshit licensing issue. The HL has NEVER scanned during dayshift, to my knowledge. So I guess the degenerates they hope to capture in their database never come into the club before dark.
HL scanned during the day a year or two ago. At least for a brief time. They never required my ID to be scanned, but I saw them scan the younger guys ahead of me. They just waved me in.
Subraman mentioned his buddies ending up at Bourbon Street, which is a great contrast with the HL. Everyone knows that Bourbon is not an extras club, although a few dancers will bend the rules with a discrete handy or allow FIV. They also have the best looking dancers, hands down. Bourbon has a bouncer sitting at the entry, but you almost never see them on the floor, and they certainly never roam the floor or VIP watching for touching violations. The reason is that Bourbon has established an internal culture of being a classy, non-extras environment with hot women who mostly self-police their activity levels. That lets them stay successful, while avoiding LE attention. I know this sounds like a club ad, but the differences between Bourbon and HL are exactly why one is doing well, and the other is circling the drain.
"... Fairly often, there are guys who have attempted to hurt or stalk dancers, including a few of my favs. These guys have been banned from the club, for anywhere from three months to life. How can the club enforce this? With a licence scan at the door ..."
I don't think custies stalking dancers is the norm, does it happen, of course, but not the norm - subjecting every custy to an ID scan bc of a few knuckleheads is overkill and overreach IMO
Plenty of businesses ban people and it’s not something new, I remember going to a Vegas casino, in 1977 and being questioned by security because I resembled some one on their do not enter list, it was resolved and my stay at the Hilton was comped, but my point is they have been banning people long before they were able to scan drivers licenses, and quite effectively I might add, any club that wants to scan my license or ID is a club I will not spend one dime in, that’s me though, you guys do what you like.
I have been a no scan guy for a long time. But I like the idea of using the passport card instead of the drivers license. I'm not going to make a trip at night to HL just to make a trip. I will only go to see my fave. And then I'll use the passport card instead of a drivers license. Then there is no other information that could be used like my address or drivers license number that the club would have access too.
Otherwise I won't set foot in HL for any other reason. And quite frankly, even with my fave I probably won't be there again for awhile.
I thought that a passport card would actually give up more info than a driver license would since you have to submit all kinds of info just to get one. But from reading the linked article above, nope. It gives up nothing. Only customs and border patrol scanners can get the info, which is actually stored on a chip in the card, not the barcode like a driver license And the info on the front is quite basic.
So there it is. Passport card is the way to go IMO.
So I didn't quite get the above info right. No info is even stored on the chip in the passport card. The chip only contains the location of the secure info that border patrol and customs folks are looking for. Info that can only be accessed by them.
So even safer than I thought. No more DL scan for me. Wish I knew this before.
-->"Does anyone know what they do with the data they collect? I'm curious, like does it get deleted eventually or do they record it forever?"
Anything they tell you will be a lie, so we have no way of knowing for sure, just guessing. I'd guess it eventually gets deleted (except any image that's moved to the banned table), since it's a strip club, they're not going to spend a ton on infrastructure
I've heard of PLs using their passport instead but IDK how good a workaround this is given most clubs want to scan one's info vs merely looking at an ID with one's face and name.
41 comments
Latest
I won't be going to HL at night until this policy ends. If it means I never go there at night again, so be it.
Hmmmm
During the day, with much lighter attendance, a manual review of the ID ( and skipping IDs with old farts ) is good enough.
Every SF club (DejaVu owned) scans ID's, even the shitty clubs. I'm not really worried about it.
What's next scan your ID to go Walmart?
If they tried to scan my ID, I would walk away, plenty of other clubs and Brothel willing to take my money.
The rest of the year, the bouncers can maintain control without scanning IDs. Fewer people. More regular customers. A calmer atmosphere.
During March, I suspect, they need to scan to assure no fake IDs or underage people are getting through. Anyway, that’s my theory.
They said the talent wasn't good that day, and ended up at Bourbon St
The club has never, to my knowlege, used my scan for any nefarious purpose. If it keeps everone in the club safer, then I am OK with it.
ATAC, Pretty unlikely you'd have any knowledge though, don't you think? Every license scan goes into a database. That database may be accessible over the internet and is like backed up to a remote site. Everything I just said is a place where nefarious things can and DO happen.
You are, for example, giving employees more opportunity to collect your license info (which is enough in many cases to steal your identity); and the database and backup are opportunities for hackers.
I don't necessarily think it's the end of the world -- I sometimes go to clubs that ID scan, mostly because it's that, or don't go clubbing (although the ID scan is yet another factor in my more and more frequent choice to not go clubbing). But I recognize the not-insignificant risk. I also recognize that strip clubs have been banning customers for years, and enforcing those bans, before ID scanning started occurring
Interestingly, many who will not let their ID be scanned will give SA all types of personal information (name, phone number, credit cards). I think far worse could come of that.
I don't think custies stalking dancers is the norm, does it happen, of course, but not the norm - subjecting every custy to an ID scan bc of a few knuckleheads is overkill and overreach IMO
Then they charge you cover. Much rather have my ID scanned than pay $50 per visit.
Otherwise I won't set foot in HL for any other reason. And quite frankly, even with my fave I probably won't be there again for awhile.
I thought that a passport card would actually give up more info than a driver license would since you have to submit all kinds of info just to get one. But from reading the linked article above, nope. It gives up nothing. Only customs and border patrol scanners can get the info, which is actually stored on a chip in the card, not the barcode like a driver license
And the info on the front is quite basic.
So there it is. Passport card is the way to go IMO.
So even safer than I thought. No more DL scan for me. Wish I knew this before.
Anything they tell you will be a lie, so we have no way of knowing for sure, just guessing. I'd guess it eventually gets deleted (except any image that's moved to the banned table), since it's a strip club, they're not going to spend a ton on infrastructure