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Retailers, regulators spar over bill to limit scanning and storage of ID data
Summary
House Bill 77 would restrict merchants from scanning and retaining personal data from driver’s licenses when selling alcohol and tobacco; witnesses from retail, grocery, convenience, liquor enforcement and privacy advocates debated whether scanners retain data and how to balance privacy with age‑verification and compliance needs.
The House Commerce and Consumer Affairs Committee took testimony on House Bill 77, which would limit scanning and storage of personally identifiable information from driver’s licenses by merchants selling alcohol and tobacco.
Sponsor Representative Kevin Verville framed the bill as a consumer-privacy measure: constituents reported that some retail scanners captured and retained full license information — name, address and license number — raising identity‑theft concerns. Verville said the bill was narrowed from a broader ban and he is open to amendment language that preserves age‑verification while preventing data retention.
Deborah Johnson, a Grantham resident, demonstrated a commercial product marketed to scan and store driver’s licenses and urged broader protections. “It…
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