[dvno42]

Opinion but I'm getting that impression, I was visiting Britain earlier this year and to gain entry to a sit down restaurant (Denny's type place), I was required to produce my passport or ID so that a copy could be scanned and saved before being granted entry (this was the norm for locals as well).

[viraptor]

You've possibly been scammed in some way. Watch out for weird things happening in your name. This is not normal and most likely not legal.

[Mindwipe]

There are plenty of nightclubs that do this, and police frequently mandate that they do so as a requirement of operating their alcohol license in the UK. It's completely legal.

It would be very unusual for a restaurant to do so, but I'm wondering if it might have been a restaurant with a nightclub attached (if we're talking central London here maybe Tiger Tiger?). That's quite plausible.

[viraptor]

You have to show your ID for the alcohol venue sometimes - that's common. But I've never seen anyone actually scanning one to get a copy.

[paulfurtado]

This is extremely common at major bars in most states in the US, especially if you're anywhere near a college. It's there to detect fakes. I'd imagine fake IDs are a much larger problem in the US, however, given that the drinking age is 21.

That said, at least years ago, the ID scanners would operate on data stored on the card and not make any network connection to a database. So then more expensive fake IDs began to exist that could scan fine. Then, I think some bars started getting more expensive ID scanners which actually do talk to some database.

[jdietrich]

Some bars and nightclubs use ID scanners for verification purposes. A machine vision system is much better than a bouncer at spotting fake IDs or knowing what a Latvian driving license is supposed to look like. The scanner can also check names against a list of banned patrons, which may be shared between venues.

https://www.patronscan.com/id-scanner-for-bars/

[kwhitefoot]

Surely a Latvian driving license looks just like any other European driving license? Driving licenses in Europe were standardised years ago.

But I do see your point.

[kalleboo]

As far as I can see, the content is standardized but the design and security features vary a lot https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_driving_licence#Galle...

[Y_Y]

This isn't quite true. Since the licenses can be valid for a long time (e.g. ten years) there are still europeans with valid old-style licenses. Until I renewed mine last month I had a ridiculous paper booklet with a photo glued on.

[NullPrefix]

How can you watch out for something like this?

[viraptor]

Free credit checks - make sure you didn't get an unknown credit card / loan / mortgage opened. You could also be cautious and report that passport as stolen, so it gets reissued with different numbers.

[Silhouette]

FYI, that's not even slightly normal for eating out in the UK. In my entire life, I have never been required to produce ID when eating out (other than perhaps a few times when I was younger and ordering alcohol, to prove that I was of legal age).

In fact, such a policy would probably be catastrophic, because there was a big fight over whether we would all be required to carry compulsory ID cards here a few years ago, and for once the civil liberties side won after a big campaign.

[tialaramex]

Sounds like somebody pranked you.

Most older Brits don't carry any sort of ID at all. Young people often need ID to buy booze, but when you're old enough that nobody could mistake you for under 25 they never bother you. Source: I've never carried ID, in my 40s this ceased ever causing any hassle because now nobody ever even asks.

[dTal]

That is not even remotely normal anywhere in the UK. Where was this?

[stordoff]

This absolutely _isn't_ normal. I don't routinely carry ID, and never have done. The only place I can think of that did this was one nightclub near my university, but the upshot was we just didn't go to that nightclub often.

[zhte415]

Given that almost nobody in the UK has any form of ID on them at any given time, and certainly nothing a restaurant can verify, it seems this as an entrance policy may be hurting the restaurant's business. Where was it? I've never been asked this. Did you consider reporting them to the police? If not, why not?

[detritus]

This is the second time I've read of this on HN and I've literally no idea what any of it is about.

I can perhaps imagine this happening in some [crappy centre-town, tourist-trap] nightclubs, but literally not in a ‘Denny's type’ cafe restaurant.

I can't even begin to imagine why, short of some scam or bored locals teasing tourists.

[twic]

That's certainly not normal.

I wouldn't be entirely surprised if you had to do this to get into a restaurant somewhere slightly sensitive, such as at the top of a skyscraper. And i have been asked for ID - and patted down! - going to the bowling lanes in a slightly gangy part of town.

But nobody's going to give you the third degree to get into a Nando's.

[Tsiklon]

Plenty of bars in my local area of London have this set up unfortunately, usually they only turn them on after a certain point in the evening. I understand it's a requirement of their license. Most larger nightclubs in London will also do the same, I was very concerned when I first saw it.

[andrewingram]

Wait what? I’ve never come across this.

[voldacar]

Christ that's unsettling