[xp84]

I don't think (really, "I hope") that these scans aren't hitting the government database, allowing the government to easily build a dataset of every time you buy alcohol/tobacco/pornography/whatever -- that is uncomfortable even to me and I'm not really a libertarian.

The 2d barcodes and magstripes on these cards do have all the info that's printed, though, so I would bet that a "gifted" ID that hasn't expired but which you've replaced or claimed as lost would still work at a retailer who scans IDs.

[jaywalk]

Yeah, the scanners they use for age restriction are just standalone devices that show the age without the user having to figure it out themself.