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Apple Store purchases - drivers license required?

Targets R Us

Targets R Us

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 13, 2012
36
32
Was at the Apple store yesterday to upgrade to a new Apple Watch and was (unpleasantly) surprised to see that Apple required copying down my drivers license information in order to complete the purchase.

Is this a new Apple policy?

Seems to fly in the face of Apple's stated position on privacy.

-tnx,
Jeff
 
Targets R Us said:
Was at the Apple store yesterday to upgrade to a new Apple Watch and was (unpleasantly) surprised to see that Apple required copying down my drivers license information in order to complete the purchase.

Is this a new Apple policy?

Seems to fly in the face of Apple's stated position on privacy.

-tnx,
Jeff
Click to expand...
Where you paying in cash or credit card?
 
Targets R Us said:
Was at the Apple store yesterday to upgrade to a new Apple Watch and was (unpleasantly) surprised to see that Apple required copying down my drivers license information in order to complete the purchase.

Is this a new Apple policy?

Seems to fly in the face of Apple's stated position on privacy.

-tnx,
Jeff
Click to expand...

This isn't about privacy but more about to prevent fraud. These are high priced items. It's common practice or procedure. Are you part of the iPhone Upgrade Program? If so, they may be using it to verify billing address and your identity as well as any credit card payment must match the name on ID, for any pick up and any trade-in for gift card to be issued to you.
 
Paid with a credit card.

While I get the concern about theft, it is about privacy from my point of view. I have purchased several MacBooks over the past 2 years at the same store and have never been asked to provide any PII. This wasn't just asking to look at my DL, they copied down the actual information.

-Jeff
 
Targets R Us said:
Paid with a credit card.

While I get the concern about theft, it is about privacy from my point of view. I have purchased several MacBooks over the past 2 years at the same store and have never been asked to provide any PII. This wasn't just asking to look at my DL, they copied down the actual information.

-Jeff
Click to expand...

The Apple Store was protecting themselves in case you were not the real credit card holder. Many stores do the same thing and personally I don't blame them. I understand about privacy concerns and identity theft, but sometimes you just have to comply or go elsewhere to make your purchase.
 
Targets R Us said:
That would be Annapolis, MD and I used a VISA credit card....

-Jeff
Click to expand...

From the link:

All the networks allow a merchant to ask for identification. Mastercard and Visa, however, explicitly prohibit retailers from requiring an ID to accept a properly signed card.

“They can ask for that ID, but you can refuse to show the ID and they still must accept the card,” says Paul Stephens, director of policy and advocacy at the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, a nonprofit that advocates for consumer privacy rights.
Click to expand...
 
I am in the closer-in Washington, DC suburbs and I don't have any problem with a store requesting to see further information beyond my credit or debit card, especially if I am making a purchase of several hundred dollars or more. In my state, driver's licenses no longer contain the person's social security number, but rather some other number apparently plucked out of the air at the time of issuing so now the particular bit of actual SS information which was formerly shown is not being revealed when anyone else looks at my driver's license. All they see is my (gawdawful unflattering) photo, my name and address, with some additional state-issued driver's license number that is not my SS number, my DOB, the expiration date of the license, and that is that. So, since I am not attempting to conceal my identity or my address, what difference does it make in terms of privacy just what an employee at the Apple store (or some other place) sees and records? They ask for a photo ID, I pull out the driver's license and this is all just part of the transaction. Sure, if I'm making a purchase of $40.00 as opposed to a purchase of something in the hundreds or thousands of dollars, I could see where that might be a mildly annoying nuisance, but I can well understand that if I'm standing there in the Apple store about to buy an MBP and putting charges of over $4000.00 on my credit or debit card, they'd want to make darned sure that I was really the person I claim to be and that the credit or debit card in my possession actually really was mine.....
 
I have never had to do any more than show the Apple Store employee my drivers license when picking up an online purchase at any of the Apple Stores local to me. Never have they scanned it or recording any information from it. That seems a little excessive.
 
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I left feedback on this on the post purchase survey that Apple sent me. Not really expecting to hear or see anything from it...

-Jeff
 
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Yes, one has to provide ID when picking up an online purchase, and that certainly makes sense. The employee looks at it and verifies that, yes, this is the individual authorized to pick up the item and that's that. If I recall correctly this is stated right in the email that one gets when the item has arrived at the store, ready for pickup. Photo ID required.....

I also daresay that those of us who are living in larger urban areas, especially those which have a lot of transient activity, are going to be more likely to encounter requests for photo ID and such than someone living in some small town where many people know each other and shopkeepers recognize their customers on sight. Apple Stores are not usually located in small towns, though......

Again, though, I reiterate: if I am making a $4000 purchase at the Apple store I really have no objection to any store employee needing to verify that I am who I claim to be, requesting a photo ID with address information, etc., and that I am authorized to use the credit or debit card with which I am making the purchase. Common sense, really!
 
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All well and good (looking at a DL to verify identity) but it violates Apple's agreement with VISA when using a 'chip card.'

-Jeff
 
I too experienced the issue of my Drivers License info being copied at the Apple store when I picked up my iPhone XR on 19/26 and thought it strange as that had never happened before over the last 14 years shopping at the same store.
 
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