Last updated on October 1st, 2024 at 11:16 am
ID scanning in retail environments is popular for a variety of reasons. It is commonly used for age verification at checkout, but is also used for returns to prevent return fraud, BOPIS fraud, or ID fraud used to help facilitate organized retail crime. Many consumers have questions and concerns about why and when their ID is scanned at stores. Below, we break down the state-by-state regulations for retailers scanning IDs – can a store scan your ID legally?
Can a store scan your ID?
In almost every state, stores are legally able to scan IDs. They can use an electronic ID scanner in lieu of physical inspection of an ID, and in some cases electronic scanning is actually required.
We gathered and reviewed requirements in the retail industry in all US states, to determine which states have requirements around ID scanning, and which do not.
| State | Can a store scan your ID? | Additional notes |
| Alabama | Yes | Alabama law does not regulate a business’s practice of scanning IDs, leaving it up to the business to decide. |
| Alaska | Yes | Alaska law does not regulate a business’s practice of scanning IDs, leaving it up to the business to decide. |
| Arizona | Yes | Arizona law does not regulate a business’s practice of scanning IDs, but does regulate retention and use of some information from IDs. Arizona also offers affirmative defense for alcohol purchases. |
| Arkansas | Yes | Arkansas law does not regulate a business’s practice of scanning IDs, leaving it up to the business to decide. |
| California | Yes* | California has some of the most stringent consumer protection and privacy laws in the country under the CCPA. So when ID scanning, stores must make sure it is for applicable reasons and they follow all applicable laws. |
| Colorado | Yes | Colorado law does not regulate a business’s practice of scanning IDs, but does regulate retention and use of some information from IDs. Colorado also offers affirmative defense for alcohol purchases. |
| Connecticut | Yes | Connecticut law regulates a business’s ability to scan IDs in the context of selling age-restricted goods; otherwise, there is no law generally governing a business’s ability to scan IDs. Connecticut also offers affirmative defense for alcohol and tobacco sales. |
| Delaware | Yes | Delaware law does not regulate a business’s practice of scanning IDs, leaving it up to the business to decide. Delaware does offer affirmative defense for alcohol sales. |
| Florida | Yes | Florida law regulates a business’s ability to scan IDs and to use information obtained from a scan. So when ID scanning, stores must make sure it is for applicable reasons. Florida also offers affirmative defense for alcohol and tobacco sales. |
| Georgia | Yes* | Georgia has a statute that governs issues associated with a business’s practice of scanning IDs. Georgia requires that a customer give consent before their identification is scanned. |
| Hawaii | Yes | Hawaii has enacted a statute to regulate a business’s practice of scanning IDs as well as retaining and selling of information obtained through scanning IDs. So when ID scanning in Hawaii, stores must make sure it is for applicable reasons. |
| Idaho | Yes | Idaho law does not regulate a business’s practice of scanning IDs, leaving it up to the business to decide. Idaho does offer affirmative defense for tobacco sales. |
| Illinois | Yes, required | Illinois law regulates a business’s practice of scanning driver’s licenses and imposes restrictions on the use of information obtained from a driver’s license. There are some instances in which ID scanning is required, such as for cannabis purchase, or online purchase of tobacco and eCigarettes. Illinois also offers affirmative defense for cannabis sales. |
| Indiana | Yes | Indiana law does not regulate a business’s practice of scanning IDs, leaving it up to the business to decide. |
| Iowa | Yes | Iowa law does not regulate a business’s practice of scanning IDs, leaving it up to the business to decide. |
| Kansas | Yes | Kansas law does not regulate a business’s practice of scanning IDs, leaving it up to the business to decide. |
| Kentucky | Yes | Kentucky law does not regulate a business’s practice of scanning IDs, leaving it up to the business to decide. |
| Louisiana | Yes | Louisiana law does not regulate a business’s practice of scanning IDs, leaving it up to the business to decide. |
| Maine | Yes | Maine law does not regulate a business’s practice of scanning IDs, leaving it up to the business to decide. There may also be limited access to affirmative defense for tobacco sales. |
| Maryland | Yes. Required in some instances. | Maryland law requires use of an age verification system for alcohol deliveries. Age verification may also be used during in store alcohol and tobacco purchases. |
| Massachusetts | Yes | Massachusetts law does not regulate a business’s practice of scanning IDs, leaving it up to the business to decide. |
| Michigan | Yes. Required in some instances. | Michigan law does not regulate a business’s ability to scan IDs and to retain information obtained from a scan; however, there are relevant statutes. ID scanning is required to record information related to identity, for online tobacco sales. |
| Minnesota | Yes | Minnesota law does not regulate a business’s practice of scanning IDs, leaving it up to the business to decide. |
| Mississippi | Yes | Mississippi law does not regulate a business’s practice of scanning IDs, leaving it up to the business to decide. |
| Missouri | Yes | Missouri law does not regulate a business’s practice of scanning IDs, leaving it up to the business to decide. |
| Montana | Yes | Montana law does not regulate a business’s practice of scanning IDs . In some cases Montana regulates the length for which PII obtained from an ID scan can be retained. |
| Nebraska | Yes | Nebraska has a statute that governs issues associated with a business’s practice of scanning IDs. IDs may be scanned in some instances, but there are limits on PII retention. |
| Nevada | Yes. Required in some instances. | Nevada requires ID scanning for the purchase of cannabis and tobacco products. |
| New Hampshire | No | New Hampshire is the only US state which explicitly prohibits most instances of ID scanning. |
| New Jersey | Yes | New Jersey law governs a retailer’s ability to scan IDs and to retain information obtained from a scan. So when ID scanning, stores must make sure it is for applicable reasons and they follow all applicable laws. |
| New Mexico | Yes | New Mexico law does not regulate a business’s practice of scanning IDs, leaving it up to the business to decide. |
| New York | Yes | New York law regulates a business’s ability to scan IDs in the context of selling age-restricted goods; otherwise, there is no law generally governing a business’s ability to scan IDs. New York also offers affirmative defense for ID scanning for alcohol sales and tobacco sales. |
| North Carolina | Yes | North Carolina law regulates a business’s ability to scan IDs and to retain information obtained from a scan. North Carolina also offers affirmative defense for ID scanning for both tobacco and alcohol sales. |
| North Dakota | Yes | North Dakota law does not regulate a business’s practice of scanning IDs, leaving it up to the business to decide. |
| Ohio | Yes | Ohio law specifically regulates a business’s practice of scanning driver’s licenses in the context of selling age-restricted goods such as alcohol, tobacco, and pseudoephedrine/ephedrine. So when ID scanning, stores must make sure it is for applicable reasons and they follow all applicable laws. Ohio also has extremely explicit affirmative defense for ID scanning for alcohol sales, tobacco sales, and sales of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine. |
| Oklahoma | Yes | Oklahoma law does not regulate a business’s practice of scanning IDs, leaving it up to the business to decide. Oklahoma does offer affirmative defense for tobacco sales. |
| Oregon | Yes | Oregon law governs a business’s ability to scan IDs and to retain information obtained from a scan. So when ID scanning, stores must make sure it is for applicable reasons and they follow all applicable laws. Oregon does provide affirmative defense for ID scanning for sale of age restricted products. |
| Pennsylvania | Yes. Required in some instances. | Pennsylvania law mostly does not regulate a business’s practice of scanning IDs or retaining information obtained from a scan, but Pennsylvania does require ID scanning for the purchase of to-go alcohol. Pennsylvania also offers affirmative defense for ID scanning for alcohol sales. |
| Rhode Island | Yes. Required in some instances. | Rhode Island law regulates a business’s ability to scan IDs and retain information obtained from the scan. For those appearing under 27, ID scanning must be done prior to tobacco sales. Rhode Island also offers affirmative defense for tobacco sales. |
| South Carolina | Yes | South Carolina law does not regulate a business’s practice of scanning IDs, leaving it up to the business to decide. |
| South Dakota | Yes | South Dakota law does not regulate a business’s practice of scanning IDs, leaving it up to the business to decide. |
| Tennessee | Yes | Tennessee law does not regulate a business’s practice of scanning IDs, leaving it up to the business to decide. |
| Texas | Yes | Texas law regulates a business’s ability to scan IDs and to retain information obtained from a scan. So when ID scanning, stores must make sure it is for applicable reasons and they follow all applicable laws. Texas does provide affirmative defense for ID scanning for sale of age restricted products. |
| Utah | Yes. Required in some instances. | Utah does not have any laws which limit a business’s ability to scan an ID. Utah requires digital ID scanning for alcohol sales, and for entrance into venues in which alcohol is consumed or sold and offers affirmative defense for ID scanning. |
| Vermont | Yes | Vermont law does not regulate a business’s practice of scanning IDs, leaving it up to the business to decide. |
| Virginia | Yes | Virginia law regulates a business’s ability to scan IDs and to retain information obtained from a scan. So when ID scanning, stores must make sure it is for applicable reasons and they follow all applicable laws. |
| Washington | Yes | Washington law does not regulate a business’s practice of scanning IDs, leaving it up to the business to decide. |
| Washington D.C. | Yes | Washington D.C. law does not regulate a business’s practice of scanning IDs, leaving it up to the business to decide. In some cases. Washington D.C. references affirmative defense for tobacco sales. |
| West Virginia | Yes | West Virginia law regulates a business’s ability to scan IDs in the context of selling restricted goods, specifically surrounding data collection and use. West Virginia offers affirmative defense for ID scanning. |
| Wisconsin | Yes | Wisconsin law does not regulate a business’s practice of scanning IDs, leaving it up to the business to decide. |
| Wyoming | Yes. Required in some instances. | Wyoming law regulates a business’s ability to scan IDs in the context of selling Tobacco; otherwise, there is no law generally governing a business’s ability to scan IDs. Age verification is required for remote tobacco sales. Wyoming also offers affirmative defense for ID scanning with tobacco sales. |
Can a store save my data after scanning an ID?
Data storage is entirely dependent on state specific laws. In some states, PII and data retention is banned, and ID scanners can only be used to verify age but can’t collect data. For other states, the data must be deleted after 30 days.
In many states, there still isn’t legislation in place regarding data retention. So it is important to check your state’s specific privacy laws when it comes to ID scanning and data retention. It is also important to choose an age verification system that allows for PII retention customization. VeriScan allows users to customize data storage to ensure businesses remain compliant with any applicable privacy laws.
Do stores share information with the government about my ID or purchase history?
The answer to that question is almost always no. For most states, the government doesn’t regulate a business’s ability to scan IDs, meaning they don’t have an interest in the information scanned either. For those states where ID scanning is required, stores still aren’t regularly sharing the information with the government. The only times stores would share information is during a compliance check, where it is more of a general system overview and not a deep dive into personal information. Or, should there be a criminal investigation, data may be shared with required parties to aid in the case. However, for the most part, no, stores are not sharing your ID information with the government.
Can a store scan my passport?
Yes. Stores can scan your passport. Most stores will accept passports as a valid form of identification and age verification. In those states that require ID scanning, the passport is also accepted as a valid form of identification.
Can a store scan my military ID?
The short answer is no, you cannot scan a military ID, but there are exceptions to this rule. Military ID cards and CAC often contain sensitive information that can often be used in identity fraud. As such, laws have been put in place to limit exposure by making it illegal to photocopy them. Medical establishments are exempt from this law.
Can I request that a store not scan my ID and visually inspect it instead?
Yes, in the United States, you generally have the right to refuse to have your ID scanned. The ability to refuse may depend on the specific laws, regulations, and policies of the establishment you are visiting, as well as the jurisdiction in which you are located. Just keep in mind, some states may have laws or policies in place that require ID scanning, such as for purchase of age-restricted products like cannabis, alcohol, or tobacco.
Can a store refuse service to me if I decline to have my ID scanned?
Yes, stores can refuse service if you decline to have your ID scanned. Regardless of whether ID scanning is required, or whether a business is choosing to use an ID scanner to speed up processes, they do have a right to refuse service for any reason in most cases.
Do I have to show my ID to make a return?
There is no simple answer to that question, and it remains up to the store. Most stores require you to show your ID to make a return, not because of legal reasons, but to help deter fraud. Retail fraud accounts for around $90 billion a year in losses for retailers. So, by requiring ID scanning as part of the return process, it can be used as a tool to help fight the ongoing battle.
Benefits of ID scanning at stores and retailers
Regardless of whether ID scanning at stores is required or optional in your state, the benefits of implementing ID scanning into your workflow are significant.
- Streamline processes
- Reduce fraud
- Automatically sync to point of sale (POS)
- Manage “underage” or “banned” lists
- Easily accessible records for compliance purposes
By utilizing an ID scanner, you reduce the need for manual entry of ID information which not only cuts down on time, but helps to eliminate human error. Combined with either VeriScan or ParseLink, the customer age can be confirmed and matched to the ID presented, thus ensuring compliance and streamlining wait times for both customers and employees.
