Can you scan an ID in Mississippi?
Mississippi law does not regulate a business’s practice of scanning IDs or retaining information obtained from a scan.
Overview of Mississippi ID Scanning Laws
In the absence of any statute governing issues associated with a business’s practice of scanning IDs, a business is likely allowed to scan IDs and to retain information obtained from a scan, subject to applicable privacy laws.
Does Mississippi offer affirmative defense for ID scanning?
No.
Mississippi Senate Bill 2346 – Age Verification Required Before Entering Website with Pornographic Material
An Act To Regulate Pornographic Media Exposure To Children; To Provide The Legislative Intent; To Provide Definitions; To Require Commercial Entities That Provide Such Content To Have Age Verification Systems; To Provide Liability For Those Commercial Entities That Do Not Provide An Age Verification; And For Related Purposes.
All porn websites will now have to implement age verification methods on their website to ensure visitors are over the age of 18 before allowing entry onto the site.
Mississippi Code. Title 67-1-81 – Sales to minors prohibited.
Any person under the age of twenty-one (21) who knowingly makes a false statement to the effect that he or she is twenty-one (21) years old or older or presents any document that indicates he or she is twenty-one (21) years of age or older for the purpose of purchasing alcoholic beverages from any person engaged in the sale of alcoholic beverages shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by a fine of not less than Two Hundred Dollars ($ 200.00) nor more than Five Hundred Dollars ($ 500.00), and a sentence to not more than thirty (30) days’ community service.
Mississippi House Bill 227. Mississippi Tobacco Minimum Legal Age of 21 Act
SECTION 5. Age verification. Before distributing any tobacco product, the distributor must verify that the recipient is at least twenty-one (21) years of age. Each distributor shall examine the recipient’s government-issued photographic identification. No such verification is required for a person over the age of thirty (30). The fact that a recipient appeared to be thirty (30) years of age or older does not constitute a defense to a violation of this section.
Mississippi House Bill 73. Prohibition of Using Embedded Technology in Self-Checkout Terminals to Scan IDs
Died in Committee, 03/05/2024
This bill would prohibit certain retailers and establishments from using embedded technology programs in self-checkout terminals or self-service checkouts to scan information on a consumer’s driver’s license in order to verify the age of the person trying to purchase certain items. It would require the age verification to be performed by an employee of the establishment in order to complete the purchase.
Mississippi House Bill 575. Require ID scanning for electronic nicotine sales (died in committee)
This bill would have required third party age verification for online tobacco purchases.
(3) Before selling, offering for sale, giving or furnishing an alternative nicotine product, or any cartridge, component liquid, capsule or powder thereof, to an individual, a person shall verify that the individual is at least twenty-one (21) years of age by:
(a) Examining from any individual that appears to be under twenty-seven (27) years of age a government-issued photographic identification that establishes the individual is at least twenty-one (21) years of age; or
(b) For sales made through the internet or other remote sales methods, performing an age verification through an independent, third-party age verification service that compares information available from public records to the personal information entered by the individual during the ordering process that establishes the individual is twenty-one (21) years of age or older.
The bill died in committee on 1/16/2023.
Mississippi House Bill 1344. Motor vehicle scrapping law revision
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 63-21-39, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REVISE THE PROVISIONS OF THE AFFIDAVIT FORM REQUIRED TO BE FILED WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE WHEN CANCELLING A CERTIFICATE OF TITLE FOR SCRAP MOTOR VEHICLES WHEN THE CERTIFICATE OF TITLE IS NOT AVAILABLE; TO REQUIRE THAT WITHIN TWO BUSINESS DAYS OF EACH DAY’S CLOSE OF BUSINESS, THE USED MOTOR VEHICLE PARTS DEALER OR SCRAP METAL PROCESSOR WHO PURCHASES OR RECEIVES MOTOR VEHICLES FOR SCRAP OR FOR PARTS SHALL DELIVER IN A FORMAT APPROVED BY THE DEPARTMENT A LIST OF ALL SUCH VEHICLES PURCHASED THAT DAY FOR SCRAP OR FOR PARTS; TO REVISE THE DEFINITION OF “MOTOR VEHICLE” FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS ACT; TO PROVIDE THAT WHEN A USED MOTOR VEHICLE PARTS DEALER OR SCRAP METAL PROCESSOR PURCHASES OR RECEIVES A CRUSHED OR FLATTENED VEHICLE, THAT DEALER OR PROCESSOR MUST VERIFY THAT THE SELLER HAS REPORTED THE VEHICLE AS REQUIRED BY THIS ACT; TO MAKE IT A CRIMINAL OFFENSE TO KNOWINGLY FALSIFY ANY INFORMATION ON THE AFFIDAVIT FORM PROVIDED BY THIS ACT; TO AUTHORIZE THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY TO CHARGE A FEE FOR ANY VEHICLE IDENTIFICATION NUMBER VERIFICATION REQUIRED BY FEDERAL LAW OR REGULATION ON A VEHICLE WITH A SALVAGE CERTIFICATE OF TITLE FOR WHICH A PERSON APPLIES FOR A CLEAR TITLE OR BRANDED TITLE; TO AUTHORIZE THE SEIZURE AND FORFEITURE OF ANY MOTOR VEHICLE, TRAILER OR SIMILAR CONVEYANCE USED TO TRANSPORT ANOTHER MOTOR VEHICLE OR CRUSHED MOTOR VEHICLE SOLD IN VIOLATION OF THIS SECTION; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
Mississippi House Bill 403. Age Verification Software for Alcohol Sales
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 67-1-81, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE HOLDERS OF A PACKAGE RETAIL PERMIT TO HAVE AN INDEPENDENT THIRD-PARTY AGE VERIFICATION SERVICE AVAILABLE ON THE PROPERTY OF THE LOCATION IN WHICH ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES ARE SOLD; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
Note: This bill DIED in the House.