What do ID Scanners Actually Detect?

  • December 14, 2017
  • Blog

drivers license scanners

Around the world, more and more businesses are choosing to invest in ID scanners. They make identifying customers quicker and more efficient and can provide traceable access control solutions. But people often don’t realize how much information is stored in ID cards such as their drivers license. While some people may think drivers license scanners just scan to ensure it’s a real ID or verify their age, it actually pulls up all of the information stored on the card. This information may include the person’s address, date of birth, height, eye color, and sometimes even Social Security number.

In general, typical drivers license scanners work like this:

  1. The ID card scanner is turned on
  2. The ID is swiped through the barcode or magnetic stripe reader
  3. The information from the ID is shown on the screen
  4. An alarm is showed if the ID Is underage or expired
  5. The user compares the data on the card reader to the actual card to confirm it matches

With this process, police officers, bar owners, and other users are able to quickly and accurately check the age and identification of the ID owner. This means bad news for anyone trying to use a fake ID. In fact, most home-made fake ID’s will not scan. Even if the scanner scammer is trying to use someone else’s ID, it’s much easier for scanners to tell that it’s not actually them.

There are many different makes and models of ID scanners, most of them being either handheld or countertop devices. An ID card scanner will have a magnetic stripe reader, a barcode reader, or both to allow it to scan a variety of ID cards.

Barcodes on the back of ID’s are machine-readable codes that are in a pattern of parallel lines. Most barcode readers will either have a slot where the ID is “dipped”, meaning it’s inserted and removed, or a “point-and-shoot” infrared scanner.

Magnetic stripes are the blank band that stretches across the entire length of the back of an ID card. To read the magnetic strip, the ID is swiped through the slot in the ID reader machine.

Drivers license scanners and other ID readers are making the process of clarifying the identity of customers easier than ever. In fact, industries around the world are investing in more technology like this to improve efficiency. Some of the most important technology being used is barcode scanning (34%), mobile payment options (23%), and RFID (17%). These types of technology not only make your employee’s jobs easier, but make checking and identifying information more efficient and secure for both businesses and customers.