Court upholds privacy ruling against nightclub scanning IDs

A judge has upheld a ruling from Alberta's privacy commissioner that ordered a Calgary nightclub to stop scanning driver's licences before allowing people inside.

The judicial review from Alberta Court of Queen's Bench Justice Carolyn Phillips was issued earlier this month.

In February 2008, Information and Privacy Commissioner Frank Work ordered Tantra nightclub and its parent company, Penny Lane Entertainment, to stop scanning driver's licences and to destroy any information that it had collected through this practice.

The ruling was based on a complaint made by Nyall Engfield in 2005. Engfield claimed his personal information was collected without his permission after a doorman at Tantra scanned his driver's license.

Penny Lane Entertainment went to court asking for a review of that decision. 

In her decision dated March 6, Justice Phillips upheld Work's order.

The court ruling now means Penny Lane Entertainment has to ensure all its nightclubs comply with the original order.

"I think it's an important milestone for consumer rights," Nyall Engfield said Tuesday from Ottawa, where he now lives.

"As a consumer, I was being taken advantage of,"  he said.  "There wasn't reason for the collection of this information."

Tantra and its parent company argued the scanning system helped keep troublemakers away.

It is not known if Penny Lane Entertainment will further appeal the court ruling. Attempts by CBC News to contact company owner Paul Vickers were not successful.

However, the ruling doesn't apply to all bars in Alberta, according to Wayne Wood, who speaks for the privacy commissioner.

"That particular bar in Calgary is no longer allowed to use bar-scan technology or keep a database," Wood said. 

"This doesn't apply to other bars and licensed establishments in Alberta at this particular time, because the complaint that we had and the order that we issued was against only one particular nightclub."

However, Wood said the ruling sets a precedent if any complaints are laid in the future.