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The barcode on the back of North American driver's licenses is also a PDF417. Amusingly enough, it encodes all the text on the front of the license. Name, DOB,

The barcode on the back of North American driver's licenses is also a PDF417. Amusingly enough, it encodes all the text on the front of the license. Name, DOB, weight, height, etc. Retailers that scan your license for alcohol age limit checks get a lot of data they don't technically need.

labster 3y ago
Finally, a justification for lying about your weight on your license.
chocolatkey 3y ago
I remember that the WeWork location I went to used to scan (and likely siphon/store) all that data as part of the front desk check-in. And they really didn't need it either, but were very insistent on doing so before letting someone know I (a guest) was in the lobby
ProllyInfamous 3y ago
ProTip™: US Passports are ACCEPTABLE FORMS OF ID (in all US Jurisdictions), and are not able to be scanned for these types of purchases.
- vlovich123 3y ago
  For what it’s worth MDL, the digital driver’s license, has this baked in unless the standard changed since I paid attention - your identity authority signs a record saying >18 and >21 (+ photo) and that’s what’s transmitted.
  - ggm 3y ago
    Qld government spent $18m making its own digital license app ignoring that Apple and Google both implement the iso specification for digital ID protection. I've had two interactions online with sw people convinced "they did it better" and I am buggered if I can tell how.
    - vlovich123 3y ago
      Typically what happens is that consultants implement the IT systems for these departments. Unfortunately it wouldn’t surprise me if the government got snowed into thinking they needed this app / there are kickbacks involved behind the purchasing decision. Still, it is possible the app has a legit reason like the OS wallet implementation is missing support for their region or OS wallet support is incomplete in some way and this bridges that gap. 18m does seems a tad steep though considering that RDW payed UDL to build a sample reference app for free and one would expect that to be the basis for any 3p implementation delivered. Like that would be 36 very highly paid engineers which is a lot for 2 apps. It’s possible the 18m was also for the backend changes to enable the app which would maybe be more legit and be required changes for the builtin integration. Are you sure it was 18m just for the app?
      - deleted 3y ago
        [deleted]
      - ggm 3y ago
        No. I misremembered, it's $53m AUD https://www.themandarin.com.au/233815-queensland-digital-licence-launch-hit-by-glitch/ https://www.themandarin.com.au/233815-queensland-digital-lic... That's probably total development and some operations costs
        vlovich123 3y ago
        Yeah and likely not just the app but also the backend infra to support the signing and whatnot. It’s a shame that there’s so many disparate motor vehicle agencies. They should standardize their IT solutions to amortize development costs as I fear the vendors they pay double dip with the pricing of solutions.
        AnthonyMouse 3y ago
        What they should do is create one and publish it under an open source license so the others can use it.
- 1letterunixname 3y ago
  A very ethical but likely illegal life ProTip™®©: microwave a passport for 1 sec to burn out the RFID. The printed matter is sufficient to "read" a passport, while carrying around an unsecured, black box RFID readable at a distance is a privacy nightmare.
  - gorbypark 3y ago
    If I recall correctly, the RFID data is “encrypted” using the name and birthdate on the passport, making it fairly hard for someone to remotely scan and get usable usable data.
    - AnthonyMouse 3y ago
      Name and birthday isn't enough entropy to resist even a naive brute force attack. Why didn't they encrypt it with a random key and then put a QR code of the key on the inside of the passport? Or just use a magnetic stripe or similar instead of something that can be remotely accessed by an attacker?
      - lmz 3y ago
        It's not "encrypted by" but "authenticated by", see https://www.cs.ru.nl/~erikpoll/ufrj/C_ePassport.pdf https://www.cs.ru.nl/~erikpoll/ufrj/C_ePassport.pdf slide 10 and 11.
    - consp 3y ago
      You pretty much need the full MRZ or be lucky you get the right part (date of birth, document expiry and document number used) data at the bottom, it's unlikely you can brute force this in the fleeting time available with a run-by scan. If you have a digitised document number it is a lot easier but otherwise you need continuous access to the chip and when you have that you can also just read it. See ICAO 9303 for details. (BAC specifically)
    - ProllyInfamous 3y ago
      Nationality is NOT one of these encrypted data fields (i.e. you can determine if an American is walking nearby, but not their name/DOB/etc).
- Dalewyn 3y ago
  Government-issued identification, which passports (US or otherwise) are, are always acceptable forms of identification. I'm not sure this is a protip. You know what is a protip though? When applying for a US passport you can also choose to get a passport card. It's a plastic card that is the same dimensions as a driver's license and is valid for use in place of a passport when traveling between US-Canada-Mexico by land, and it's also an acceptable form of identification in general because it's a government-issued identification.
  - ProllyInfamous 3y ago
    Yes and no. For example, a concealed handgun license (a state-issued government ID) is not acceptible for (e.g.) opening a PO Box. I grew up in Central Texas (HOURS to get out-of-state), and many drinking establishments would ONLY accept a Texas ID/Passport for alcohol purchases — this isn't "legal" but "how it was." I'll take your ProTip, though, and get myself an ID Passport Card (I presume this is not scannable).

labster 3y ago

Finally, a justification for lying about your weight on your license.

chocolatkey 3y ago

I remember that the WeWork location I went to used to scan (and likely siphon/store) all that data as part of the front desk check-in. And they really didn't need it either, but were very insistent on doing so before letting someone know I (a guest) was in the lobby

ProllyInfamous 3y ago

ProTip™: US Passports are ACCEPTABLE FORMS OF ID (in all US Jurisdictions), and are not able to be scanned for these types of purchases.

vlovich123 3y ago
For what it’s worth MDL, the digital driver’s license, has this baked in unless the standard changed since I paid attention - your identity authority signs a record saying >18 and >21 (+ photo) and that’s what’s transmitted.
- ggm 3y ago
  Qld government spent $18m making its own digital license app ignoring that Apple and Google both implement the iso specification for digital ID protection. I've had two interactions online with sw people convinced "they did it better" and I am buggered if I can tell how.
  - vlovich123 3y ago
    Typically what happens is that consultants implement the IT systems for these departments. Unfortunately it wouldn’t surprise me if the government got snowed into thinking they needed this app / there are kickbacks involved behind the purchasing decision. Still, it is possible the app has a legit reason like the OS wallet implementation is missing support for their region or OS wallet support is incomplete in some way and this bridges that gap. 18m does seems a tad steep though considering that RDW payed UDL to build a sample reference app for free and one would expect that to be the basis for any 3p implementation delivered. Like that would be 36 very highly paid engineers which is a lot for 2 apps. It’s possible the 18m was also for the backend changes to enable the app which would maybe be more legit and be required changes for the builtin integration. Are you sure it was 18m just for the app?
    - deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]
    - ggm 3y ago
      No. I misremembered, it's $53m AUD https://www.themandarin.com.au/233815-queensland-digital-licence-launch-hit-by-glitch/ https://www.themandarin.com.au/233815-queensland-digital-lic... That's probably total development and some operations costs
      - vlovich123 3y ago
        Yeah and likely not just the app but also the backend infra to support the signing and whatnot. It’s a shame that there’s so many disparate motor vehicle agencies. They should standardize their IT solutions to amortize development costs as I fear the vendors they pay double dip with the pricing of solutions.
        AnthonyMouse 3y ago
        What they should do is create one and publish it under an open source license so the others can use it.
1letterunixname 3y ago
A very ethical but likely illegal life ProTip™®©: microwave a passport for 1 sec to burn out the RFID. The printed matter is sufficient to "read" a passport, while carrying around an unsecured, black box RFID readable at a distance is a privacy nightmare.
- gorbypark 3y ago
  If I recall correctly, the RFID data is “encrypted” using the name and birthdate on the passport, making it fairly hard for someone to remotely scan and get usable usable data.
  - AnthonyMouse 3y ago
    Name and birthday isn't enough entropy to resist even a naive brute force attack. Why didn't they encrypt it with a random key and then put a QR code of the key on the inside of the passport? Or just use a magnetic stripe or similar instead of something that can be remotely accessed by an attacker?
    - lmz 3y ago
      It's not "encrypted by" but "authenticated by", see https://www.cs.ru.nl/~erikpoll/ufrj/C_ePassport.pdf https://www.cs.ru.nl/~erikpoll/ufrj/C_ePassport.pdf slide 10 and 11.
  - consp 3y ago
    You pretty much need the full MRZ or be lucky you get the right part (date of birth, document expiry and document number used) data at the bottom, it's unlikely you can brute force this in the fleeting time available with a run-by scan. If you have a digitised document number it is a lot easier but otherwise you need continuous access to the chip and when you have that you can also just read it. See ICAO 9303 for details. (BAC specifically)
  - ProllyInfamous 3y ago
    Nationality is NOT one of these encrypted data fields (i.e. you can determine if an American is walking nearby, but not their name/DOB/etc).
Dalewyn 3y ago
Government-issued identification, which passports (US or otherwise) are, are always acceptable forms of identification. I'm not sure this is a protip. You know what is a protip though? When applying for a US passport you can also choose to get a passport card. It's a plastic card that is the same dimensions as a driver's license and is valid for use in place of a passport when traveling between US-Canada-Mexico by land, and it's also an acceptable form of identification in general because it's a government-issued identification.
- ProllyInfamous 3y ago
  Yes and no. For example, a concealed handgun license (a state-issued government ID) is not acceptible for (e.g.) opening a PO Box. I grew up in Central Texas (HOURS to get out-of-state), and many drinking establishments would ONLY accept a Texas ID/Passport for alcohol purchases — this isn't "legal" but "how it was." I'll take your ProTip, though, and get myself an ID Passport Card (I presume this is not scannable).