Art Van Furniture privacy issue
I recently bought some furniture from Art Van in Saginaw, Michigan. As most furniture stores go, after you make the purchase you need to drive to the side or rear of the store to pick up your order. To my surprise, I was asked for my name, address, and driver’s license number for verification of who I am. I have a big problem with that…mainly the driver’s license number bit. However, apparently out of the (approximately) 30 people on the list, only myself and one other person did not give them our driver’s license number.
First – I never gave them my driver’s license number to begin with, so how would that verify who I am. Especially since they didn’t actually LOOK at my driver’s license or the driver’s license of the guy behind me.
Second – Why is the number written down? I can understand if you want a photo ID so that I can prove who I am, but to actually write down that information? I don’t think so…
Third – After the number is written down, where does that sheet go? From what information I gathered (social engineering alert!), it gets “filed” somewhere. Umm…where, for how long, and most importantly – WHY?!
Lastly – When the files are finally purged, what happens to the papers? Are they shredded? How do I or any other customer know that personally identifiable information is kept secure?
This is wrong on so many levels and Art Van should be ashamed of themselves. There is absolutely no reason for them to request anything other than a visual check of a photo ID so that they may match the customer name with the merchandise. They certainly couldn’t deny me the merchandise – after all, I had my receipt in hand – so what was the point of attempting to obtain my driver’s license number?
This reminds me of when Hollywood Video used to (still might, I have no idea) ask for a Social Security Number as identification when you open a new account. Even worse, when you were opening your new account they would verbally ask for a customer’s SSN in front of other customers…in addition to their name, phone number, and address.