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Car rental firm in 'big brother' row
1:10pm Thursday 12th July 2007
Comments (6)A CAR rental firm has been accused of "acting like big brother" after asking customers for their fingerprints before handing over a vehicle.
The policy introduced by Alamo was highlighted by a husband and wife from Dunsop Bridge who wanted to rent a Ford Transit van to help with a furniture removal.
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But when the men delivering the van from Preston asked to take a thumb print from one of them before handing over the keys, they cancelled the rental and ended up hiring from another company.
Lancashire police said it was not aware of hire companies doing this type of thing but agreed that if the vehicle was stolen it would make it easier to trace those responsible if they had a thumb print.
Liberty, a national body which seeks to protect civil liberties, questioned whether there was real need for someone's print to be taken just for a van.
A spokesperson said: "We must ensure that these fingerprint schemes are not using technology just for the sake of it and are properly regulated.
"Is the biometric data of customers being kept private and is there truly no alternative?"
The rental company, which also has bases in Wigan, Morecambe and Lancaster, defended its actions and said finger printing was something it had been doing nationally for 12 months in order to combat theft and fraud.
The couple from Dunsop Bridge, who asked not to be named, are in their 50s and said they had been using the company for over a decade.
They were later told that if they had gone down to the office in Blackpool Road, Preston, they could have walked away with the van without leaving their prints - a process that baffled the couple who are both in their 50s The husband said: "I've never come across something as stupid as this.
"They were on our front doorstep, what difference would it make if we went down to the office?
"It's just like big brother. If I gave them a print I'm sure it would be so easy for them to uplift it.
"For two people who I don't know from Adam to come and ask me for my prints is ludicrous.
"They'll be wanting DNA for a slice of bread next."
The company puts the thumb print on to the rental agreement and keeps it alongside the driver's licence details.
A team leader at Preston Alamo said: "We have to do this if we deliver a vehicle to a house.
"If they come to the office we have all the information about them in front of us and can do security checks on them there and then.
"It's just for security.
"The only time the thumb print would ever be used is if the police asked us for it if one of our vehicles went missing.
"Once the print has been taken it is sent down to our scanning department at head office."
Your Say YourThis Is Lancashire
J, Blackburn says...
4:36pm Thu 12 Jul 07
Jack Harkness, Torchwood Hub says...
7:44pm Thu 12 Jul 07
2003, I visited a shop in Plymouth railway station. Paying by cheque, I was asked to supply a 'thumbprint' on my cheque so, if the cheque didn't belong to me, they could 'trace me using the print'.
All well and good but - ah! Apart from being embarassed in front of other customers, not having experienced this bizarre thing before I also had my cheque and bank card which also has my signature on the back.
That then had me worried deeply afterwards as to what would happen if anything was found wrong with my cheque payment.
Not to mention - as there were no signs around anywhere, which is a legal requirement telling customers of this peculiar practice; maybe the woman was just taking the ****, because I wasn't 'from around those parts' or something equally as bizarre - what things might be done with my print if it was misused by any of the staff at the shop for anything else.
Nothing happened but wasn't the point really.
The only danger I can see with any system like this is it's all well and good in principle but can we really trust the people using it?
We already have had tales of people's bank statements and personal data being disposed of in black binliners in ordinary dustbins behind our nations banks for one and on the other a woman in Scotland received over 2000 statements belonging to Halifax customers sent to her address due to an 'error'.
The error being that the human being inputting the information to make the computer work being at fault.
Technology is also as good as the person/people using it. Common sense, really. Yet so many companies like to blame 'technology' for everything.
Well, excuse me, but data doesn't just hop onto the harddrive it has to be put there. Obviously.
Anyway, I digress.
Wonderful idea in principle but it can also have it's drawbacks.
Providing, and ONLY providing there can be the guarantee that this data will be used in accordance with the DATA PROTECTION ACT then it's okay.
As to nothing to hide? Well ... that's again okay in principle ... but failure do happen ... and information mixed up either through human error or failure ... the devil is in the details.
And recent history where private data and personal data is held has shown it is not safe, not by a LONG chalk.
For that, look at what happened with the recent doctor's online application service ... private details posted online for anyone to see, abuse and access.
Enough said.
The moral should be here - only do these things IF and when the technology can guarantee it's foolproof. The other issue being the one factor that makes it non-guaranteable - human nature.
And if you knew of the abuse that went on with your NI number in certain areas you'd be horrified.
Let's just say, having worked for the organisation concerned , that this goes on in the Benefits Agency the most. Employees looking up the personal address details of celebrities.
And that's not the only place it happens, either. It would be simply naive to believe so.
Anyway, I have strayed away from the point but only to illustrate how unready/unsafe these systems can be if only for the 'nosey parkers' out there.
Anon, Blackburn says...
9:31pm Thu 12 Jul 07
cataldo depalma, corato (BA) says...
12:29pm Mon 13 Aug 07
Mike, Scotland says...
5:32pm Tue 25 Mar 08
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Derek, Blackburn says...
4:08pm Thu 12 Jul 07