If they can’t verify that the ID they have just shown you is them some how, you turn them away. The method of verification itself is pretty immaterial.

Again, this is only one of a number of random checks and even then will only be used in very rare cases where the person looks so young that there’s a real possibility that the otherwise genuine-looking ID is fake, or where there’s enough difference between the photo on the ID and the person that there’s room for doubt as to whether it’s actually them or a sibling.

So it’s not a “no facebook, no entry!” policy at all, it’s “in the unlikely event that we have cause to doubt the ID you present us, we might, in isolated instances, ask to see if you have a facebook account that matches, or ask you if you have any other matching ID, or ask to see your cash card or use any one of a number of different ways to assess whether you’re telling the truth, because our livelihoods and the livelihoods of all the staff in the building depend on us being reasonably sure that this is a genuine ID, being presented by the person who it actually belongs to.”

Of course, screaming outrage is far easier than looking at a situation in any kind of context, so you go right ahead and keep shouting about the sky falling.

I worked in an off license when they brought it in, and around that time the licensing bods would send test purchasers round to catch out the staff, who often aren’t much past 18 years old as it is and were easy to catch out.

If you’re caught selling booze to someone under 18, a fine of up to £5000 can be imposed, and the premise license may be revoked.

We were told that the fine would be taken from the person selling the booze and from the license holder, and so had to ID pretty much everyone just to make sure that we weren’t caught out. We would only accept a driving license or passport; to make doubly sure, and I frequently had rows with cheap cider purchasing spotty youths. The concept of being fined up to five grand made us all vigilant and to be honest, kept us on edge.

I now work as a nightclub bouncer (amongst other things) and still ID people thoroughly, only accepting a current passport or driving license. I’m only 25 myself and am sometimes a bit embarrassed when I IDd girls who are older than me but it still needs doing, just in case. The licensing authorities enforcers are worse than a bouncer on a power trip, if they think they have something on you they will just fine away. 

fair enough, it may not be me getting the £5,000 fine for making an underage sale if I let someone in; as the bartenders should also be double checking anyone who looks young. But if an underage sale takes place then it’s £5,000 from the place I work which, considering the economic climate and the current trend to just get pissed at home, would probably send the club under and put a lot of people out of work. 

The same would happen if they lost their license. 

I don’t advocate at all what this doorman did, but I do think that faced with a form of ID he didn’t recognise, he was more than likely just using the tools to hand to confirm the girl’s age in order to not just send her on her way; which is quite a nice thing to do. I don’t think this is an asshole bouncer/big brother story, I don’t really think it’s sinister it’s just a response to a combination of fear of the licensing authorities/potential of losing a job and novel use of an almost ubiquitously used cache of personal information which the vast majority of society freely signs up to without much thought.

He didn’t ask for her password and at the most if she comes into the club again, he will just be able to greet her by her first name. 

If she’d come to my club with a form of ID that wasn’t a passport or driving license, I’d have sent her packing. 

so yeah, a response from a british bouncer. 

Just bring your passport/driving license, and don’t get so off your face drunk that you lose it. 

Love 

Faye

x

If your locality does not have adequate professional licensing requirements for bouncers, that’s a problem you need to take to your elected representatives.

But don’t let me get in the way of your over the top political ranting.  Occasions for this are so few on the internet, it’s hard to see how you could resist.

We would indeed be living in a better world it that question were as off limits as “show me your tits”, but this is a different issue.

You might try working the nightclub racket for a couple of weeks before you start giving them advice.  You also might try wearing a leg brace, your knee is jerking like crazy.

The bottom line is that using a social media account to verify actual identity is dumb and I doubt it’ll hold up in court for the club that gets burned.

And there are people in this comment thread that still don’t get it.

Imagine the scenario:

Kid borrows brothers ID, asked to show Facebook by bouncer, says ‘I don’t have a Facebook’ to bouncer.

What then? Refused entry due to lack of Facebook?

It’s pointless AND invasive.

There are guidelines for checking a patrons age, anything beyond that is a power trip; you’re not liable if you’ve verified their age through reasonable means. Facebook would mean sod-all in court anyway.

That’s what makes this story so silly.

Not that anyone would know without spending time analysing that pile of legalese.

Noone looks like their photo ID; chances are the photo was taken several years previously (which in the case of a 20 year old is a big difference), in glaring light and without heavy make-up. Saying “I was 95% sure it was the same person” is not going to get you sympathy from a judge, saying “I was 95% sure so I asked her to verify her name by showing me her facebook profile as a surprise check” could very well make the difference between being prosecuted and not.

“If you have doubt… keep them out” is a great idea, but if you were absolutely honest you would never be able to let anyone in, short of DNA testing all your customers and comparing to a government database, which I’m pretty sure we can agree noone wants. My own passport photo was taken 9 years ago, when I had longer hair, didn’t have several scars that I do now and was a lot paler and skinnier. It’s fine for most verification purposes, including letting me into other countries, but in all honesty the photo could be of my brother.

What difference does it make if the bouncer knows which Jane Smith you are? If you’re worried about it, keep your publically searchable information at a minimum (which you should do anyway), and don’t say yes to his friend request. What’s he going to do? Masturbate furiously to the thumbnail of your profile picture? I’d be more worried about drunken pervs with cameras in the club itself.

Shit, if you want to get upset about something, get upset about this: http://www.nightclub.co.uk/uk_products_intouch.php – fingerprint verification systems for nightclubs, which are already in use across the country. If a bouncer using publically available information on facebook to double-check IDs of those he’s 95% sure are legal (otherwise they would just be turned away, no need to check anything else) means that the club doesn’t get into trouble when the local police department decides it’s low on cash and starts raiding pubs and clubs, and as a result, isn’t asked to install a fingerprint verification system by the licensing authority as a condition of their next license, I’m all for it.