Consumer Blog
Hotel key cards and ID theft
There is a fear going around that when you stay at a hotel, your key card is an ID theft threat. The idea is that the hotel encodes your personal information (credit card #, address) on the magnetic stripe of your key card. This is an unfounded fear.
The hotel industry says magnetic stripes contain the combination to open your room, and the dates of your stay. That's it. Snopes.com did a piece on this recently.
Technorati Tags: hotel industry, hotel key, hotel key card, id theft, identity theft, key card, magnetic key card, moagoconsumer, consumer protection
Posted by on July 9, 2007 9:42 am :: Comments (2) :: Permalink
2 Responses to "Hotel key cards and ID theft"
says:
November 9, 2007 1:06 am
My question to you is can I buy a machine to erase the information of my Hotel key.
If yes how do I get one.
Thank you.
Roger N
says:
November 13, 2007 12:24 pm
To Roger:
As stated above, there is no reason to be afraid of your personal info on one of these cards. However, if you want to erase, go ahead.
You could cut up the card. Or use a magnet? I'm not a tech guy, but I think that putting a magnet against a card stripe will erase the data. Techies out there, correct me if I'm wrong.
