Hotel Key Cards

I didn't know where to place this so I put it here, just thought it was important info to share
HOTEL KEY CARDS

Ever wonder what is on your magnetic key card?

Answer:

a. Customer's name
B. Customer's partial home address
c. Hotel room number
d. Check-in date and out dates
e. Customer's credit card number and expiration date!

When you turn them in to the front desk your personal information is
there for any employee to access by simply scanning the card in the hotel scanner. An employee can take a hand full of cards home and using a scanning device, access the information onto a lapop computer and go shopping at your expense.

Simply put, hotels do not erase the information on these cards until an
employee reissues the card to the next hotel guest. At that time, the new guest's information is electronically "overwritten" on the card and the previous guest's information is erased in the overwriting process.

But until the card is rewritten for the next guest, it usually is kept in a drawer at the front desk with YOUR INFORMATION ON IT!

The bottom line is: Keep the cards, take them home with you, or destroy them. NEVER leave them behind in the room or room wastebasket, and NEVER turn them into the front desk when you check out of a room. They will not charge you for the card (it's illegal) and you'll be sure you are not leaving a lot of valuable personal information on it that could be easily lifted off with any simple scanning device card reader.

For the same reason, if you arrive at the airport and discover you still
have the card key in your pocket, do not toss it in an airport trash
basket. Take it home and destroy it by cutting it up, especially through the electronic information strip!

If you have a small magnet, pass it across the magnetic strip several
times. Then try it in the door, it will not work. It erases everything on
the card.

Information courtesy of: Queensland Police Service.

PLEASE FORWARD to friends and family*

well ill be ......... i didn't know that. .... definitely something to keep in mind... i thought they were door access only. ..

I didn't know that either until I recieved that email from a friend who works in the courts in NSW

Some info on Snopes about this When things say pass on to your family and friends it makes me look on Snopes.

http://www.snopes.com/crime/warnings/hotelkey.asp

That link is interesting Carole and 'routinely' I guess 99% of hotel guests are are safe, but as was pointed out the key card does have the potential to have personal information put onto it by (maybe) a desk clerk (working in association with others) and having left the hotel it would be easy to collect that card without other employees becoming suspicious.

I am becoming more and more suspicious and go to great lengths to protect my personal identity, for example when I receive new credit card I cut the old one horizontally and vertically until I have about 50 tiny pieces of plastic which I then divide in half and dispose of in seperate waste bins.

Obsessive? me......never
It does give a good feeling that I've prevented the bu**ers from using the old card in some way.