A warning for travelers:

The following article was brought to my attention by a member at the monthly meeting on 2nd October 2007 having appeared in another publication.

Holiday Security Advice - courtesy of Kent Police

EVER WONDER WHAT’S ON YOUR HOTEL MAGNETIC KEY CARD?

Answer: 

Customer’s name, Customer’s partial home address, Hotel room number, 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 handful of cards home and using a scanning device, access the information on to a laptop computer and go shopping at your expense. Simply put, hotels do not erase the information on these cards until an employee re-issues the card to the next hotel guest. At that time, the new guest’s information is electronically “overwritten” on the new guest card and the previous guest’s information is erased in the overwriting process. But until the card is rewritten for the next guest, it is usually kept in a drawer at the front desk with YOUR INFORMATION ON IT!

Recommendations: 

Keep the card, take them home with you, or destroy them. NEVER leave them behind in the room or room waste basket, and NEVER turn them in to front desk when you check out of the room. You will not be charged for the card (it’s illegal in the UK) and you’ll be sure you are not leaving a lot of valuable personal information on it that could easily be lifted off with any scanning device card reader. For the same reason, if you arrive at the airport and discover you still have the card key in our pocket, do not toss it in an airport waste basket. Take it home and destroy it by cutting it up, especially through the electronic information strip! You can also use a small magnet and pass it across the magnetic strip several times.