Dystopian reality: GameStop now taking your fingerprints before you can trade in used games

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Tweet Follow @narbasofficial If you plan on trading in used games at GameStop stores in Philadelphia, be prepared to be treated like a criminal. Stores in the city of brotherly love are now requiring fingerprint scans of everyone trading in their used games. Even worse, the GameStop Corporation apparently implemented these outlandish anti-theft measures voluntarily. It’s official: we’re now living in the dystopian future dreamed of in 20th century sci-fi novels.
Speaking with the local CBS affiliate, Philadelphia City Solicitor Shelley Smith explains that pawnbrokers are required by a local ordinance to fingerprint their patrons. Despite its obvious similarities with traditional pawnshops, GameStop isn’t legally required to fingerprint its clients. Not content to simply badger its customers to pre-order games, the GameStop leadership has decided to proactively begin treating its clientele as criminals.
In a statement made on Friday, a GameStop representative claims that the company started fingerprinting consumers in Philly stores “at the request of the Philadelphia police department.” Even though it seems it isn’t legally required to take and store fingerprints, GameStop doesn’t mind inconveniencing its clientele for the Philly police department. The representative went on to explain that other GameStop locations across the US have similar hurdles in place depending on the state and local regulations. However, GameStop is currently “reviewing the process” to discern if the Philly fingerprinting fiasco is worth the hassle.
Your privacy is under attack in every direction. Your government is spying on you, advertisers are tracking your every move, and even brick and mortar stores want to put your biometric data in a massive online database. Sure, you can choose not to shop at GameStop, and take precautions against online snooping, but the dread of being under constant surveillance remains.
Keep it mind, this privacy problem is much wider spread than just a few GameStop locations. Stores across America track identifiable information about their clientele, and then turn around and report that to the police. If you would have told me as a kid that the government was deeply interested in learning about who trades in used games, I would have called you a nut job. This isn’t a tinfoil hat situation, though. Big brother is actually watching, and he is very skeptical of that Black Ops II disc you just traded in for $9 of in-store credit.
link: extremetech.