Story Archive

Next Requirement, a DNA Sample

Video game chain GameStop is requiring customers in Philadelphia, Pa., to provide a fingerprint when selling back used games. The chain says it’s “following a local law” which “allows” stores to collect thumb prints for law enforcement agencies to track down thieves should the games turn out to be stolen. The City Solicitor disagrees. “What GameStop does doesn’t meet any of the elements of the definition in the code, so the pawnbroker ordinance doesn’t apply to GameStop,” Shelley Smith says. A spokesman for the Philadelphia Police Department says the company is being “proactive” by uploading customer fingerprints to a secure database run by LeadsOnline, “the nation’s largest online investigation system.” (RC/KYW Philadelphia) ...And certainly we all know that if it’s online, it’s secure.