Originally Posted by
bbtrvl
While implementation is probably spotty, it is a legal requirement of the Schengen treaty that hotels verify and record the identity and nationality of all their guests.
That is a sweeping generalization that is not representative of the legal requirements across the entire Schengen zone. I've checked into four hotels across two Schengen countries in the past several days, and there is no legal requirement for those hotels to verify and record the identity and nationality of all guests.
Even in Italy, they don't verify and record the identity and nationality of all guests on premises. Young Italian minors are hotel guests too, and they don't all have national ID/passports. Where is the Italian law that says that all Italian minors who are hotel guests must also submit national ID/passports? Legally, the Italian hotels do verify/record my passport info, but then I'm an adult US visitor at an Italian hotel and not an Italian minor at an Italian hotel.
Here is the Schengen treaty text:
https://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedo....ACQUIS-EN.pdf
Where exactly in there should we all be looking for this legal requirement of the Schengen treaty applicable to hotels? Title II Article 19. But then you have to actually go and look at what each of the separate Schengen countries have done and not done, as not all of them have done the same thing. Strictly speaking, Title II Article 19 is not applicable to hotels.
Originally Posted by bbtrvl
As for data security, someone's full name and birthdate is critical vital information that is used all the time for nefarious purposes. But I would not worry about people getting this information from your passport. In some US states, this information is a public record, making it next to useless as "secrets"
Full name and birthdate info in hand as on passport enable more nefarious activities than partial names and no birthdate would. Figuring out which Jon Smith is away from home and an easier target for a home invasion while away is a lot easier when you know Jon Smith in the hotel is actually Jonathan Abraham Goldberg Smith born in Norway on May 5, 1956 and find out where he lives.
As a practical matter, travelers' privacy and property protection is superior when home address information isn't as easily discernible to so many people on a trip. And full name and birthdate, as on passport, make it a lot easier to figure out where and when a traveler's home is more likely to be an easier target for break-in.