Why do some Marriott hotels store guests' passport numbers?
Jan 22, 2019, 5:28 am
#3
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As usual there is a disconnect between Arne and what actually happens in reality. Are we surprised? No but then again to quote a line in Doctor Who “Davos knows”....
Jan 22, 2019, 5:30 am
#4
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Because there is no field. SPG only kept passport numbers because certain countries required them to do so. Those countries should be pressured to stop the practice.
Jan 22, 2019, 5:35 am
#5
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I even wonder how many hotels would insist on a passport if you provide another form of ID? Going forward I wonder if I should test it by providing another ID and see what happens.
Jan 22, 2019, 5:40 am
#6
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Hotels will generally accept ID instead of a passport unless it's one of those countries where they take a photocopy for registration, etc. I'm not massively amused that Arne has said that it's about "convenience" when it's obviously not about convenience at all - As Marriott never checks that your passport is still up to date, it will never use that information in a way which improves convenience. As a European, we take data privacy and usage a bit more seriously, and that's really unacceptable from a CEO.
Jan 22, 2019, 5:48 am
#8
Join Date: Aug 2018
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I’m guessing 90% of the countries require hotels to report daily to the relevant immigration authorities the identities (including nationality and passport number) of all foreigner guests. Many countries require reporting the identities of all guests, including their own citizens and residents.If the hotel is required to report guest information to immigration authorities then it must collect the guests’ valid travel documents details. In most countries this would be passport and/or immigration entry card. Some countries allow international border crossing with national IDs only (within the EU, for instance) or even on a drivers licence (Nordic Area countries). In that case collecting that information would suffice.In several countries hotels are liable to heavy penalties if they host a guest that has not shown proof of having been legally admitted into that country and are required to report any cases of violation of immigration laws they detect.
Last edited by MePlatPremier; Jan 22, 2019 at 6:01 am
Jan 22, 2019, 5:55 am
#9
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So let's say I visit country XYZ, upon check-in I hand over my driver's license and when they insist I must show my passport, I answer that I left it at a friend's house several hundred miles away in that same country. Can they refuse me a room just because I do not have my passport? I understand hotels and immigration might prefer to have my passport as ID, but I have never heard that it is an absolute necessity otherwise I cannot stay in the hotel. But I have never tested this - maybe I should.
Jan 22, 2019, 6:31 am
#10
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So let's say I visit country XYZ, upon check-in I hand over my driver's license and when they insist I must show my passport, I answer that I left it at a friend's house several hundred miles away in that same country. Can they refuse me a room just because I do not have my passport? I understand hotels and immigration might prefer to have my passport as ID, but I have never heard that it is an absolute necessity otherwise I cannot stay in the hotel. But I have never tested this - maybe I should.
Jan 22, 2019, 6:41 am
#11
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Even where passport is required, I'm not sure it has to be entered into the system and attached to a customer's account. The hotel should photocopy and file it (or whatever they are required to do), and then destroy or delete the electronic image after checkout. I realize it's more work for the hotel staff, but data breaches are inevitable. Information like passport data shouldn't be stored permanently for any hacker to see. A credit card is easy to replace, a passport not so much.
Jan 22, 2019, 7:39 am
#12
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So let's say I visit country XYZ, upon check-in I hand over my driver's license and when they insist I must show my passport, I answer that I left it at a friend's house several hundred miles away in that same country. Can they refuse me a room just because I do not have my passport? I understand hotels and immigration might prefer to have my passport as ID, but I have never heard that it is an absolute necessity otherwise I cannot stay in the hotel. But I have never tested this - maybe I should.
Jan 22, 2019, 9:01 am
#13
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Originally Posted by margarita girl;30685548[b
]I'm pretty sure Chinese hotels won't/can't let you check in without a passport. [/b]I was on a group tour (my one and only time) years ago, and a family had a shoulder bag stolen with their passports and a load of cash (which they were taking to an orphanage where they had adopted their daughter from). The tour guides were trying to figure out how they were going to even be able to get them a hotel room until they got replacement passports.
At all Marriotts in China (those I spent nights at, they scanned my passport, They do same no matter how many times I had stayed at that particular hotel!
Jan 22, 2019, 9:05 am
#14
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Many countries in Asia, South America, and the Middle East are required by local law to keep passport information on file.
I presume in some cases, they keep it on file and in other cases, they do data dumps to the appropriate government agency.
It's a little disappointing that Arne didn't just say, "we store this information when we are required by local law. We hope that governments will minimize the collection of this information."
I presume in some cases, they keep it on file and in other cases, they do data dumps to the appropriate government agency.
It's a little disappointing that Arne didn't just say, "we store this information when we are required by local law. We hope that governments will minimize the collection of this information."
Jan 22, 2019, 9:45 am
#15
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Some countries require passport information for non-resident occupancy tax waivers. I'd expect that the hotel is required to maintain the information until whatever statutory period (on reporting, audits, etc.) expires.
It is all nice to speculate from a US-based kitchen, or office, or bathroom as to what hotels in non-US countries should and must do, but most of us have no idea what those local realities might be.
It is all nice to speculate from a US-based kitchen, or office, or bathroom as to what hotels in non-US countries should and must do, but most of us have no idea what those local realities might be.