HOTEL KEY CARDS
>
> Ever wonder what is on your magnetic key card?
>
> Answer:
> a. Customer's name
> b. Customer's partial home address
> c. Hotel room number
> d. Check-in date and out dates
> e. 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 hand full of cards home and using
> a scanning device, access the information onto a
> laptop computer and go shopping at your expense.
>
>
> Simply put, hotels do not erase the information on
> these cards until an employee reissues the card to the
> next hotel guest. At that time, the new guest's
> information is electronically "overwritten" on the
> card and the previous guest's information is erased in
> the overwriting process.
>
>
> But until the card is rewritten for the next guest, it
> usually is kept in a drawer at the front desk with
> YOUR INFORMATION ON IT!
>
> The bottom line is: Keep the cards, take them home
> with you, or destroy them. NEVER leave them behind in
> the room or room wastebasket, and NEVER turn them into
> the front desk when you check out of a room. They will
> not charge you for the card (it's illegal) and you'll
> be sure you are not leaving a lot of valuable personal
> information on it that could be easily lifted off with
> any simple scanning device card reader.
>
> For the same reason, if you arrive at the airport and
> discover you still have the card key in your pocket,
> do not toss it in an airport trash basket. Take it
> home and destroy it by cutting it up, especially
> through the electronic information strip!
>
>
> If you have a small magnet, pass it across the
> magnetic strip several times. Then try it in the door,
> it will not work. It erases everything on the card.