Commissary scanning IDs

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Chris Massey
  • 355th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
DAVIS-MONTHAN AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --  The Defense Commissary Agency has implemented a new policy requiring a Department of Defense ID card bar code be scanned in order to make purchases at all commissaries throughout the military.

"The purpose of the scanning IDs is to positively identify authorized patrons for the commissary, just like the Department of the Air Force or DoD utilizes ID cards to access the base," said Laurence T. Mitchell, D-M commissary store director. "We're using the same technology and the same justification."

The scan captures only the customer's ID card number, which is cross-referenced with the Defense Manpower Data Center's Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System to obtain rank, military status, branch of service, age, household size, residential ZIP code, and duty station. This data provides the commissary with patron information and usage by military service and basic customer demographics. Specific, personal data about an individual is not collected.

Only DeCA is collecting the information. The collected data is maintained at DeCA headquarters, not at any of the commissaries.

"In addition to the positive identity verification, scanning ID cards allow DeCA to better understand the patrons and their preferences based on the demographics of each commissary location," said Mitchell. "This will enable us to provide products and services that are directly related to our patron's needs at D-M."

Scanning began DeCA-wide Nov. 10 and will be in place at all commissaries around mid-January 2014.