A possible IDScan data breach has far-reaching implications

American Thinker ^ | 23 Sep, 2026 | Andrea Widburg

[MtnClimber]

Have you heard about the possible IDScan data breach? I hadn’t until a stray bit of information appeared in my email: A press release from Canada announcing that the Privacy Commissioner was investigating a data breach at IDScan.net after it appeared that a third party had gained access to the database. At least 153 million American and Canadian driver’s licenses might have been compromised. This announcement was a reminder that, while the pro-China crowd is talking about “AI will destroy the world by 2030,” which has supplanted “climate change will destroy the world by 2030,” data breaches are ongoing and a threat to each of us.

According to KrebsOnSecurity, IDScan.net is a New Orleans company that sells identity-verification technology to businesses. These businesses include big-name companies in retail, car rental agencies, cell phone companies, clothing companies, marijuana dispensaries, and many other high-profile businesses.

The 30,000-foot view is that this is a cool product because it helps determine whether a driver’s license is more likely than not to be legitimate. Given the traffic in fake licenses for everything from illegal aliens to car rentals to the under-21 crowd trying to buy alcohol to getting a new cell phone, this is a useful service.

The problem is that the system can do what computer systems do so efficiently: scrape, categorize, and save enormous amounts of data. Indeed, IDScan’s own documentation says that its default setting for new accounts is to ‘Collect all,’ while its default retention setting is not to delete the records.

Computers can’t help themselves. When you hand your license over to be scanned, the computer gathers every bit of information on it, and that’s a lot of information about how you look, where you live, etc. IDScan reports that it does more than 21 million identity verifications per month

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TOPICS: Society
KEYWORDS: russia

[MtnClimber]

Don’t fall for the fake call from “your bank”.

[fruser1]

Given the traffic in fake licenses for everything

Trafficking made much easier thanks to your image being hacked from these systems.

Great use for AI and facial recognition stuff - hey I just downloaded 100k pics of driver's licenses, which one gives the highest recognition score against my own picture?

Now, if you get pulled over for a ticket, don't be surprised if you're arrested because of a bench warrant for failing to appear for another ticket that someone using your license got.

[DugwayDuke]

Entire article is click bait attempting to sell a product, Incogni. Of course, that raises the question of how secure that is that product which promises to remove your data? Since it ‘repeats the process automatically’ it must maintain a data base which can also be hacked.

[AppyPappy]

Don’t answer your phone.

[HereInTheHeartland]

“ Don’t answer your phone.”

Dumb thing to do. You will not have the opportunity to buy an extended warranty for your car if you don’t.
I was luck and was able to buy 7 warranty’s last month.
Next time a tail light goes out I’m covered

[MtnClimber]

It looks like the data breach is real: Time: FBI Probes Possible Dark Web Sale of Over 153 Million Driver’s License Scans. How Can You Protect Your Info? This article offers some advice on what people can do to make it more difficult for ID Thieves.

[dljordan]

It really would make a difference if you started executing these people when you catch them.

[algore]

You have to read the fine print on those warranties do you know if it covers Blinker fluid ?

just the other day my son pointed out a car in front of us where the blinker fluid was only 1/2 full in its tail light. You could see it just sloshing around.