Your driver's license says you're 21? The Hideaway will see about that. With the help of a DukeCard reader, the on-campus bar can now verify your age with just a swipe of your DukeCard. And, if they're at all suspicious about your I.D., they won't hesitate to do so.
"[Using the DukeCard as back-up verification] is more accurate, more effective and more efficient," said senior Brian Litt who co-owns the Hideaway with eight other students.
This step represents the latest in the continuing evolution of the University's use of the DukeCard which now extends from buying snacks and entering buildings to solving crimes.
Used to confirm the validity of any of the three forms of identification acceptable under North Carolina state law-a North Carolina drivers' license, a military I.D. or a passport-the DukeCard now provides workers at the Hideaway another means to curb underage drinking.
But administrators and Hideaway officials were emphatic that the DukeCard does not replace state-approved identification.
John Diaz, director of the DukeCard system, said that birthdates are not printed anywhere on the card-that information can only be accessed through the computer system which stores students' I.D. numbers, as well as other basic information: whether they attend Trinity or Pratt, their gender, expected date of graduation, residence hall and campus mailing address. This information, along with documentation of every use of the nearly 40,000 DukeCards in circulation, can only be accessed from the DukeCard office.
Whether it's to open a door or to buy lunch, the uses of the DukeCard are many and varied. But aside from personal use, the information gathered in the system is used by the University in a variety of different ways.
Though he doesn't have an exact number of how many criminals have been apprehended with the help of the DukeCard, Major Robert Dean of the Duke University Police Department said DukeCard records are used regularly to compile a list of possible suspects and witnesses to a crime. "It's one of our many investigative tools," he said. "It has proven extremely useful."
Though subtle, there is an indisputable trade off between safety and privacy that some students find disconcerting.
"My main problem with the DukeCard is that it's heralded as: Don't worry kids, the DukeCard is great. You can buy lunch with it, you can check out books with it,' but implicit in all of that is that Big Brother DukeCard can be watching," said a student who wished to remain anonymous. "I remember when I lost my DukeCard and I thought,Great! Now they can't track me.' But the problem was I couldn't do anything. This campus is run by DukeCards."
Diaz discredited the idea that individual DukeCard activities are ever tracked. "There are over 300,000 transactions every day, and we have 13 employees. It would be impossible to monitor individual actions." Diaz said that in his eight years at the University, there has never been a breach of account security. "We really only review [people's accounts] when we have reason to ask." These reasons are typically in response to a cardholder asking the office to check into an overcharge on their account or if they have problem accessing a building on campus. The DukeCard Office said it won't release a student's card activity to their parents unless the student gives them permission to do so.
In fact, the DukeCard has become much safer in recent years. Less than 10 years ago, DukeCards displayed students' social security numbers-then the same as their DukeCard numbers-on the front of the card. Nowadays, DukeCard numbers are derived completely at random.
Officials say this is particularly convenient when it comes to protecting students who lose their card. Approximately 25 percent of Duke students lose at least one DukeCard a year. Students have lost as many as 14 cards in their undergraduate careers, Diaz said, recalling one student who lost seven his freshman year.
Most students think that the need for safety outweighs the importance of privacy. "I've never seen them abuse the system," said junior Patrick Horton. "If they're using the information for safety purposes, that's fair enough."
The data, Diaz said, is used to gather "macro-views" of campus trends, in order to determine everything from how much each meal plan should be worth to whether or not a particular type of eatery would be viable.
The system-used by over 180 universities nationwide-has looked virtually the same for the past 16 years, and won't be changing any time soon.
"I believe it is the best system we could have," said Diaz. "There are other systems on the market, but none that are as comprehensive or reliable as this one."
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.