Identity checking, are banks allowed to retain copies of evidence like your driving licence

r0b3rt

Hello I'm after a bit of clarification / advice.

I was on the phone to my bank HSBC who once again couldn't or wouldn't give a reason for me having to call them to resolve yet another issue and furthermore seem incapable as ever of apologising.  Anyway part of what came out of the call was that the next time I'm in branch I'll have to provide them with my driving licence and a utility bill or similar (I get why, for identity checking) but I queried this as only a week or so ago I had already provided them with such.  Now what I was told alarmed me as they said that this time I will need to produce them so that copies can be taken to be retained on file, er you what now? no.  I've never had this before when they're just doing an identity check: they have a look, punch in some details, do some checks and hand me my licence etc back to me.

Now I get that from time to time banks and the like need to identity check (using your driving licence or passport numbers to do a check via the relevant computer systems) but retaining entire copies of my driving licence and a utility bill or similar on file .. I don't recall in the terms they mention anything about retaining copies be it physical or electronic when identity checking, does anyone know if they can do this because if they shouldn't be and I am asked for these next time I'm in branch then I'd like to politely tell them to well **** off with that demand, certainly use the number to do a lookup etc but stop overreaching.

Robert

Ballard

Banks regularly get audited by the regulators and need to prove that they’ve done their KYC properly. The only foolproof way that they can do this is to retain copies of documentation. 

eskbanker

https://www.hsbc.co.uk/content/dam/hsbc/gb/pdf/privacy-notice-full.pdf sets out their policies in fairly high level terms - they state that personal data (including, inter alia, "information about your identity for example, photo ID, passport information, National Insurance number, National ID card and nationality" that you provide them with) will be retained in accordance with their data retention policy, and offers contact details for their data protection officer for those wishing to take matters further....

robatwork

r0b3rt said:

Hello I'm after a bit of clarification / advice.

I was on the phone to my bank HSBC who once again couldn't or wouldn't give a reason for me having to call them to resolve yet another issue and furthermore seem incapable as ever of apologising.  Anyway part of what came out of the call was that the next time I'm in branch I'll have to provide them with my driving licence and a utility bill or similar (I get why, for identity checking) but I queried this as only a week or so ago I had already provided them with such.  Now what I was told alarmed me as they said that this time I will need to produce them so that copies can be taken to be retained on file, er you what now? no.  I've never had this before when they're just doing an identity check: they have a look, punch in some details, do some checks and hand me my licence etc back to me.

Now I get that from time to time banks and the like need to identity check (using your driving licence or passport numbers to do a check via the relevant computer systems) but retaining entire copies of my driving licence and a utility bill or similar on file .. I don't recall in the terms they mention anything about retaining copies be it physical or electronic when identity checking, does anyone know if they can do this because if they shouldn't be and I am asked for these next time I'm in branch then I'd like to politely tell them to well **** off with that demand, certainly use the number to do a lookup etc but stop overreaching.

Robert

I suggest you don't ever stay at a hotel then, it will come as a rather rude shock to you.

Daliah

eskbanker said:

https://www.hsbc.co.uk/content/dam/hsbc/gb/pdf/privacy-notice-full.pdf sets out their policies in fairly high level terms - they state that personal data (including, inter alia, "information about your identity for example, photo ID, passport information, National Insurance number, National ID card and nationality" that you provide them with) will be retained in accordance with their data retention policy, and offers contact details for their data protection officer for those wishing to take matters further....

Importantly, all account holders, incl. the OP, will have agreed to the data privacy terms at some stage.

All other banks will have very similar data privacy terms, as all of them have to comply with the obligations they have under their licence terms. 

Exodi

r0b3rt said:

they said that this time I will need to produce them so that copies can be taken to be retained on file, er you what now? no.

r0b3rt said:

next time I'm in branch then I'd like to politely tell them to well **** off with that demand

Honestly, at this point I only have sympathies with the bank. Your problem is that they're being overcautious with security? Any reason why you're so precious over your ID being scanned?

Half the threads on this forum are people getting scammed, screaming "THE BANKS SHOULD HAVE DONE MORE" and the other half are "THE BANKS SHOULD HAVE DONE LESS"... they can't win.

Literally the last thread I posted on in this subforum was about an account that got fraudently opened with HSBC, where the OP was absolutely furious with HSBC for not having stricter ID checks. Now I'm reading a thread where the OP is furious with HSBC for doing too many ID checks...

MEM62

r0b3rt said:

does anyone know if they can do this 

They can do it for any of the following reasons;

(a) Consent: the individual has given clear consent for you to process their personal data for a specific purpose.

(b) Contract: the processing is necessary for a contract you have with the individual, or because they have asked you to take specific steps before entering into a contract.

(c) Legal obligation: the processing is necessary for you to comply with the law (not including contractual obligations).

(d) Vital interests: the processing is necessary to protect someone’s life.

(e) Public task: the processing is necessary for you to perform a task in the public interest or for your official functions, and the task or function has a clear basis in law.

(f) Legitimate interests: the processing is necessary for your legitimate interests or the legitimate interests of a third party, unless there is a good reason to protect the individual’s personal data which overrides those legitimate interests. (This cannot apply if you are a public authority processing data to perform your official tasks.)

If you do not like their policies you are free to bank elsewhere but the process will be similar in most institutions.   

Bigwheels1111

3 of my bank accounts don’t have id, ie passport or driving license.
As did not have them when I opened the accounts, I would not retroactively provide then either.

dil1976

Bigwheels1111 said:

3 of my bank accounts don’t have id, ie passport or driving license.
As did not have them when I opened the accounts, I would not retroactively provide then either.

Please don't complain when someone manages to open credit accounts in your name then because the company providing it didn't ask for sufficient proof of ID

jackieblack

robatwork said:

r0b3rt said:

Hello I'm after a bit of clarification / advice.

I was on the phone to my bank HSBC who once again couldn't or wouldn't give a reason for me having to call them to resolve yet another issue and furthermore seem incapable as ever of apologising.  Anyway part of what came out of the call was that the next time I'm in branch I'll have to provide them with my driving licence and a utility bill or similar (I get why, for identity checking) but I queried this as only a week or so ago I had already provided them with such.  Now what I was told alarmed me as they said that this time I will need to produce them so that copies can be taken to be retained on file, er you what now? no.  I've never had this before when they're just doing an identity check: they have a look, punch in some details, do some checks and hand me my licence etc back to me.

Now I get that from time to time banks and the like need to identity check (using your driving licence or passport numbers to do a check via the relevant computer systems) but retaining entire copies of my driving licence and a utility bill or similar on file .. I don't recall in the terms they mention anything about retaining copies be it physical or electronic when identity checking, does anyone know if they can do this because if they shouldn't be and I am asked for these next time I'm in branch then I'd like to politely tell them to well **** off with that demand, certainly use the number to do a lookup etc but stop overreaching.

Robert

I suggest you don't ever stay at a hotel then, it will come as a rather rude shock to you.

No hotel I’ve ever stayed in has ever retained a copy of my passport or any other form of ID 🤷🏻‍♀️

Daliah

jackieblack said:

robatwork said:

r0b3rt said:

Hello I'm after a bit of clarification / advice.

I was on the phone to my bank HSBC who once again couldn't or wouldn't give a reason for me having to call them to resolve yet another issue and furthermore seem incapable as ever of apologising.  Anyway part of what came out of the call was that the next time I'm in branch I'll have to provide them with my driving licence and a utility bill or similar (I get why, for identity checking) but I queried this as only a week or so ago I had already provided them with such.  Now what I was told alarmed me as they said that this time I will need to produce them so that copies can be taken to be retained on file, er you what now? no.  I've never had this before when they're just doing an identity check: they have a look, punch in some details, do some checks and hand me my licence etc back to me.

Now I get that from time to time banks and the like need to identity check (using your driving licence or passport numbers to do a check via the relevant computer systems) but retaining entire copies of my driving licence and a utility bill or similar on file .. I don't recall in the terms they mention anything about retaining copies be it physical or electronic when identity checking, does anyone know if they can do this because if they shouldn't be and I am asked for these next time I'm in branch then I'd like to politely tell them to well **** off with that demand, certainly use the number to do a lookup etc but stop overreaching.

Robert

I suggest you don't ever stay at a hotel then, it will come as a rather rude shock to you.

No hotel I’ve ever stayed in has ever retained a copy of my passport or any other form of ID 🤷🏻‍♀️

You haven’t travelled far and wide then?