~misfit~ wrote:

Storing on-line isn't the best idea in my opinion. These are copies of
documents that can be used to prove identification so should be kept
very securely.

No matter where you store the file, it is someone else's personal and
private data, so you should encrypt it. Once encrypted, who is going to
see it if the file is on a CD/DVD, USB HDD, USB flash drive, or online?
Um, just how is this user going to secure a scanned and printed copy of
their customers' driver license? In a file behind the front desk that
anyone can access? A paper hardcopy is hardly secure. No way to
encrypt that. Anyone can access a paper copy: unscrupulous employees,
anyone wandering behind the front desk (even when it is closed you can
just hop over the desk), and I've yet to see the front desk using
lockable filing drawers or have good locks on them (a large square shaft
screwdriver and crescent wrench will make short work of those crappy
locks, anyway, and the employees know where is the key).

The OP didn't say where is the hotel. I've heard some EU states are
obligated to send a record of your presence to the police. See
http://www.privacysurgeon.org/blog/i...s-and-the-nsa/.
Ain't the EU oh-so wonderful. Happens in my country, too, but I'm not
sure they scan or take a pic of my driver license. I have seen them
write down the ID number on the registration card.

Also of note is that is may be illegal to copy and retain a driver
license at its original size (something to do with providing a source
for forging the ID). So, the printed copy has to get enlarged, which
means the OP will still need to use the cheaper choice of 8.5x11" paper.

For the same reason I don't think it's wise to take a pic "with your
smartphone" (a lot of which automatically back up to 'the cloud').

Of the smartphones that I've owned, all of them have the option to NOT
copy photos to some cloud storage. In fact, as I recall, I had to
lookup the setting to enable auto cloud sync with the phone. I don't
auto-upload any pics taken with my phone. I don't want to waste the
storage quota in my online account on what are likely trivial or
transitory photos. If I want to save the photos off my phone, I use
Bluetooth or a USB cable to my desktop PC.

Not just that but they're prone to damage or loss.

Not if the phone were only used for taking pics. Just because it's a
phone doesn't mean you have to use it that way. Doesn't take much
quality for a camera to snap a photo of a driver license. You can get
discarded working cell phones with cameras for cheap at the Goodwill.
Or dig out the old one you stuffed in a drawer when you moved to a new
phone.

If you don't have a data plan and the wifi radio is disabled, how are
photos getting off that phone? No one will have access to them except
whomever can access the phone, just like whomever can access your filing
drawer, or your desktop PC, or whatever else you use.

If pics rather than scans are to be used then I would suggest a
dedicated camera for the job.

Some desk jockey fumbling around to fish a camera out of a drawer to
take a pic of your driver license is just as likely as to drop a phone.
One advantage I see is you can get some rather boob-level point-n-shoot
camera, so the desk jockey doesn't have to figure out how to take a
photo. The OP is unclear just how big is his friend's hotel. Rather
than spending money on a digital camera, his friend probably already has
a smartphone. After all, the focus is on pinching pennies as hard as
possible. If the OP cannot afford a sheet of 8.5x11" paper per print of
a driver license, how is the OP going to afford getting any camera?

It's possible the OP has an old digital camera collecting dust in a
drawer that he could use to take snapshots of driver licenses. More
likely is the OP has a smart phone with a camera. The OP still has to
get the info to the police, so how secure is that process?

Since the idea is to get the task done as cheaply as possible, I don't
see using paper and ink is the best choice, especially if this info is
to get transferred to the police. First see what the OP has for digital
storage. Does the scanner save to a file instead of printer? If so,
there are lots of ways to encrypt that data. Does the OP have a spare
cell phone with camera? Well, without a data plan or wifi enabled,
those pics aren't going anywhere except via Bluetooth or USB cable.
Maybe the OP does have a spare digital camera. In either case, the
point was to replace scanner, paper, and ink with a camera whether it be
a dedicated camera or one in a smart phone.

Not sure why the OP even has to scan the driver license or take photos
of it. Customers fill out a registration card, or the desk jockey does
it, and they simply transcribe the driver ID info to the card (and then
somehow get a copy to the police since that would be the only reason for
the OP's declaration of "legally required").

What seems incongruous is the OP is looking for the cheapest way to
record driver ID info, but the OP also says the hotel is down due to
COVID. If the hotel is down, no one is staying there, so no need to
record driver IDs. We respondents might've gotten had.