Bay City News August 2026 Media Response

We welcome media inquiries and believe transparency and open conversation leads to better public understanding of how our technology works. Below is our record of this inquiry, the questions we received, our responses, and a quick fact check of the published article as it relates to Patronscan.

Questions & Responses

Questions are listed as received. Our responses below are the complete, unedited text of what we submitted.

Question:

I am working on a story about call for a boycott of bars and venues in San Francisco that are using PatronScan and wanted to see if I could get a comment from the company on some of the data and safety concerns raised by the groups who are calling for bars and venues to stop using AI assisted facial recognition technology.  

I saw that over the weekend two prominent bars in San Francisco opted to pause use of the tech and wanted to see what the companies reaction to that was.  

Our Response: 

Thank you for reaching out on this – we’re always happy to connect and answer questions about how Patronscan works! 

We have been following the community response closely and we’ve appreciated the chance to engage in many productive, positive conversations, provide additional information on how Patronscan works, and reassure people on the limited use and retention of any information in our system. 

We’re aware of the pause on these accounts and have been in contact with the venues to offer our support in providing whatever information or adjustments they need as they work through a review of their security practices. We respect their decision to complete this review and look forward to hearing how we can help. 

There are a few concerns we’ve seen come up consistently from the community that we have addressed previously (see HERE on our Media responses), and we want to take the opportunity to address directly again. Patronscan does not use facial recognition technology or collect biometric data. Information gathered from an ID scan is not sold to third party companies. And for our bar and nightclub clients in California, personal data for individuals not involved in a safety incident is held for a maximum of 21 days before being permanently deleted. Patrons can contact us at any time via our website to request a copy of their personal information held in our system, or to request the deletion of their information. 

We continue to believe in the value of our system in creating safe spaces for people to meet, relax, and celebrate together in person. We recognize that part of our responsibility is to continue building public trust in and understanding of our system and that this can’t be done through privacy policies or media statements alone – we have to continue holding our team and our venues to the highest standards for transparency, ethical use of our system, and following best practices in privacy and data protection. 

The venues investing in safety tools such as ours are doing so because they genuinely care about the people walking through their doors – we have heard countless stories from our clients sharing how our scanners have protected their employees and guests, kept out bad actors with ill intent, or helped hold someone accountable after serious safety incidents such as assaults, theft and even homicide investigations. We are always happy to support our clients as they try to do right by their communities, and we value the feedback we receive to continue building and developing Patronscan in a way that makes sense for the venues using our system. 

Follow Up Questions:

Some of the PatronScan devices appear to have a camera that can face patrons as they enter, can you clarify how this imaging device is used? Can or are images being collected with this camera to accompany ID scans? 

Can I also get clarification on some of the background on PatronScan? When was this released, how is it being developed and deployed, and how does the AI gather and asses information?  

Also just to double check? Is the company named Severall Data Systems and based in Calgary?  

Follow Up Response:

The camera on the device is not equipped for any kind of analytics; it’s simply set up for a live photo to be taken at the time of scan. The photo is attached to the visit record for that individual, is not accessible to any venue other than the one where the photo was taken and is permanently deleted after the data retention period is complete (in California the standard is 21 days). The photo serves several practical functions, none of which involve facial recognition technology. Some examples: 

• ID “Passback” prevention: If the same ID is scanned more than once on the same day, the photo helps ensure that the person presenting it is the same individual each time. This helps prevent IDs from being shared between people to circumvent compliance requirements such as age verification, or venue rules such as flagged patron restrictions. 

• Identity confirmation: It provides proof that the person presenting the ID was the same person pictured on it. For example, if a fraudulent chargeback dispute arises, the venue can confirm whether the cardholder was present in the case that an individual is claiming their card was used without their knowledge. 

• Accurate flagging: Most incidents that lead to a flag being placed occur after the person has presented their ID and entered the bar – there isn’t always an opportunity for staff to reconfirm ID while dealing with an incident. If bar staff have to review their scan history for the night to try and identify someone involved in an incident, an ID photo may not reflect how someone currently looks. People change their hair, facial hair, weight, or may be wearing glasses or a hat, etc. A live photo ensures that a flag is attached to the correct person and reduces the risk of a flag being incorrectly matched to someone else. 

• Criminal investigations: In the event of an assault or similar incident, a victim may not know the name of the person involved, only a physical description. The live photo supports accurate identification when it’s needed most. 

Patronscan has been operating since 2005 (yes, legal company name is Servall Data Systems) and our head office is in Calgary, AB. All our development work is done in house by our team of experienced software developers. The specific mechanics of how our system works are proprietary and we aren’t able to share further detail publicly for IP and security reasons, but we are happy to confirm that the system is focused solely on verifying the authenticity of the ID presented based on templates of what a real ID should look like and any known Fake IDs, looking for details such as overall structure, layout and authenticity cues such as specific image markers or holographic overlays. We do not use AI in the scanning or authentication process and have no AI involvement in gathering or assessing information from an ID. Our authentication system is custom built and maintained entirely in house, meaning no data from the initial verification is shared with or processed by external authenticators or third-party AI platforms. 

Fact Check

The resulting article from this inquiry was published on August 10, 2026. The following Fact Check is only relating to statements directly relating to Patronscan, our technology or our operations. We’re not commenting on the broader article, its sources, or unrelated claims.

We understand that news reporting is a challenge of gathering and presenting a large amount of information in a short, readable format. We publish all media responses here so you can read exactly what we said, in full. We believe open, fact-based conversation is the best way to promote understanding of our technology and the role it plays in venue safety. If you have questions or would like to speak with us directly, we’d love to hear from you at media@patronscan.com.