I was at a nice restaurant and had about 50 usd worth of drinks. I paid with my visa and the bartender asked for ID. In my somewhat jovial state I obliged without question. She took both my ID and the visa to run the card. Was this a mistake? Did I basically give away a ton of ID information exposing myself to identity theft in the US -or- is it probably ok?
I'm overly paranoid, probably.
Here in Mexico we are asked for ID every time we use our credit card, whether in a restaurant or a supermarket or buying gas.
It appears to be required here, service is denied if you don't have ID (this only happened once, we had cash so wasn't an issue)
Until we had Resident ID cards we just handed over our NZ driver license. We have had no issues doing this, and no questions asked.
I have never had the option here to use a PIN with the card, only ID then sign.
A Credit Card is a strictly personal item, has your name on it and you are the only one allowed to use it, to the point that if you want some relative being able to use that card...you must ask your bank for a family card/second card/linked card/whateveryourbankcallit card.
Asking for the ID is not mandatory, but it's a common procedure in some shops -usually they simply check if the name on the card matches the one on the ID, and if the photo on the ID matches you; it should be, anyway, always a mandatory procedure if your card is not signed, as much I can remember. Finally this apply only when you're paying by signing the bill, if you pay by inserting the PIN there's no point into requesting an ID (even if I've found that some big supermarkets in Italy still request it, and I think even Ikea stores in Milano area...but I maybe me wrong, been ages ago)
In any case, the shop is not required nor entitled to register your ID data.
Asking for ID is a perfectly normal and expected occurrence everywhere.
If you are concerned, legitimately, about personal information, consider getting either a Passport Card or Global Entry* as these have less personal information then a Driver License or State Identification.
*Or similar.
