The recent introduction of ID scanners into the night time economy in many Australian cities is fertile ground for exploring a range of themes related to technology and society. There are questions about the scanners' contribution to increased surveillance, the interface between private and public forms of surveillance, the capacity for data ahsring, concerns about the protection of privacy and the capacity or utility of existing theoretical models dealing with human surveillance, harm prevention, individual freedoms, and the role of technology in promoting social order.