CAPTCHAs are over (in ticketing)

I don’t get it - why not just tie the ticket to a name and address at time of purchase? Then verify that matches the person using government issued ID upon entry?

How would you handle the following conditions?

* I buy a ticket for a friend (maybe as a present) but don't actually want to go to the concert

* I buy more than one ticket for a group of people (I'll be attending the concert)

* I buy a ticket but have to cancel at the last minute and want to give it to a friend

* I don't have an easily available government ID (maybe I never got a drivers license, maybe my drivers license expired, etc.)

* People attending the event aren't American. They will have their passports from other countries. How will you verify each passport is valid?

* The event draws of people from a majority of the 50 states in the USA, with each state having different government IDs (driver's license) with different versions of the IDs within each state. What are the logistics of validating the IDs presented?

In the base case of one ticket per individual that has a valid government ID that has their current address printed on the ID, what service are you using to validate this ID and to validate that the presenter of the ID is associated with the ID? What is the cost and how many transactions can it handle per second?

>How would you handle the following conditions?

It doesn't, but that's fine, because it's the cost of preventing scalpers. Everyone just accepts that you can't buy a flight ticket as a present, for instance.

I think I've only had this once for a concert I've attended, but generally:

> I buy a ticket for a friend (maybe as a present) but don't actually want to go to the concert

You'd need to transfer the ticket to them electronically, which is possible on all the ticket selling sites that support these restrictions.

> I buy more than one ticket for a group of people (I'll be attending the concert)

One person can buy up to X tickets (often 6), so they can attend with 5 anonymous friends.

Or transfer one/more to them as above, so they don't have to arrive at the same time as you.

> I buy a ticket but have to cancel at the last minute and want to give it to a friend

Again, transfer through the website/app.

> I don't have an easily available government ID (maybe I never got a drivers license, maybe my drivers license expired, etc.)

> People attending the event aren't American. They will have their passports from other countries. How will you verify each passport is valid?

> The event draws of people from a majority of the 50 states in the USA, with each state having different government IDs (driver's license) with different versions of the IDs within each state. What are the logistics of validating the IDs presented?

European (as I'm here) identity cards and driving licences are reasonably unified in appearance. The staff will just do their best if Americans from 50 states turn up, and probably refer anything that seems suspicious to a manager for a more careful review.

This is maybe the answer, but I'd like to at least acknowledge that this is what's being proposed: Buying tickets for shows has the same security requirements and domestic and international flights.

Ticketing organizations have solved these problems some of which, I'm sure, do exactly as you propose, so it's not like it's an insurmountable problem but, besides wanting to hear a proposal, my point was that these are common tasks that are not as clear cut to solve as one might imagine.

To go into more detail, you're proposing training staff to recognize a valid ID, both from all 50 USA states and international passports, including any other official ID. This increases costs for consumers and vendors in addition to creating friction for entry. This also precludes people from attending that don't have ID or have trouble finding ID that isn't recognized by the venue.

I've seen some online vendors do ID validation but, from personal experience, I've found them to be invasive and have a high error rate.

All these methods have a high friction and might not really address the core issue of scalping.

Someone else proposed that these events are tantamount to international or domestic flights, where the expectation is that ID requirements are invasive and security is high. Maybe that's just the answer. If you want to see Taylor swift, have your passport ready, only purchase a ticket for yourself and go through high levels of security to gain entrance into the venue.

> Someone else proposed that these events are tantamount to international or domestic flights, where the expectation is that ID requirements are invasive and security is high.

Yes, because a large crowded space with tens of thousands of people tends to - unfortunately - be a prime target for terrorism.

This is not the proposal. The proposal is to ensure people's names match their tickets. Additionally, I think most people at concerts support security measures that would improve their safety and avoid a rerun of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester_Arena_bombing

The only valid solution is governments that offer something like OIDC providers using your ID card. You yourself can create a token that verifies that you are you and additionally there can be manual checking if the ID card matches you.

This way a platform also does not need to handle any sensitive data.

A ticket provider would have to allow reassigning tickets to other people through their platform - make it a "maximum 3 people for automatic approval".

How is checking names going to prevent terrorists with guns?

The article isn't clear (as I'm not familiar with Manchester Arena and the names of the rooms) but a man was allowed in with a bomb in a bag. Showing id (or not) wouldn't have been the problem.

(And incidentally, it's not required to show identification for flights within Europe's Schengen area.)

You have completely misread my comment; the point is that checking names would not be for security (it would be to prevent ticket scalping). As you have correctly identified, handling security threats is somewhat orthogonal to this - i.e. your claim is false. Large venues will inevitably have to introduce security screening irrespective of whether or not they match names and tickets.

Checking tens of thousands of IDs accurately has a cost, it isn’t quick or free.