Give it to the spy organization.
Not being snarky. That was meant as a serious comment. Maybe there is some kind of requirement to inform the appropriate organizations of the passport numbers of any foreigners in your hotel?
Somewhat OT but I was in Europe last month on a business trip. There's a knock on the door one evening. Imagine my surprise in discovering it's someone from the hotel who has come up with a few edible goodies for my birthday. On the one hand, it was a nice gesture. On the other, I was a bit taken aback. Where did they get that info?
I didn't really want to ask but a friend of mine later reminded me that they probably got it off my passport. I suppose this might have just been an informal process at this particular hotel. But I wouldn't be shocked to learn it was put in the chain's database.
Hard to share any very useful insights on this, it's just the state of most things.
I'm not quite sure what you mean, but the answer is probably no.
>Can hotels be fined if they’re found to not be GDPR compliant?
Sure, but is anyone GDPR compliant yet? I'd imagine that all the DPAs in EU are extremely busy right now.
In the UK, there's no need because it's an island, so passports can be more easily screened at the borders.
In the UK, "The Immigration (Hotel Records) Order 1972" says:
> 4.—(1) Every person of or over the age of 16 years who stays at any premises to which this Order applies shall, on arriving at the premises, inform the keeper of the premises of his full name and nationality.
> (2) Every such person who is an alien shall also—
> (a)on arriving at the premises, inform the keeper of the premises of the number and place of issue of his passport, certificate of registration or other document establishing his identity and nationality; and
Some countries (China and Russia spring to mind) require you to register your lodgings with the police, which the hotel do for you. It seems standard practice to hand over your passport at international hotels.
Israel sometimes has more nefarious reasons than tracking where foreign citizens are
https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/israel/safety-and-s...
A Serious Organised Crime Agency investigation into the misuse of UK passports in the murder of Mahmud al-Mabhuh in Dubai in January 2010 found circumstantial evidence of Israeli involvement in the fraudulent use of British passports. This has raised the possibility that your passport details could be captured for improper uses while your passport is out of your control. The risk applies in particular to passports without biometric security features. Only hand your passport over to others (including Israeli officials) when absolutely necessary.
This is the case in most countries I've traveled to.