Do you know your DNI number off by heart?

I do because of the amount of times I have to tap it or quote it parrot fashion. Apart from my phone number it's the only other one I remember by heart. Not my UK NI or passport numbers, which I could never remember anyway.

I do for the very reason Splinter mentions. I also know my husband’s as it is associated with the Carrefour discount.
What I am always mixing up is the CUIL number as I can never remember the extensions before and after. I keep it noted in the mobile phone, so that I can pull it up in case it is needed.

I no longer remember my passport number as I rarely use it and it changes at every issue.

It is absurd that I have to use my DNI even to shop for underwear online. I think the amount of data collection is disproportionate. You need your DNI to shop on supermarkets (for promotions or paying by card), online, for mail. It is even published online on dates.com.ar (why?!).

CUIL/CUIT is usually adding 23 to the beginning of the DNI followed by a 9 at the end. In my case anyway.

You can't do much without your DNI. When I auto - pay at Carrefour, I have to tap in the number for Mi Carrefour, then tap it in again when swiping the card and reciting the number countless times at checkout does get tiresome. Sometimes I pretend I've forgotten it and just hand them my DNI card instead of sounding like a parrot.

I know my DNI and the good lady's DNI

I dont know my lad's DNI , but he does

I dont know my UK passport number but strangely enough I do know my National insurance number which I havent used since 1990

Quote from Splinter

You can't do much without your DNI. When I auto - pay at Carrefour, I have to tap in the number for Mi Carrefour, then tap it in again when swiping the card

This is interesting. I don’t have a DNI but see people faffing around at tills longer than I think they should need to.

Would this equate to having to disclose my NI number at Tescos every time I presented my Tesco club card?

If so I imagine Starmer will be on to this soon enough!

Quote from Splinter

CUIL/CUIT is usually adding 23 to the beginning of the DNI followed by a 9 at the end. In my case anyway.

Exactly, that's your case. In mine, 27 and 7, with my old DNI as foreigner, it was 27 and 0. For my husband, it's 25 and 1 (I hope I have recalled all these variants right). There is no rhyme or reason so that's why I find it challenging to memorize.

Quote from Bombinova

Would this equate to having to disclose my NI number at Tescos every time I presented my Tesco club card?

Someone from the UK will be able to chime in. The DNI number identify a person uniquely within Argentina, and it is used both as an individual's unique identity number and as a tax code associated to you. Think it alike to a VAT number for companies, which is also the company's registration number.

We have a similar tax code for individuals in Italy (unique to each person), but it is not displayed on IDs. The ID number changes at every issue, both for Identity Cards and Passports.

The DNI is, however, not that sensitive as the SSN in the US, but I never understood why. With a DNI you can apply for a credit line just line with a SSN in the US.

In Argentina, in the past even the Driving License was issued under your DNI number, and now your DNI is ddisplayed on your DL but it is not the DL No.
However, even if it displays your picture and DNI, the DL can't be used as an ID form (like in the US), despite it being a photo ID.

Perhaps it was (is?) because the DL was issued at the Provincial level and not at the national level. I think that now Milei has created a National DL

Also in Italy you can't use a DL as an ID. when I sat my State Exams some 25 years ago, it was stressed a lot as the plastic DL is not an ID in Italy, just the identity card and the passport.

Also: my DNI as a foreigner is different from my DNI as an Argentinian. Technically, the Renaper should have associated the two. In practice, it didn't happen and I faced several challenges because of this along the years.

I was able to get my DNI card and a passport, but if a government database is checked up, I may or may not be listed there. They also don't have my picture in the electoral roll when I go to vote. I naturalized 9 years ago.

There’s quite a lot in there thats interesting.

The UK DL is accepted as photo ID by banks and includes your address too so it ticks two boxes at once in that credit or banking application process.

Reading in between the lines, I think a lot of countries are in the process of joining and sharing information between different departments of government. And going by what you say Argentina is trying to join up those dots in the same way.

What the heck is going on in a shop though when people pay for stuff with a card and/or a loyalty card?

Quote from Bombinova

There’s quite a lot in there thats interesting.

The UK DL is accepted as photo ID by banks and includes your address too so it ticks two boxes at once in that credit or banking application process.

Reading in between the lines, I think a lot of countries are in the process of joining and sharing information between different departments of government. And going by what you say Argentina is trying to join up those dots in the same way.

What the heck is going on in a shop though when people pay for stuff with a card and/or a loyalty card?

All you do is hand over your DNI number for the loyalty discount then pay with a card. Nothing odd about that.

Quote from Bombinova

What the heck is going on in a shop though when people pay for stuff with a card and/or a loyalty card?

When we first arrived here 12 years ago, at Carrefour you were asked to show your ID for cash purchases of more than a certain amount. I don't recall exactly the amount, but it was between 50 and 100 USD, as it seemed to be ridiculously low when in Italy we had a 3,000 Euros limit for cash transactions at the time. Spending 50 or 100 USD didn't seem unusual even in Argentina, especially if you consider that we are a family of 2, only, and Argie families can consist of 5-6 people as they have many children.

You are asked to show and ID if paying by card, although I don't get asked an ID if paying using my digital wallet.

To get a loyalty card in a supermarket, which is just for discounts or points to redeem - no credit line - you need to have a DNI. When you get to the till, you have to dictate it to the cashier so that the discounts for members are applied. This also means that every purchase you do is tracked. Your spending is tracked.

It is also required to have a DNI to buy on MercadoLibre, while in the past you could enter bogus numbers. I had opened ML under my old DNI, and when I was asked to upload an image of it due to increased security imposed by the government to ML, I had to contact customer service explaining that my DNI number was changed after naturalization. Think about if Amazon was to ask IDs to their clients! This is always because here scamming other people is the favorite activity by all buggers (and there's plenty).

Every time you make a purchase online, whether paying upon delivery or by card, you are asked to provide a DNI to be able to complete the order. Sometimes it is a "dead" field (not checked) and you can write whatever thing. However, you will need it in case of warranty or returns.

If you order on Temu (or from abroad, in general), not only you need to have a DNI, but also a "domicilio fiscal" on ARCA (former AFIP, the Argentinian Tax Authority) so that you can monitor your spending and imports. I consider this a big restriction to freedom. Limiting speech and mail is what can cause civil wars.

It’s odd to me. There would be uproar in the UK if you had to hand over your NI number with your loyalty card in Tesco.

So perhaps my question and the consequences of my response right here needs to be drilled down into a little more.

What is it then about a DNI number that differs it to a UK NI number that means that a DNI number holder in Argentina has no issue with handing it over with their supermarket loyalty card whilst a holder of a UK NI number would see it as a step too far to transact in the same way?

That’s the nub of my enquiry. I probably could have used fewer words to ask.

And that’s without even repeating my point about the faff it causes at the till.

Yes I certainly know both mine and Wife’s DNI without much thinking. I know the CUIL/CUIT too, which just add the 2 digit prefix and one digit postfix. Mostly when asked for the supermarket loyalty programs. Sometimes I forget my passport number, though eventually it comes to me.

I’ve never attempted to learn my passport number. Is there ever an occasion when you’d need to know it?

Keeping passports until checkout was definitely a custom in Europe, decades ago. I never breathed easy until I had mine back in hand.

Quote from Rice

I’ve never attempted to learn my passport number. Is there ever an occasion when you’d need to know it?

When I traveled by plane more often I knew my passport number. Then the first few years in argentina I traveled often by bus all over the country which required that id as a foreign tourist. Eventually the US passport expired and they assign a new number with renew, so it has been more difficult to remember.