A controversial plan to create a central database to track bar patrons -- in place of the state's private club law -- is being abandoned amid fears of "Big Brother."

Sen. John Valentine, R-Orem, said Wednesday that he has dropped the proposed private club changes from his bill and will let the debate play out in the House.

Rep. Greg Hughes, R-Draper, is sponsoring a bill that does away with private clubs and requires licenses to be scanned, but the information would be stored temporarily at the clubs so it is available to law enforcement.

Neither of the bills has yet been numbered.

Senate President Michael Waddoups, R-Taylorsville, who spent this week stamping out the talk of the database, says even storing data at the clubs may be untenable now, because of the controversy over the database.

"That's pretty Orwellian, I believe," he said. Just the public perception that clubs are storing patrons' data "might put some club owner out of business."

Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. does not support the idea of a central database, although a spokeswoman said that the information could be retained at each bar for a period of time for law enforcement purposes.

Valentine still believes that, for the driver license verification to be effective, law enforcement needs to have access to the data at a central location. But he feared the controversy might bring down a broader liquor reform bill he is proposing.

"I'm going to allow the database debate to start in the House with Greg Hughes' bill," Valentine said.

Hughes' bill would require that patrons who appear to be under 30 years old have their license scanned. The encrypted information would be stored on-site for 17 days so it could be accessed by law enforcement as part of an accident investigation. In those cases, officers would have to go through the same process they do to obtain credit card receipts or security camera tapes.

Waddoups has said that law enforcement officials told him the ID scans might not be helpful in enforcement.

"I wouldn't mind at all if [the ID] is verified and it doesn't store it at all," he said.

"This is a starting point. There're going to be lots of ideas thrown around and there're going to be changes," Hughes said. "I think my bill is really a good compromise."

While the license scans were envisioned by bar owners as a replacement to Utah's unique private club laws, Waddoups said Wednesday that it is "very possible" that the scans could be done in addition to the private club requirements. After seeing three different demonstrations of the technology, he said that the electronic scans are "a giant step forward as far as [stopping] underage drinking goes."