The California Song-Beverly Credit Card Act (the “Act”) – an act intended to protect the personal privacy of individuals during credit card transactions – may very well become the new trend in California privacy litigation. ...more
A California court ruled last week that retailers could lawfully collect ZIP code information to reduce credit card fraud, efforts that result in lower prices for consumers. Following the California Supreme Court’s decision...more
Another class action suit has been filed in Massachusetts in the zip code wars. This time, the target is instrument retailer Guitar Center for allegedly requesting customers to provide their zip codes when making purchases...more
In This Issue: - Data-Breach Class Actions After the Supreme Court Decision in Clapper - California Supreme Court Holds That Song-Beverly Credit Card Act Does Not Apply to Online Purchases -...more
Earlier this month, we reported on the privacy case against craft giant Michaels Stores in which the plaintiff alleged that Michaels illegally collected zip codes during credit card transactions. The case was ultimately...more
In a recent decision, Tyler v. Michaels Stores, Inc., the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court held that zip codes are “personal identification information” and that a merchant asking for that information during a credit card...more
In a recent ruling arising from certain certified questions in Tyler v. Michaels Stores, Inc., Civ. No. 11-10920-WGY (D. Mass. Jan. 6, 2012, the Massachusetts Supreme Court interpreted “personal identification information”...more
Last week, in Tyler v. Michaels Stores, Inc., the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts responded to certified questions presented by the district court and interpreted a Massachusetts statute to reflect the state’s...more
Earlier this month, the Massachusetts Supreme Court issued an opinion holding that zip codes “may well qualify” as personally identifiable information under the Massachusetts law controlling the treatment of PII in credit...more
The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts recently held that collecting a consumer's ZIP code at the point of sale may violate Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 93, Section 105(a) (Section 105(a)), which restricts the...more
Massachusetts appears to have followed California’s lead in opening a litigation floodgate over ZIP code collection at the point of sale. In 2011, the California Supreme Court held in Pineda v. Williams-Sonoma Stores, Inc.,...more
“May I have your zip code?” is an all-too-familiar question that may be going the way of the dinosaur in Massachusetts. Many retailers commonly ask customers for their zip codes when processing credit card transactions at,...more
Yesterday, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (“SJC”) ruled that zip codes constitute “personal identification information” under G.L. c. 93. The question of law came to the SJC from the U.S. District Court for...more
A little over a year ago, the United States District Court for the Central District of California ruled that California’s Song-Beverly Act (the Act), which prohibits collection of “personal identification information” in...more
The California Supreme Court held on February 4, 2013 that the provision of the Song-Beverly Credit Card Act of 1971 (the “Act”) prohibiting retailers from requesting personally identifying information as a condition to...more
Handing a victory to online retailers, on February 4, 2013, the California Supreme Court held in a split decision that online transactions involving electronically downloadable products fall outside the scope of the...more
The California Supreme Court recently issued a landmark ruling in Apple Inc. v. Superior Court (formerly Krescent v. Apple Inc. in trial court proceedings), a case with wide-reaching implications for consumer privacy in...more
Attempting to strike a balance between the competing concerns of privacy and fraud protection, the California Supreme Court ruled yesterday that the Song-Beverly Credit Card Act does not apply to online retailers that collect...more
Companies that accept online credit card payments should be keeping an ear very close to the ground for the California Supreme Court’s decision in Apple v. Superior Court (Krescent), expected within the next few weeks. ...more