California Supreme Court: ZIP Collection Violates Song-Beverly
In a decision with potentially far-reaching implications for merchants, in Pineda v. Williams Sonoma Stores, Inc., the California Supreme Court last week held that requesting and recording a credit cardholder's ZIP Code violates the Song-Beverly Credit Card Act of 1971 (Civ. Code 1747 et seq.)
In Pineda, plaintiff alleged that the defendant retailer asked for her postal ZIP code during a credit card purchase transaction. Plaintiff believed that this information was required to complete the transaction, but the retailer later used it to determine plaintiff's address, which it maintained in a database, ostensibly for marketing purposes. Plaintiff filed a putative class action alleging violation of Civil Code section 1747.08, which prohibits a merchant from collection and recording "personal identification information;" as well as violation of California Unfair Competition Law (Bus. and Prof. Code 17200 et seq.) and invasion of privacy.
The trial court granted defendant's demurrer without leave to amend and the Court of Appeal affirmed. The California Supreme Court granted review of the Song-Beverly issue, and reversed, concluding that a ZIP code constitutes “personal identification information” as that phrase is used in section 1747.08.
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