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California resident Jessica Pineda sued Williams Sonoma in 2008 for invasion of privacy and violation of the Song-Beverly Credit Card Act, after she was asked to hand over her zip code in one of their San Mateo stores. She alleged that, with her name, credit card number and zip code, the store was able to track down her home address and then use that to market to her and to sell her info to other businesses. A trial court and appeals court disagreed with her, but the California Supreme Court issued its decision yesterday saying, yes, a zip code is “personally identifiable information.”
Being in Retail Management I deal with this **** regularly. Its mindboggling sometimes how so many people think its easier to bitch to the state than to just choose another businesses to shop at. It's not just name and address policies like these it's all sorts of issues; gambling, the drug war, gay marriage (somewhat), the entertainment industry etc. One excuse I got from someone that it was Big Brother. Now I work for a private company, not the government (I view government pay as poison). Big Brother is a government concept, not a private company because with a private business you can walk away and take your business elsewhere, not so easy with the state.
A Ridiculous California Court Ruling: Zip Codes are Private - Kashmir Hill - The Not-So Private Parts - Forbes