Song-Beverly and PII
Last week, the California Supreme Court decided a case ( pdf ) involving application of the Song-Beverly Credit Card Act, California Civil Code 1747 , to the collection of telephone numbers and addresses by Apple during the sale of iTunes downloads. The majority reached a narrow, fact-based holding that there's no support in the legislative intent or statutory scheme to apply the Act to electronic transactions involving downloads. Three justices signed on to two written dissents expressing myriad concerns with the majority's difficult reading of the statute. Section 1747.08 of the Act prohibits retailers from collecting "personal identification information" or requiring it to be written on transaction forms for credit card transactions. The Act defines PII as “information concerning the cardholder, other than information set forth on the credit card, and including, but not limited to, the cardholder’s address and telephone number.” The majority acknowledges a...