California actually got one right!

[AZRedhawk44]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fn%2Fa%2F2011%2F02%2F15%2Fstate%2Fn111132S53.DTL

The CA State Supreme Court has ruled that asking for private confidential such as addresses, while processing a credit card transaction at a store's register, is against a state consumer privacy law.

I've always just been annoyed by being asked for my zip and I usually pop-off with 12345 or 90210.  Figure it skews the system.  More junk mail in Beverly Hills, CA and Schenectady, NY.  Every now and then I just say "no" and the poor 17 year old stammers for a second like I sucker-punched him, then regains his balance.

But I'm tired of the "club cards" and the demographic mining.

The only reason I use my grocery store cards is because I lied about my name/address back in college, 1500+ miles away and almost 15 years ago.  They didn't originally ID when they started this stuff.  Now they do, or at least they try to.

[Ben]

I saw this a couple of days ago.

I actually don't mind punching my zip into the gas pump for credit card verification as long as that's all it's used for. Stores however, have always been another matter. Especially because most of the time they ask me for my zip right away, before they even know if I'm using a credit card or not, and for day to day goods I always pay cash.

Back when my local grocery store went to the "savings card" thing, one of the checkers was apparently very privacy oriented, as she was handing cards out to customers with fake, pre-filled out info so we wouldn't have to put our own info in. I'm guessing there are at least 500 "John Smiths" that shop there. :)

[Jamisjockey]

I've never had a ptoblem when I've told them no.  Or, I tell them 90210 also.  And you can use one of those shoppers cards for freaking ever without even registering it, BTDT.
I actually don't agree with this one.  California is interfering in a private transaction between individuals, monkeying with the free market.  Don't like how the store handles you?  Shop elsewhere.