wex@dali.pws.bull.com (Buckaroo Banzai) (12/01/90)
[NOTE: this article is posted to three (3) groups because it is relevant to readers of all three. If you followup, *please* edit the newsgroups: line appropriately.] The following is excerpted from an article in the 11/30/90 Boston Globe Business section. CNN is broadcasting a similar story on their nightly national newshour. What I find most interesting is the response of MasterCard and Visa to the Radio Shack claim (see below): GETTING PICKY ABOUT PLASTIC "Tired of having to give your address and phone number every time you charge a pair of socks? "Consumers who use credit cards and checks are increasingly being asked to provide information beyond what merchants have a right to know. Not only is the practice an invasion of your privacy [...] but it also may increase your exposure to credit fraud. "That is the warning in a report released yesterday by the Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group[1] (MassPIRG) [...] Entitled ``What They Know Can Hurt You,'' the report charges that the check-cashing and credit-card policies of many retail merchants expose consumers to fraud, violate their privacy and tie up their credit." [...] "MassPIRG's survey of [Boston] area stores was launched after a Quincy [MA] resident, Elaine McArdle, became furious at the way she was treated by a Quincy sporting goods store." [She tried to pay $90 by check, they demanded a credit card, wrote the # on the check, then ran it through their machine. She was less than $90 from the limit, so the card was bounced and the store wouldn't take her check. Credit card #s on checks are a big source of fraud. The owner of the store claimied they didn't have to take anybody's check. MassPIRG tried the same experiment at 10 other stores, plus tried using credit cards.] "Six of the stores [...] wrote down additional personal information from charge-card customers. Five of those stores allowed the transaction to continue after the [MassPIRG] researcher declined to provide the information requested. [...] Radio Shack [...] refused to allow the researcher [...] to complete her transaction. "John McKearney, district manager for Radio Shack in Boston, said his stores have a right to reject any credit-card or check transaction. He pointed out that the information is not recorded on credit-card slips, but is entered in an electronic database. He said the data is used to help Radio Shack recover losses from credit-card fraud, as well as for marketing purposes. "But a spokeswoman for MasterCard said yesterday that merchants are ``violating their contract'' with MasterCard if they require a customer's address and phone number as a condition for a credit-card transaction. She added that collecting addresses and phone numbers offers no protection to merchants, and she adviased consumers to report any store's refusal to honor their credit cards to the bank that issued their card. "A spokesman for VISA said: ``Our position is that the merchant cannot refuse to accept the card if the customer won't provide a telephone number or address.'' [7 of the 10 stores MassPIRG went to with checks asked for a major credit card, 4 of those wrote the # on the check.] "MassPIRG supports legislation [in MA] that would penalize businesses that go too far. The legislation would assess fines of $250 ($1000 after the first offense) on businesses that require anything other than a signature on credit-card slips. Four states has passed laws that prohibit recording personal information on credit-card sales drafts." [1] PLUG: I have worked for, and belong to, MassPIRG. They are a very effective, non-partisan, consumer and environmental group. They concentrate on research, lobbying/writing laws, and occasional litigation on behalf of consumers and state residents. I recommend them highly to anyone looking to join a good organization in this domain. There are PIRGs in 22 other states, plus one in DC and a national arm (USPIRG). Check out the one in your state. The PIRGs played a major role in getting the recent Clean Air bill passed, and will be active in the upcoming battles over consumer privacy laws, and the reauthorization of Superfund and RCRA. -- --Alan Wexelblat phone: (508)294-7485 Bull Worldwide Information Systems internet: wex@spdcc.com (for now) What I have on my desk is a 386 copralite.