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Apple Sued For Content of Sales Orders

by , 1:10 PM EDT, August 10th, 2007

Apple is being sued in Florida for revealing too much information on online order pages under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), according to Information Week.

The class action lawsuit was filed on Thursday. It cites the FCRA which states: "No person that accepts credit cards or debit cards for the transaction of business shall print more than the last five digits of the card number or the expiration date upon any receipt provided to the card holder at the point of sale or transaction."

Copies of the transactions were provided as exhibits, with the real customer data obscured. The plaintiffs' concern is that too much information is provided, full name, full home address, full phone number, and full e-mail address in addition to credit card information, and that could lead to identity theft.

"We're not alleging and we're not seeking any damages related to actual identity theft," said Matthew S. Sarelson, one of the plaintiffs' attorneys. Instead the issue is compliance with the FCRA's provisions.

Apple had no comment.

  

Observer Comments

Show: Subjects Only | Full Comments
Close Name:Bosco Posts: 1002 Joined: 03 Jun 2002
Subject: A state of compulsive bridge players

You just had to expect this from a state where there is a bridge club on every corner and each bridge club has at least two prissy old bitches who never married, wear long floral skirts and cone bras, and jump on anyone who so much as farts for talking across the table. Thanks Florida!

Close Name:geoduck Posts: 1922 Joined: 30 Dec 2003
Subject:

If this is a legitimate violation of a State Law, and IANAL so I have no reason to suspect that it is not, shouldn't this be an action by the Attorney General? I don't understand why it would be up to a private party to sue.

Close Name:LaurieF -   TMO Forum Mod Posts: 3547 Joined: 15 Jun 2001
Subject:

Quote
Bosco wrote:
You just had to expect this from a state where there is a bridge club on every corner and each bridge club has at least two prissy old bitches who never married, wear long floral skirts and cone bras, and jump on anyone who so much as farts for talking across the table. Thanks Florida!

And the women are just as bad!

Close Name:gslusher Posts: 2088 Joined: 13 Nov 2002
Subject:

Quote
LaurieF wrote:
Quote
Bosco wrote:
You just had to expect this from a state where there is a bridge club on every corner and each bridge club has at least two prissy old bitches who never married, wear long floral skirts and cone bras, and jump on anyone who so much as farts for talking across the table. Thanks Florida!

And the women are just as bad!


Priceless.

Close Name:Guest
Subject:

Their point is perfectly valid. And all they are seeking is compliance. Furthermore, they are in the correct jurisdiction for this issue. If they had gone elsewhere, They would have been moved there by the Defendants. This is a serious subject. I have been a victim of identity theft; literally destroyed everything I had worked for for 30 years.

This is a routine matter, and Apple does not need defending. They need to be more careful for the sake of their customers.

Close Name:Bosco Posts: 1002 Joined: 03 Jun 2002
Subject:

You guys kill me. Guest, we understand. I once had my identity stolen. The guy went too far when he started sleeping with my girlfriend and editing my ads on CraigsList.

Close Name:geoduck Posts: 1922 Joined: 30 Dec 2003
Subject:

Having had my own bout with identity theft a decade or so ago I agree that Apple shouldn't have this info on the sales slip, whether it was in violation of the law or not.

My question remans however. Why is this a civil action by a couple of individuals and not an action by the Florida AG? IANAL but it seems to me that a company allegedly violating a state law and putting consumers at risk seems to be exactly why states have an AG Office. Especially because there is no evidence at this point of real monitory harm to the customers, just a violation of the law. When I lived in Minnesota a couple times per week the AG would announce an action against this or that company for violating state law. Sometimes it was a preemptive action before any real harm had been done. Other times harm had been done and it helped strengthen the cases that the injured citizens wanted to bring against the company. Often if it was something minor, a paperwork violation the company would fix the problem and that would be that. Why is it, assuming this case has merit, that a couple of people would take the lead on this and the Florida AG is silent? I just don't understand.

Secondly, if I am reading the article correctly, they aren't claiming any actual damages, just that Apple violated the law. Doesn't that weaken their case? Seems to me that if what they wanted was for Apple to fix this, going through the AG Office would carry a lot more weight and get the problem fixed quicker. Doing it this way means that either the Florida AG is utterly corrupt and inept and won't take action or the real purpose is to extort money from Apple for a minor technical violation. My bet is on the latter.

Close Name:buttercupboxer Posts: 16 Joined: 10 Jan 2007
Subject: only in florida?

I was curious about this and checked over my copies of various receipts from Apple over the last few years. I don't see anything with a full credit card number. Not on Emails, web receipts, or packing receipts.

Is this happening only in Florida?

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