RSSCalifornia Governor Kills Data Protection Bill
By Ed Oswald | Published October 15, 2007, 2:14 PM
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed on Saturday a bill that would have put in place strict laws governing data privacy, arguing that the costs to comply with the law would have put unnecessary strain on small businesses.
Supporters of the legislation said its intent was to ensure consumer data was adequately protected from potential security breaches. It would have been more strict than current polices put in place by the payment and credit card industries.
Merchants would have been banned from collecting sensitive consumer data unless they had a data retention policy. And even then they would be severely limited on what information they could collect, and how long they could retain it.
In vetoing the bill, Schwarzenegger said that the market was already working to keep data safe on its own, and such legislation was unnecessary. However, at the same time, he seemed open to considering a reworked bill.
"I encourage the author and the industry to work together on a more balanced legislative approach," Schwarzenegger wrote in the veto message. He also argued that the measure could put private sector standards and the state's law in conflict.
The law passed the state senate 30-6 with 4 abstentions, and the assembly by a 73-0 vote. Like the US Constitution, California's allows for the legislature to override the Governor's veto with a two-thirds majority from each house.
As of Monday, it was still unclear whether the bill's supporters planned to go forward with attempting a veto override.
Other states have tried similar measures, but small business lobbyists have so far been successful in lobbying support against any new laws.
Yeah people, face it. That's America (since the beginning of the new millennium)!
Everything against the common peoples rights and against customer interests and nothing for their financial safety.
But everything and all rights for corporate interests and corporate finances!
This is (the new) America, Charlie Brown!
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Here's a thought...
Why don't credit card companies simply drop transaction fees altogether?
It's not like they're not already making billions off interest and account fees.
Then you wouldn't have to print anything on the receipt - just process all transactions instantly at no cost to the vendor.
It's actually kinda scary to think that a nobody can see my credit card number for days after I've left the premises.
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In fact, the trend is to increase them-- to pay for your cash / miles rebates & other perks.... some places have resorted to not accepting certain cards, because guess who has to foot your 5-8% cash back?
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not keeping confidential information confidential is B.S.
if the strain is so great for business's to protect the privacy of their customer's then the government should subsidize their cost's of doing business, an "honorable" one that is.
but i seriously doubt that it does and i think the costs the small business's are mingling in this issue are those they incur for each transaction by the credit card.
maybe the credit card companies should pay small business's to protect the privacy of their mutual customers.
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FYI- when a small busness owner swipes a credit card and you sign the receipt look at the paper. It has your whole card # on the paper that the merchant keeps for his/her records.
I scribble out my card number when i sign the receipt, the company that runs the card scanner can print out a receipt without you card number on it.... seems like there the ones causing the problem not the small business
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Depends where you are. I pay everything with my credit card. I have lived in FL and NC, and all receipts usually look like this:
xxxx xxxx xxxx 1234
Only when I was in the country of Qatar, in the middle east, was I surprize to see my whole credit card number on receipts.
So it really depends on your location.
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Commonwealth bank in Australia used to show the full number. Not sure if they still do, have not used one of their systems for 6 months.
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Research before you spew crap from your mouth.
Many Credit Machines check to see if you can charge, then they disconnect, leaving the credit card on their receipt that they then charge at the end of the night when they either drop their receipts off at the bank or use a secondary machine. This is a not so common practice, with high-speed connections to the internet that allow them to charge at the time or purchase. Also business tend to choose the older option as they can charge multiple cards at one time versus individual which can be costly, specially on small purchases due to credit card companies charging fees per card swipe. (with bulk discounts). Several companies I have worked for, we ran then when we accumulated 1000 receipts which meant that if we only did 200 a day for days, your charge wouldn't appear till the 5th or 6th day, where if we did lots of business it could appear the same day if not the next.
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my research is from my busness and the credit card machine from the company called linksys.
SO may i say to you
Research before you spew crap from your mouth.
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and may I say this many small mom and pops do not have the option you just talked about.....
unless you pay a premium which they can not afford
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You must be in a mom-pop town in Appalachia: i haven't seen a whole credit card number on a receipt in years-- only the last four get printed...
like so: xxxxxxxxxxxx-6969
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oh well ..............guess you r looking a gas station recipts
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Hopefully the veto will get overridden. Who cares if small businesses have to pay through the nose to comply with such a law as long as consumers' personal information gets better protection?
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Depends.
If this affects something as simple as taking orders over the phone or swiping a credit card at POS, it could drastically affect small businesses to the point of running them out of business.
We don't know the language of the bill. It could be far too restrictive, it could possibly be not restrictive enough.
*shrug*
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Small businesses are what run the U.S. economy and employ most of the U.S. workforce. Making life harder for them is never a good idea.
Since consumer privacy is as important as it is, there needs to be some sort of compromise.
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How expensive is it to delete?
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