“Under recent developments in state data privacy law, seemingly innocuous business practices can result in major liability for retailers,” write experts Anthony Bongiorno and Matthew Turnell for Corporate Counsel. States like California and Massachusetts have recently passed laws that consider ZIP codes personal information. While many retailers collect ZIP codes at checkout, without the proper policies and procedures in place, doing so could result in class-action lawsuits. Since California passed its law, 150 class-actions have been filed there against retailers. As such, Bongiorno and Turnell urge in-house counsel to know what information a company is collecting, how its stored and processed and the reason for its collection. Editor’s Note: For more on ZIP code laws and how to keep your company out of hot water, read “ZIP Codes: Are Courts Set To Protect Consumers from Marketing?” from the May edition of The Privacy Advisor, which includes a state-by-state guide to the laws.
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