Fair Credit Protection... For Whom?

My feelings on this are ALL over the map, so I'm just going to say my piece and refer people to the accountingweb article.

Basically, people are in a tizzy because some merchants incorrectly interpreted some of the 2006 FACTA changes to the Fair Credit Reporting Act and printed both truncated card numbers and expiration dates on receipts. Woah! Stop the Presses! Emergency!

Please. Have any of the 300 people suing merchants over this had their identity stolen? I have, and having this info on my receipt doesn't worry me.

What does worry me is that Congress passed the (I love the silly names of laws sometimes...lol) Credit and Debit Receipt Clarification Act. It's good in that it clarified the requirements for merchants. The worrisome part is the way they made it retroactive so all the people with frivolous lawsuits no longer have a case. One stupid law that scarcely made the news when it passed on May 20, 2008 has set a precedent by which Congress can pull the legs of a lawsuit out from under the plaintiffs. I personally think it was a frivolous lawsuit, but the precedent it sets is scary.

For a little legal clarification on the whole subject, read this.