California Law Will Mean More Privacy For Book Buyers—And Much More Paperwork For Booksellers
Written by Frank HayesJuly 21st, 2011
California is about to ban booksellers from sharing information about what their customers buy. The Reader Privacy Act, which has already passed the state Senate and is well on its way to becoming law, would prohibit bookstores—including almost any retailer that sells books—from disclosing what a customer reads unless the customer agrees or a judge orders it.
The legislation reaches well beyond bookstores and physical books, covering audio books and E-readers as well as almost any retail chain that includes a books section. (Barnes & Noble? Definitely. Wal-Mart? Certainly. Safeway? Maybe.) The bad news: Retailers covered by the law will be required to create a detailed, publicly available annual report covering how much customer information was disclosed the previous year—whether it was disclosed with customer approval or not.
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One Comment | Read California Law Will Mean More Privacy For Book Buyers—And Much More Paperwork For Booksellers
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Our Comment SPAM system is getting very aggressive these days and has been blocking legitimate comments. If you post a comment and don't see it appear within 2 hours or so, can you please send a heads-up to customer-service@storefrontbacktalk.com? Ideally, please include the time you posted the comment. That will allow us to try and hunt for it. Thanks! P.S. We're working on fixing the system, but we don't want to lose any valuable comments in the meantime.
-Christine
July 21st, 2011 at 9:19 am
Don’t understand what the problem is other than the Book Sellers want to make a little on the side by selling information. It wouldn’t take more time and paperwork if the merchant just doesn’t collect the information unless the person decides to provide through a questionairre. The atrical should be renamed to Greed verses Privacy.