Supreme Court ZIP Code Ruling

     According to an article in Direct Marketing News, the Supreme Court recently ruled that it was unethical for marketers to collect ZIP codes during credit card transactions. 

"We're shocked — we never expected a ruling that ZIP codes were personal information," said Bill Dombrowski, president of the California 
Retailers Association, a trade group that represents about 9,000 stores in the state.

     Jessica Pineda's argument was that the company Williams-Sonoma was using the credit card information to find home addresses and other customer information and selling it to other companies.  The ruling was that the company had violated the Song-Beverly Credit Card Act of 1971, which prohibits retailers from gathering customers' personal identification information during a credit card transaction.
  Since this ruling was made, similar lawsuits were made against other companies such as Bed Bath & Beyond, Macy's, Lowe's, Office Depot, and Walmart.  The ruling originally only seemed to be affecting California retailers (where the ruling was made) but has since spread to other states.

     When I am checking out with my credit card I have always assumed that all of my information was safe.  Honestly, I do not think that the use of a ZIP code is a big deal as long as they stay away from my personal information.  Everyone in my town has the same ZIP code, it's a very general piece of information and I do not think that it is unethical to collect it.

When I shop at Victoria Secret they ask for my ZIP code at check out, it is up to the customer to volunteer that information if they choose.  Do you think that that is a more ethical way of collecting the ZIP codes?  Would you volunteer that information if you were asked?

In Response to CJ Wyllie....

"How would you market for a very small company?  When you’re the only employee of a company you need to make every decision and it’s typically one of the hardest things to do.  Everything rests on your shoulders and every decision you make or break the company.  So with these limited resources how to get your name out to the public to buy your product?"

CJ's friend is trying to start a company that makes custom surfboards.  Honestly, I think it's a great idea for the New England area, however I am not sure that this area is the best place to be trying to sell surfboards.  I come from Maine, where there are beaches all over, and is certainly a larger market for surfboards than there is here in Keene, New Hampshire.
I definitely agree that it is hard to do all the marketing for a product on your own, especially when you're just getting your company off the ground, but I think that you could see being the only employee making decisions as a strength.  You have the ability to make choices, and if it doesn't work, you only have yourself to blame.  You also do not have to worry about paying someone when you don't have the money.
So how do you get your name out?
You need to start by creating a target market.  While making custom surfboards I would assume that the target is a reasonably experienced surfer, or perhaps someone who is shopping for a surfboard to give as a gift.  You should definitely differentiate between the two potential markets.  Perhaps T-shirts would work for experienced surfers, but not for someone who doesn't know so much about surfboards.  I also think it is important for you to advertise the aspects of your product that are different from any other custom surfboard company.

Product: Custom Surfboards

Price: Higher or Lower than other custom companies?

Promotion: Differentiate between markets.

Why buy YOUR custom surfboards: educate your consumers.

Place: Sell in a location that will have a high demand for your product.  Keene, NH does not.

Do you think that CJ's friend could sell surfboards to Keene residents?