Slashdot Mirror
California Law Banning Paper Receipts Clears First Hurdle In State Legislature (latimes.com)
In January, California Assemblyman Phil Ting (D-San Francisco) introduced a law barring retailers from printing paper receipts unless a customer requests one. Otherwise they'd be required to provide proof-of-purchase receipts "only in electronic form." The bill has cleared its first hurdle in the sate Legislature on Monday as it passed the Nature Resources Committee in a 6-3 vote, despite concerns from some industry groups that say the switch should be driven by the market, not a government mandate. The Los Angeles Times reports: Assembly Bill 161 by Assemblyman Phil Ting (D-San Francisco) said his bill is an easy way to reduce paper waste in the state while addressing consumers' frustrations with excessively long receipts. Customers have taken to social media for years to complain and poke fun at the size of their receipts, particularly at CVS drugstore, posting pictures of the coupon-packed printouts measuring taller than a refrigerator. The paper that receipts are printed on is generally too thin to be made from recycled material, according to a legislative analysis of the bill. Once they are thrown away, the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, or CalRecycle, said the use of chemicals on paper receipts makes them undesirable to recyclers.
The American Forest and Paper Assn., a paper industry group that opposes the bill, estimates that the United States generates 180,000 tons of paper receipts each year. That, the group points out, is a small percentage of total paper waste. The bill would give businesses until 2022 to provide customers electronic receipts, or a paper printout available on request. Violators would receive two warnings before being levied a $25-per-day fine. The maximum annual fine would be $300. The bill exempts cash-only and smaller businesses with gross receipts under $1 million a year from the electronic receipt requirement.
The American Forest and Paper Assn., a paper industry group that opposes the bill, estimates that the United States generates 180,000 tons of paper receipts each year. That, the group points out, is a small percentage of total paper waste. The bill would give businesses until 2022 to provide customers electronic receipts, or a paper printout available on request. Violators would receive two warnings before being levied a $25-per-day fine. The maximum annual fine would be $300. The bill exempts cash-only and smaller businesses with gross receipts under $1 million a year from the electronic receipt requirement.
Sorry Phil Ting, you're a well meaning idiot but fucking clueless.
I'm not providing most business I deal with my email, my phone number, or any other suitable information for getting a receipt "only in electronic form".
I don't trust businesses not to be assholes, and I don't trust them to be remotely fucking competent to keep this stuff secure. Therefore any information to send me this receipt I refuse to give them.
The privacy and security implications of companies you deal with being able to provide you with an electronic receipt are staggering -- and no way in hell I'd ever do that.
They'll get told what everyone else gets told when they ask for my email address ... not fucking way.
We have enough privacy breaches happening without giving even more fucking companies that information.
This is a terrible idea which will cause new problems. And it will start to create the really broken situation like cashless stores where they will not sell you something unless you hand over your fucking email address.
No, just no.
This can be done via QR codes
QR codes get you what all of a half k of data max? The receipt in form of QR code could not provide purchasing history by itself. It would have to be a pointer to a system that will track you when you access it.
NFC to a phone
Yea I want all of my purchases everywhere to be linked to me, aggregated and sold to the highest bidder to be used by retailers against me. Great idea.
It's a good thing. I've been scanning receipts for years and sometimes retailers don't like copies, but you also can't realistically keep paper receipts for 10+ years either. Aside from anything the thermal printed ones degrade and become illegible.
Who scans receipts? You have issues.
Someone was moaning about it in the thread on LED lightbulbs with 10 year warranties yesterday. Digital copies are much easier to keep and organize.
Wake me up when there is a global universal standard for digital receipts in the first place and then talk to me about ease of keeping organized.