## Facts

- Melissa Tyler made several credit-card purchases at a Michaels store in Massachusetts in 2010–2011.
- During the transactions, a Michaels employee requested Tyler’s ZIP code and entered it into the payment system along with her name.
- Tyler provided the ZIP code believing it was required to complete the credit-card transaction, though the card issuer did not require it.
- Tyler alleged Michaels used customers’ names and ZIP codes to obtain full addresses and phone numbers from third-party databases and then sent unsolicited marketing materials.
- Tyler filed a putative class action in federal court alleging the practice violated Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 93, § 105(a), which bars recording personal identification information on a credit-card transaction form when not required by the card issuer.
- The federal district court found Tyler alleged a statutory violation but dismissed for failure to allege a cognizable injury, then certified questions of state law to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.

## Issues

1. Whether a ZIP code can qualify as “personal identification information” under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 93, § 105(a).
2. Whether a consumer may sue for a § 105(a) violation without alleging identity theft or identity fraud.
3. Whether “credit card transaction form” in § 105(a) includes electronic as well as paper forms.

## Decision

- The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court answered all certified questions “yes.”
- A ZIP code constitutes “personal identification information” for purposes of § 105(a).
- A plaintiff may bring an action for violation of § 105(a) without alleging identity theft or identity fraud.
- “Credit card transaction form” includes both electronic and paper transaction forms.
- The court also stated that a technical violation alone does not automatically establish injury under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 93A, but use of unlawfully obtained information for the retailer’s business purposes (such as sending unwanted marketing) can constitute an actionable invasion of a consumer’s statutory privacy interest.
- The case was returned to federal court for further proceedings consistent with these answers.

## Legal Principles

- Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 93, § 105(a) is primarily a privacy statute regulating collection of unnecessary personal data during credit-card transactions, not a statute limited to preventing identity theft.
- “Personal identification information” under § 105(a) is not limited to full addresses or telephone numbers; a ZIP code may qualify when it can be combined with other data (such as a name) to identify a consumer’s address and contact information.
- The term “credit card transaction form” in § 105(a) applies to electronic point-of-sale systems as well as paper forms.
- For a ch. 93A claim premised on a § 105(a) violation, injury may be shown by an invasion of the consumer’s legally protected privacy interest when the merchant uses the unlawfully collected information for its own purposes (including sending unwanted marketing), even without financial loss or identity theft.

## Conclusion

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court interpreted § 105(a) broadly to protect consumer privacy in credit-card transactions, holding that ZIP codes are personal identification information, the statute covers electronic transaction systems, and enforcement does not depend on identity-theft allegations; when unlawfully obtained data is used for marketing, the resulting privacy invasion can satisfy ch. 93A’s injury requirement.


Tyler v. Michaels Stores, Inc., 984 N.E.2d 737 (Mass. 2013)