Tell me more ×
Webmasters Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for pro webmasters. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 2 down vote favorite

I've heard that online merchants can only keep credit card information for set periods of time. Is this true? Amazon's express checkout feature saves credit card info, so does apple's app store. What are the legalities behind the scenes? Legal experts?

share|improve this question
There are thousands of different legal jurisdictions and sets of laws in the world, so you will have to tell us which ones apply to you before this question cam be answered. – Mike Scott Mar 14 '11 at 10:49
Legalities aside, unless you're big enough that your name carries some weight (e.g. Amazon, Apple etc.) I (as a customer) would feel much more comfortable giving you my CC number if you promised not to store it! – Kris Mar 14 '11 at 11:19

1 Answer

up vote 2 down vote

You have two issues:

1) What you're talking about is called PCI DSS. It is a set of rules you must adhere to that is set forth by the payment card industry. You must be PCI compliant if you accept credit cards on your website. Definitely read up on this if you accept or will accept credit card payments on your website.

2) State and federal laws supersede PCI DSS and varies by state. You'll need to do some research to see how this affects your website.

share|improve this answer

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.