When was the last time you used your credit or debit card? That is not a hard question to answer for most of us. How often do you use it at a restaurant to document those business lunches or just for general convenience? That’s probably pretty easy to calculate so with that in mind, take a deep breath before reading the next paragraph.

More than 40% of credit card fraud had its origin from a food service business since 2005, according to VISA. That is the largest percentage among merchant groups. Information can be pirated by a thief hacking into a system in a parking lot and that does tend to be much more often the case than a dishonest employee. Be sure to exhale now. Let your heart rate slow a bit.

Credit card companies, prompted by our legislators, have done something to alleviate this condition. They now require that all companies that accept plastic money upgrade their electronic merchant equipment and comply with reasonable data security measures. One easy way to make sure that these measures are in place and your credit card information is not being compromised is to check your receipt print outs and make sure your entire account number is not printed on either copy. Only the last four digits will appear if the merchant has completed the protection upgrade. While many small restaurants are slow in complying, it is not for lack of desire. Sometimes it is not easy for them.

My favorite breakfast restaurant is one of them. When this new law went into effect (by the way it is a part of the Fair Credit Reporting Act), I told the owner of the new regulation. He hadn’t heard about it and called his merchant account provider. The provider said they didn’t have the upgrades yet, so every time I ate there I would religiously cross out my numbers. Every few months I would ask him what was going on with the upgrade. One month he said his provider gave him the new download but it wasn’t exactly right. Finally after what seems like about a year of persistence, his equipment is up to date. He was so proud to show off his new system printout when he brought my check when it was done!

This is not only about restaurants. Just yesterday I made a deposit at the bank and noticed that their equipment was finally upgraded as well to only print out the last four digits of my account number on the receipt. Is your bank doing that as well? Quite frankly, your entire card number ought not to be printed out on any consumer transaction receipt. If it is, be sure to take two or three seconds to make sure your personally identifiable information is not exposed. If it is, take the law into your own hands and cross out the number on the receipt. Protect yourself and take a moment to stand up for your rights as a consumer and tell the merchant about the law.

Darity Wesley is CEO and Legal Counsel for Privacy Solutions, Inc. a San Diego based consulting firm. Her team of Privacy Gurus® work with you to create policies and procedures to establish the expectation of privacy for your members, clients, customers, prospects, affiliates, associates, employees and vendors. You can reach her at (619)670-9462 or Darity@privacygurus.com