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The store stopped the practice after the lawsuit was filed in 2004, according to Sacramento attorney James Lindsay.
His firm, Lindsay & Stonebarger, settled a similar lawsuit this month against New Jersey clothing store The Children's Place over the same practice at its Modesto store.
"We try to be reasonable with stores in terms of damages," said Lindsay, whose office also has settled lawsuits over the issue against Best Buy, The Container Store and American Golf Corp. "What we're looking at is a change in practice."
A 1990 law bars businesses from requesting that customers provide personal information on slips used to verify credit card purchases.
The law stipulates that addresses and phone numbers fall under the definition of personal information.
Lindsay said 96 stores owned by Save Mart used such slips before a plaintiff, who he did not identify, filed the lawsuit.
The company then stopped requesting phone numbers on its slips, he said, but has not yet been willing to settle the lawsuit.
Officials with Save Mart said the company does not comment on ongoing lawsuits.
Lindsay said there is no indication the information collected by Save Mart has been used for identity theft.
He said the store violated the law with thousands of customers. State law calls for a $250 fine for the first penalty and $1,000 fines for subsequent penalties, Lindsay said.
Settlements in the other cases, including The Children's Place, involved sending coupons and gift certificates to customers.
A spokesman for the California Department of Consumer Affairs said the law is intended to prevent identity theft.
"If you're forced to provide information and it gets into the wrong hands, it can be used to set up new accounts, and that's a more difficult situation," spokesman Miles Bristow said.
He said any consumer who is asked to provide such information should ask why it's being requested, how it will be stored and what the store will do with it.
"If the answers don't satisfy you, you have the option to go elsewhere," he said.
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