Why this is legal

Last updated: August 25, 2026

What this product is

Customer Blacklist is a private file of merchant-filed claims about customers — chargebacks, no-shows, disputes, and similar incidents in a commercial setting. It is not a public shame list or people-search. Email is the lookup key. Evidence is required in writing. A named person whose verified email matches a subject email may contest in writing at /file. Filing a claim does not send the customer email a code. Other shops see a file only after they sign in and, for lookup, pay membership.

Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)

The Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1681 through 15 U.S.C. §§ 1681–1681x, regulates consumer reports and consumer reporting agencies. A consumer report is information used (or expected to be used) in determining eligibility for credit, insurance, employment, or other purposes listed in 15 U.S.C. § 1681a(d) and 15 U.S.C. § 1681b. A consumer reporting agency (CRA) is defined in 15 U.S.C. § 1681a(f).

A shop describing its own transaction or experience with a customer is, by itself, generally treated as falling outside the “consumer report” definition under the transaction-or-experience exclusion in 15 U.S.C. § 1681a(d)(2)(A)(i). An aggregator that sells lookups to other shops MAY still be argued to be a CRA. We do not say the FCRA does not apply.

Design intent and limits: we do not furnish reports for employment, credit, insurance, or tenant/housing eligibility. We are not a nationwide credit bureau. Members may not use hits for those eligibility decisions (permissible purposes in 15 U.S.C. § 1681b). A claim is a claim until contested; it is not a score or a “guilty” finding. If someone relied on a consumer report, adverse-action rules appear in 15 U.S.C. § 1681m. If an operator is a CRA, dispute and reinvestigation duties appear in 15 U.S.C. § 1681i — the written contest on /file is a product analog, not a claim that it satisfies CRA duties.

FTC Act

The FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. § 45, prohibits unfair or deceptive acts or practices. Customer Blacklist does not present fake verdicts. Status language stays “claim,” not “guilty.” We do not warrant that a file is complete or that a lookup miss means no incident occurred.

Section 230

47 U.S.C. § 230 can protect an interactive computer service that hosts third-party (merchant) content, with statutory limits. It does not wipe FCRA or FTC duties. We do not say Section 230 makes this unregulable.

Defamation and truth

Truth is a defense in US defamation law generally. Merchants must file what they can document. Communications among shops with a shared interest in fraud or chargebacks may implicate the common-interest privilege as a concept under Restatement (Second) of Torts § 596. That is a possible privilege, not a blanket immunity, and it is not enacted federal law.

First Amendment

The First Amendment protects truthful speech about commercial incidents, limited by defamation law and the statutes on this page.

Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA)

The FDCPA, 15 U.S.C. § 1692 et seq., regulates debt collectors. This service is not debt collection. We are not collectors. We do not collect money from named people.

COPPA

Customer Blacklist is for merchants and adult customers in a commercial setting. It is not directed at children under 13 (COPPA, 15 U.S.C. §§ 6501–6506).

California CPRA

If you are a California resident, privacy requests go through /contact (CPRA, Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.100 et seq.). This page is not a full CPRA compliance manual.

Right to refuse service

A shop may decline a customer. Customer Blacklist is information for that decision, not a card-network MATCH list. MATCH lists merchants, not customers.

What we require of members

You may not use Customer Blacklist to determine:

• employment eligibility
• personal-credit eligibility
• insurance eligibility
• tenant/housing eligibility

Files stay private. Do not scrape or republish claim files. Evidence is required. No photos of people. The customer/subject email is the claim key and is not sent a code.

How to reach us

Operator questions: /contact. Named people who want to contest a claim in writing: sign in and open /file. Related pages: privacy policy and terms of use.