Finished the receipt? Seven questions posed by the disappearance of automatic printing

Thirty billion receipts are printed in France each year, and 90% of them are soaked in bisphenol, an endocrine disruptor. These reasons are put forward by the Ministry of the Economy to justify the ban on the systematic printing of tickets, which comes into force on August 1, 2023 as part of the anti-waste law for a circular economy (AGEC).

This measure was twice postponed, the government deeming it too sensitive at a time when inflation was causing the French to look at their bills with renewed attention. Can paperless tickets offered by some merchants be an alternative? In any case, they raise many questions in terms of ecology and privacy.

No. If you ask, merchants have the obligation to print it for you. Consumers who check out their purchases with their receipts each month or are not comfortable with technology will therefore not have to change their habits.

In some cases, you won’t need to ask for it: it will, for example, be printed automatically when you buy a “durable” good. For these products, the receipt is of particular importance: it proves the date of purchase and provides information on the duration of the warranty. This concerns: electronic devices, household appliances, toys, sporting goods, watches, furniture and DIY; but not shoes or clothes.

Certain credit card transactions, such as refunds, will also be systematically printed.

It contains the same information as its paper equivalent, but it is sent in a dematerialized format (like PDF) through a digital channel – e-mail or SMS. Alternatively, it can be downloaded to their smartphone with an in-store loyalty application.

Some merchants also offer to recover it with the QR code. But the method is laborious: after having paid, the customer points the camera of his smartphone – or an application for reading QR codes – towards a very small square with geometric patterns placed next to the checkout. An Internet address appears, opening a site where the ticket appears. To memorize it, we can send it to each other by e-mail, for example.

Not all merchants offer paperless tickets: they are under no obligation to do so.

The government presents the end of automatic ticket printing as an anti-waste measure. The economy is indisputable when no ticket is issued, but when the paper slip is replaced by a digital equivalent, a comparison is in order: is the digital ticket really more ecological than the paper ticket? When questioned, the Ministry of Ecology was unable to send Le Monde an impact study answering this question.

In 2018, the group of experts Green IT communicated to the media an estimate, which has continued to circulate since: a digital ticket would consume less water than its paper equivalent, but would generate more greenhouse gases. Le Monde interviewed the ecodesign consultant behind this calculation, Frédéric Bordage, as well as a group of experts affiliated with the public service group EcoInfo.

Everyone considers that the calculation deserves to be revised, as the evaluation methods have been refined since 2018. On the one hand, the impact estimates of e-mails have been revised downwards since that time. On the other hand, Green IT’s initial calculations were too optimistic, as Frédéric Bordage acknowledges: they were counting on a ticket sent in a lightweight email, when in reality it is often weighed down by an advertisement. They postulated that the individual would not keep this “e-ticket”, while some consumers archive it.

According to EcoInfo experts, a perverse effect could also increase the balance sheet: merchants could convert to digital marketing (targeted advertising, solicitation of opinions, etc.). This is also one of the arguments in favor of the dematerialized ticket put forward by the Ministry of the Economy in an information sheet for merchants: “The e-ticket can become a marketing force by using it as a channel communication with visitors. »

Not only would this increase their carbon footprint, but it would push their customers to consume more: the ecological impact would then be substantial, whereas without it, according to EcoInfo experts, the dematerialized ticket would represent a drop of water in the carbon footprint. digital in France.

Certainly. You can request a paper ticket instead, or ask to receive no ticket at all – probably the best choice for a small purchase. But, for other purchases, it is better to think before refusing any ticket. Leaving a store without a ticket can cause problems with security. In addition, the tickets make it possible to flush out a labeling error or the forgetting of a promotion, and constitute a proof of purchase necessary to play the guarantee of a device, for example.

In many cases, the merchant would have the right to do so. The Commission Nationale Informatique et Liberté (CNIL) considers that a merchant can send you advertisements after having sent you your receipt by e-mail or by telephone. No need to notify you verbally in advance: they just need to inform you in writing at the time of checkout, on a clear and concise display.

But many customers are likely to miss this information in addition to “the many mentions already present at the checkout – promotions, product recalls, means of payment accepted, etc. “, as pointed out, in 2021, by a group of consumer associations.

Can a customer prohibit the merchant from sending advertisements? The notice of the CNIL requires it, either at the time of the collection of the e-mail or the telephone number, or by allowing, with each advertising message sent, to unsubscribe. But how many traders will deviate from this?

According to the CNIL, a merchant wishing to sell your data must obtain your active consent. Ideally, this would require them to obtain written evidence, such as a signature with a digital stylus, but they are under no obligation to do so: they will not be penalized if they merely give oral consent. However, this method drowns the permission in a vagueness that some merchants could take advantage of, as personal data rights lawyer Aloïs Ramel explains:

“Oral consent leaves no trace, the trader cannot prove it a posteriori. It takes a legal risk, but on the other hand, customers very rarely file complaints for lack of consent, in particular because they do not know which merchant resold their data. The temptation may therefore exist for merchants to settle for oral consent, which it is to be feared will not comply with all legal and regulatory obligations. There is a very good chance that our contact data will at least once in a while be sold by merchants to others without any informed consent. »

Dematerialized tickets distributed by QR code are often presented as a solution that does not require the collection of personal information, unlike sending an e-mail or SMS. This assertion needs to be qualified.

The French companies Billiv and Noticia, which market this type of solution, store digital tickets in each customer’s browser. Noticia admits to doing this by using a cookie, which would theoretically allow it to monitor customer purchases and then send them personalized advertisements.

If the technical possibility exists, however, these companies claim to refrain from memorizing any personal information: “The company does not collect any personal data from WebApp users as part of simple access to the receipt”, Billiv certifies on its website. On the other hand, offering merchants the opportunity to do so is part of their sales pitch. Noticia thus describes on its site “other functionalities [which] allow customers to follow your loyalty programs – subscription to a newsletter, leaving a review, creating a space, etc. You will therefore have the opportunity to complete your customer file if necessary.