Category Archives: CFC in the News
California Bill Would Force Uber To Guard Passenger Privacy
by Carolyn Said, San Francisco Chronicle
A bill pending in Sacramento would force Uber, Lyft and other ride-hailing companies to follow stricter privacy rules. AB886 specifies that the smartphone-ordered ride services cannot disclose any data on passengers except to combat fraud or other crimes. It also says the companies must destroy all personal information when customers cancel their accounts. “We want to put the consumers in the driver’s seat about who owns their data and personal information, instead of having them take a back seat,” said bill author Assemblyman Ed Chau. Read More ›
California Consumer Group Seeks Enforcement Action Against Geico
by Staff, The Insurance Journal
“Our extensive analysis of Geico’s online rate quote system found that it is programmed to target unmarried low or moderate-income drivers for inflated rates,” Richard Holober, executive director of the group stated. “Targeted motorists either pay for excessive coverages they are falsely told are the lowest available, or Geico drives them away with these costly quotes. Either way, Geico is breaking California’s insurance regulations and civil rights law.” Read More ›
ConsumerWatch: Geico Accused Of Discriminatory Insurance Quotes
When was the last time your car insurance company asked about your job or if you had a college degree? On the Consumer Watch, Julie Watts says some are questioning the legality of Geico’s practices.
Geico Accused Of Discriminating Against ‘Working Class’ Customers
by Kathleen Pender, San Francisco Chronicle
Under Proposition 103, insurance companies must offer good drivers a policy with minimum coverages of $15,000 for a single injury, $30,000 for injury to more than one person in an accident, and $5,000 for property damage, called a “15/30/5 policy.” When a “working-class” person applies online, Geico’s website shows the lowest limits are $100,000 for a single injury, $300,000 for injury to more than one person and $50,000 for property damage, the [Consumer Federation of California] said. Read More ›
New Law Cracks Down On Spyware
by Michael Finney, KGO-TV San Francisco
A new law in California that took effect January 1 limits the ability of rent-to-own companies to install spyware that could monitor a customer’s every move. …”It’s outrageous, you know when you are renting a computer you’re not giving permission to the rental company to capture all the information including your emails, and even pictures of you,” said Richard Holober, Executive Director of the Consumer Federation of California. The Consumer Federation of California successfully sponsored state legislation banning the practice without first notifying the consumer. Read More ›
The Sharing Economy: 21st Century Technology, 19th Century Worker Protections
by Amanda Armstrong, In These Times
Uber’s intensive lobbying over the summer reduced AB 2293 to a shadow of its original self. As noted by the Consumer Federation of California, in its final form the bill establishes insurance minimums far below those required of taxi, limo, and other companies that provide similar services. But the bill was flawed even at its inception, as it never sought to protect workers. AB 2293 makes drivers legally responsible for carrying liability insurance for passengers, pedestrians, and other motorists, while withholding from drivers and their family members guarantees of compensation or support in the event that they are injured or killed on the job. Read More ›
California Enacts Strict Student Privacy Law
by the Associated Press, in the San Francisco Chronicle
Gov. Jerry Brown has signed the nation’s toughest student privacy rights protections into law. SB 1177 (Steinberg) makes companies responsible for protecting any personal information that they gather from K-12 students through websites, online applications and other services. The data can be used only for school purposes, and students’ personal information cannot be sold. Consumer Federation of California Executive Director Richard Holober called the law “the vanguard for consumer rights in the digital era. Until this point, protecting students’ online information has been a Wild West.” Read More ›
Gov. Brown Toughens Rules on Senior Residential Care Facilities
by Patrick McGreevey, Los Angeles Times
Gov. Jerry Brown on Sunday approved sweeping new rules for residential care facilities aimed at protecting senior citizens from substandard conditions. The governor approved nine bills that his office said in a statement are meant to “protect the health and safety of seniors residing in assisted living facilities across the state.” Read More ›
Sen. Boxer and Mothers of Children Killed by Medical Malpractice Speak Out for Prop. 46
U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer held a press conference at the Consumer Federation of California’s San Francisco office last week. She was joined by five mothers with anguished stories of medical malpractice that took the lives of their children – and hopeful news about how voters can help … Read More ›
Public Safety, Worker Protection Bills Advance to Governor’s Desk
In a victory for public safety over private profitability, Senate Bill 1019 passed the state Assembly and Senate with strong bipartisan consent on August 27 and 28. Known as the Consumers’ Right to Know: Flame Retardants in Furniture bill, the measure – introduced by Senator Mark Leno, (D-San Francisco) — requires upholstered furniture manufacturers to disclose to consumers the use or absence of flame retardant chemicals on furniture labels. … The tide turned against the political power of the chemical industry’s continued use of toxic fire retardants in furniture over the past couple of years, said Richard Holober, executive director of the nonprofit Consumer Federation of California. Read More ›
You’ve been jacked!: On why Sacramento smartphone thefts are big money for thieves and telecoms
by Raheem F. Hosseini, Sacramento News & Review
Stealing a mobile device is the “easiest, quickest way to get your hands on several hundred bucks,” said Richard Holober, executive director of the Consumer Federation of California. Legislative fixes are meeting resistance from a powerful telecommunications industry that rakes in more than $38 billion selling smartphone-theft insurance and replacement mobile devices. Companies like AT&T and Sprint rake in “several billion dollars a year in phone-theft insurance,” said Holober. “This is an industry that pretty much owns the Legislature.” Read More ›
Burned: How the chemical industry is endangering lives with toxic flame retardants
by Gary Cohn, Capital and Main
SB 1019 has national implications for consumers, manufacturers and retailers, and is fiercely opposed by the American Home Furnishings Alliance, the North American Home Furnishings Association and the Polyurethane Foam Association. Beyond these and other industry groups, it is being fought by the National Federation of Independent Businesses and the California Chamber of Commerce. Read More ›
Bill would restore online privacy
by Richard Holober, Los Angeles Daily News guest commentary
CFC Executive Director Richard Holober: “Next week California lawmakers decide whether to protect your privacy when you purchase downloads. Senate Bill 383 would restore privacy rules that a sharply divided state Supreme Court eliminated in a 2013 case involving Apple’s iTunes. Consumer groups support the bill. Tech companies are working furiously to defeat it.” Read More ›