Category Archives: Latest In Consumer News
California Regulators Are Urged To Scrutinize Health Insurance Mega-Mergers
by Chad Terhune, Los Angeles Times
There’s a lot at stake for families and employers if the deals go through and leave three health insurers in control of nearly half of the U.S. commercial insurance market. … Much of the debate centers on whether insurers should be required to limit rate increases for a time, expand their provider networks and make other pledges to improve patient care in order to win regulatory approval at the state level. … Consumer advocates say they fear that existing problems over affordability and access to care will get worse as insurers consolidate market power. Read More ›
In Reversal, Some Drivers Ditching Uber And Lyft For Cabs
by Jon Brooks, KQED
[One taxi driver] drove on the side for both Uber and Lyft for about a year, but stopped around seven or eight months ago. The main reason: the extra cost and “wear and tear” of using his own car to do business. … Customers became angry at the inflated fares they had to pay during a surge pricing period and slammed [the driver’s] car door so hard he had to have his automatic windows repaired. But hadn’t those customers agreed to accept the surge price when they ordered the ride? “[Passengers] are still mad, even though they know in advance,” he said. Read More ›
Google Is Tracking Students As It Sells More Products To Schools, Privacy Advocates Warn
by Andrea Peterson, Washington Post
In 2014, 28 student data privacy laws were signed into law across 20 states. … One of the toughest was a California law that bars school vendors from selling student data, using it to target advertisements, or building a profile about them for non-educational purposes. … The Roseville City School District in California [where one concerned parent has struggled to keep his 4th grade daughter out of Google’s data] said the school system is evaluating how the state law will impact their district and its vendors. Read More ›
Few Consequences For Health Privacy Law’s Repeat Offenders
by Charles Ornstein and Annie Waldman, ProPublica
ProPublica has reported on loopholes in [the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act] and the federal government’s lax enforcement of the law. … The data analyzed for this story show the problem goes beyond isolated incidents, carrying few consequences even for those who violate the law the most. … “Often, when we take a look into those breaches, what we find is that they were not accidents,” [said an OCR director]. “What contributed to the breach of thousands, if not tens of thousands of records, was systemic noncompliance . . . over a period oftentimes of years.” Read More ›
Criminal Probe Focuses On San Onofre Response
by Jeff McDonald and Ricky Young, San Diego Union-Tribune
“The facts indicate that [Michael Peevey, former President of the California Public Utilities Commission,] conspired to obstruct justice by illegally engaging in ex parte communications, concealed ex parte communications, and inappropriately interfered with the settlement process on behalf of California Center for Sustainable Communities at UCLA,” [according to the sworn affidavit.] “Peevey executed this plan through back channel communications and exertion of pressure, in violation of CPUC ex parte rules, and in obstruction of the due administration of laws.” Read More ›
Key To Opting Out Of Personalized Ads, Hidden In Plain View
by Alina Tugend, New York Times
Opting out does not necessarily stop companies from tracking users’ information, but it does stop them from targeting those users with what are known as interest-based ads. … If users want to get rid of these targeted ads, they can click on the triangle — its size is small so that it does not use up too much valuable ad real estate — and will then be taken to a page from the advertising network that [a business] paid to place the ad. This page explains what AdChoices does and how to opt out of targeted ads. There is also a page that tells users how many advertising networks are following them …. Read More ›
PG&E Lacks Documentation To Prove Pipelines Are Safe, Panel Says
by Jaxon Van Derbeken, San Francisco Chronicle
“Together, these violations show how PG&E has made it nearly impossible for this commission to determine — more than five years after the San Bruno explosion — whether PG&E’s currently established” pipeline pressure levels are “actually legally justifiable,” [the watchdog office of the state Public Utilities Commission alleged. … office head] Joe Como said Wednesday that the company’s behavior is not excusable given that it lacks federally required records for 1,000 miles out of its more than 5,000-mile system. Read More ›
Google To Make Driverless Cars An Alphabet Company In 2016
by John Lippert, Bloomberg
The race to develop a self-driving vehicle fleet has intensified since February when Bloomberg reported that Google was developing a rival to Uber Technologies Inc., most likely in conjunction with its driverless-car project. Uber is pursuing its own autonomous capabilities, while automakers are deploying semi-autonomous technologies while experimenting with so-called shared mobility. Uber is spending some of the more than $10 billion it has raised in private markets to develop self-driving cars. … Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas said Tesla could triple its revenue by 2029 by launching its own on-demand mobility service. Read More ›
DMV Issues Proposed Regulations For Self-Driving Vehicles
by Mark Glover, Sacramento Bee
“The liability issue is paramount,” [Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety President Rosemary Shahan said.] “With this, what is the driver there for? So, you’re going to have less control and more liability. … Why would anyone lease a car like that?” … Addressing privacy and cybersecurity issues, the DMV said “manufacturers must disclose to the operator if information is collected, other than the information needed to safely operate the vehicle.” It said autonomous vehicles will be equipped with self-diagnostic capabilities that detect and respond to cyberattacks or “other unauthorized intrusions.” Read More ›
Supreme Court Rejects Class-Action Suit Against DirecTV
by Robert Barnes, Washington Post
“These decisions have predictably resulted in the deprivation of consumers’ rights to seek redress for losses, and turning the coin, they have insulated powerful economic interests from liability for violations of consumer protection laws,” wrote [dissenting Justice Ruth Bader] Ginsburg. … “It has become routine, in a large part due to this court’s decisions, for powerful economic enterprises to write into their form contracts with consumers and employees no class-action arbitration clauses … further degrading the rights of consumers and further insulating already powerful economic entities.” Read More ›
Mercury News editorial: Governor’s PUC Emails Should Be Public
by The Editorial Board, San Jose Mercury News
Brown stood by former PUC President Michael Peevey long after Peevey’s grossly inappropriate relationship with PG&E became clear. Under Peevey’s watch, the PUC let PG&E take money that was approved for pipeline safety and use it instead for executive compensation before the deadly 2010 San Bruno explosion. The governor also knew Peevey inappropriately engaged in secret talks with Southern California Edison, the majority owner of the San Onofre power plant in San Diego County. But the real surprise was this fall, when he vetoed the six-bill PUC transparency package that was passed unanimously by the Assembly and Senate. Read More ›
Uber Seeks To Head Off Lawsuits With New Binding Driver Agreement
by Carolyn Said, San Francisco Chronicle
One East Bay driver, who asked not to be identified because he fears retaliation from Uber, said he had not immediately understood that he could opt out of the [binding arbitration] provision. “That wasn’t obvious to me,” said that driver, who graduated from UC Berkeley and worked in a professional job for many years. … Retaliation by Uber against drivers for opting out of the arbitration clause or for pursuing First Amendment rights to criticize the company would be illegal, but numerous drivers commenting on social media seemed unaware of this. Read More ›
PG&E Looking To Raise Fee On Green Energy
by Lizzie Johnson, San Francisco Chronicle
Early last month, the Pacific Gas and Electric Co. quietly filed an application to as much as double its exit fee for customers transferring to local green energy programs like CleanPowerSF. … It is ultimately up to the California Public Utilities Commission, which is scheduled to vote on the increase Thursday. If approved, it would take effect Jan. 1. … “It feels like an attack on local green energy programs,” [said Barbara Hale, assistant general manager for power for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission]. …“Did it knock us to the floor? No. Did we stagger? Yes. It’s up to the California PUC now.” Read More ›