Category Archives: Latest In Consumer News
Stabbing Us in the Back’: United Airlines Cuts Worker Hours After Taking Relief Funds ‘SLAP IN THE FACE’
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee said this week the funds were not meant as “an economic bail-out” but “to support the hard-working men and women who are the faces of United Airlines.” Daily Beast full story here
Amazon, Whole Foods, Instacart Workers Organize a Historic Mass Strike
On May 1st, frontline workers at some of the biggest corporations in the country will lead a mass strike action, asking customers to boycott Amazon, Instacart, Whole Foods, and Target. Read full story
AutoNation, a retailer worth billions, says it received nearly $80 million in SBA funds
Employees speak out, saying the company took ‘an obscene amount,’ and the board votes to return funds to the government. See the full article from the Washington Post.
Wells Fargo reaches $3 billion settlement with DOJ, SEC over fake-accounts scandal
Feb. 21, 2020 – Renae Merle, Washington Post – Wells Fargo agreed Friday to pay $3 billion to settle potential federal criminal and civil charges that, for more than a decade, the bank’s aggressive sales goals led to widespread consumer abuses, including millions of accounts opened without … Read More ›
State Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson pushes to end “pink tax”
Feb. 18, 2020 – Lindsay Zuchelli, KEYT ABC Channel 3 – State Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson is pushing to end the so-called “Pink Tax.” The senator, whose district covers Santa Barbara County and part of Ventura County, held a news conference Tuesday in Sacramento alongside Congresswoman Jackie Speier, … Read More ›
Who’s looking at your DNA data? California lawmaker introduces genetic privacy bill
Andrew Sheeler, Sacramento Bee – Feb. 14, 2020. A proposed California law would prohibit DNA testing companies like Ancestry and 23andMe from sharing customer DNA information with outside parties without their consent. https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article240227106.html
U.S. charges 4 members of Chinese military in Equifax breach
Feb. 10, 2020 – Associated Press Four members of the Chinese military have been charged with breaking into the networks of the Equifax credit reporting firm and stealing the personal information of tens of millions of Americans, the Justice Department said Monday, blaming Beijing for one of … Read More ›
‘Being poor in America is a full-time job’: The astronomical cost of banking while poor
Feb. 6, 2020. Paul Constant, Business Insider – The commutes of poor Americans are often longer than those of middle-class Americans. Buying less expensive, low-quality products — say, a cheap pair of boots with cardboard soles — often results in a larger outlay of money over time than a slightly more … Read More ›
Evenflo, Maker of the “Big Kid” Booster Seat, Put Profits Over Child Safety
February 6, 2020. Daniela Porat and Patricia Callahan, Propublica.Internal video of side-impact tests shows that children could be injured or killed in Evenflo’s “Big Kid” booster seats. But the company continued to market them as “side-impact tested.” https://www.propublica.org/article/evenflo-maker-of-the-big-kid-booster-seat-put-profits-over-child-safety
Salesforce Data Breach Suit Cites California Privacy Law
February 4, 2020. Daniel Stoller, Bloomberg Law – Salesforce.com Inc. and a children’s clothing company face data-breach allegations in a federal court lawsuit that is among the first to cite California’s landmark privacy law since it took effect Jan. 1. https://news.bloomberglaw.com/privacy-and-data-security/salesforce-data-breach-suit-cites-california-privacy-law
Forced Arbitration: A Clause for Concern
By Scott Medintz, Consumer Reports Jan. 30, 2020 – Mandatory arbitration deprives consumers of important options if a product is faulty or harmful. https://www.consumerreports.org/mandatory-binding-arbitration/forced-arbitration-clause-for-concern/
The gap between rich and poor is especially wide in California.
January 2020 PPIC.org – While California’s economy outperforms the nation’s, its level of income inequality exceeds that of all but five states. https://www.ppic.org/publication/income-inequality-in-california/?utm_source=ppic&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=bulletin
The Evil List. Which tech companies are really doing the most harm?
Slate.com Jan. 15, 2020 Slate.com Jan. 15, 2020 – Maybe it was fake news, Russian trolls, and Cambridge Analytica. Or Travis Kalanick’s conniption in an Uber. Or the unmasking of Theranos. Or all those Twitter Nazis, and racist Google results, and conspiracy theories on YouTube. https://slate.com/technology/2020/01/evil-list-tech-companies-dangerous-amazon-facebook-google-palantir.html?utm_source=pocket&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=pockethits