Category Archives: Press Releases and Editorials
California Privacy Advocates Urge Defeat Of Federal Data Breach Notice Bill
SACRAMENTO – Six California privacy and consumer groups have called on members of the US House Energy and Commerce Committee to oppose federal legislation that would wipe out California’s landmark data breach notification laws. The House Committee may hear the Data Security and Breach Notification Act of 2015 as early as Wednesday, April 15. California Congress members on the House committee are Lois Capps, Tony Cardenas, Anna Eshoo, Doris Matsui and Jerry McNerney. Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, Consumer Federation of California, Consumer Watchdog, World Privacy Forum, The Utility Reform Network (TURN), and Consumer Action are urging the members of Congress to defeat the proposed federal bill. – See more at: https://consumercal.org/california-privacy-advocates-urge-defeat-of-federal-data-breach-notice-bill/#sthash.gYAOYSz5.dpuf Read More ›
CFC Sponsors Bill To Protect Seniors From Unethical Long-Term Care Referral Agencies
SACRAMENTO – The Consumer Federation of California (CFC) is sponsoring Senate Bill 648 (Mendoza, D-Artesia) to increase disclosure requirements and strengthen oversight of private placement agencies that refer seniors to residential care facilities for the elderly (RCFEs). Read More ›
CFC, Firefighters, Environmentalists Back Disclosure of Chemical Hazards in Children’s Products
SACRAMENTO – The Consumer Federation of California (CFC) has joined with professional firefighters and environmental advocates to co-sponsor legislation letting parents know whether products they buy for their children contain ineffective and hazardous flame retardants. Read More ›
GEICO Discriminates Against Unmarried Low-Income Drivers, Consumer Federation Charges
[CFC press release:] GEICO Insurance Co. illegally deceives and discriminates against unmarried, lower or moderate-income motorists by quoting them much higher minimum automobile coverage levels than permitted under state law, the Consumer Federation of California (CFC) alleges in a petition filed today with the California Department of Insurance. Having uncovered this scheme, CFC is calling on the Department of Insurance to enforce state insurance and civil rights laws by ordering GEICO to halt these practices and impose penalties. The targets of GEICO’s deceptive rate quotes are good drivers who have all of these characteristics: are unmarried, not employed in a professional or executive occupation, have not completed college, and are not currently insured. Read More ›
Consumer Federation Of California Releases 2014 Scorecard For State Legislators
[CFC press release:] The scorecard highlights a split between the two parties when it comes to consumer rights protections. Assembly Democrats scored an average of 92 percent, with Senate Democrats averaging nearly 91 percent. Assembly Republicans took the side of consumers 32 percent of the time and Senate Republicans scored slightly better, siding with consumers an average of nearly 33 percent of the time. Thirty-two of the 55 Assembly Democrats, and 14 of the 27 Senate Democrats, earned a perfect score of 100 percent on the CFC scorecard. No Republican in either house exceeded a 67 percent pro-consumer score.
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CFC: $148 Million In Insurance Savings For Ratepayers
Last year, CFC began intervening before the Department of Insurance in Prop 103 auto and homeowner insurance rate reviews. Our actuaries scrutinized data submitted by insurers, pointed out errors in calculations or loss projections, and persuaded regulators and insurers to cut their proposed rate increases. As a … Read More ›
CFC-Sponsored Ban Against Computer Spyware Signed Into Law
SEPT. 18 – Gov. Jerry Brown has signed a bill sponsored by the Consumer Federation of California to protect consumer privacy by restricting the use of spyware on rented computers. Thanks to Assembly Bill 2667 (Richard Bloom, D-Santa Monica), consumers who rent a computer or similar electronic device in … Read More ›
CFC-Sponsored Ban Against Computer Spyware Signed Into Law
SACRAMENTO – Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill sponsored by the Consumer Federation of California to protect consumer privacy by restricting the use of spyware on rented computers. Thanks to Assembly Bill 2667 (Richard Bloom, D-Santa Monica), consumers who rent a computer or similar electronic device in California … Read More ›
Consumer group calls for FDA action on generic Nexium
Contact: Richard Holober / Brian Taylor [CFC press release:] The nonprofit advocacy organization Consumer Federation of California (CFC) is calling on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to save American consumers three billion dollars a year by ending a bottleneck that is keeping affordable, generic versions … 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 ›
Assembly approves bill to prohibit spying on rental computer customers
[CFC press release] The state Assembly has unanimously approved a measure to protect consumer privacy by restricting the use of spyware on rented computers. Assembly Bill 2667 “outlaws the conduct of companies such as Aaron’s, a large national rent-to-own retail chain, which used secret spyware on rental computers to collect passwords, credit card records and medical records, and to activate webcams which photographed customers engaged in intimate activities in their homes,” according to Richard Holober, executive director of the Consumer Federation of California, which sponsored the measure carried by Assemblymember Richard Bloom, D-Santa Monica. Read More ›
Data miners collect more of your information than you know
A new federal report sheds light on the hidden world of data brokers. These multi-billion dollar companies collect data on hundreds of millions of Americans, which they analyze, package, and sell without consumer permission or input. Read More ›
Why are we supporting Apple’s sweatshops?
While many of us eagerly await Apple’s next generation iPhone or MacBook, Apple conveniently hides these reprehensible working conditions on the other side of the planet. The tech giant’s glaring and shocking lack of social responsibility plays an oppressive role in the lives of those workers who hustle to make their products. Read More ›