Category Archives: Uncategorized

Auto Insurers Are Making Windfall Profits from COVID-19; Consumer Advocates Call on Companies to Provide Refunds, Lower Premiums to Californians Who Have Stopped Driving

March 23, 2020

California Insurance Commissioner Petitioned to Take Action Sacramento – Automobile insurance companies are making windfall profits from Californians idled by the Coronavirus Stay at Home Orders and should refund or credit premiums to motorists, consumer advocates said today in a petition filed with the California Insurance Commissioner. … Read More ›

Insurers attack fair automobile rate regulations

March 10, 2020

Insurers create phony “groups” to favor wealthy motorists with lower rates. Consumer, senior, civil rights and community advocates are supporting a proposed California Department of Insurance regulation that would curb an industry abuse of automobile insurance rate fairness. The coalition sent a letter to the Assembly Insurance … Read More ›

Wells Fargo reaches $3 billion settlement with DOJ, SEC over fake-accounts scandal

February 21, 2020

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”

February 21, 2020

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 ›

End the Pink Tax

February 19, 2020

SB 873 (Jackson) would make it unlawful to charge more for products marketed to women and girls. The Consumer Federation of California is co-sponsoring legislation that would ban the practice of charging more for products that are marketed to women and girls than is charged for substantially … Read More ›

Who’s looking at your DNA data? California lawmaker introduces genetic privacy bill

February 19, 2020

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

February 10, 2020

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 ›

Evenflo, Maker of the “Big Kid” Booster Seat, Put Profits Over Child Safety

February 10, 2020

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

The Evil List. Which tech companies are really doing the most harm?

January 18, 2020

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

How secrecy in U.S. courts hobbles the regulators meant to protect the public