ConsumerWatchdog

Justin Kloczko writes about tech, energy and insurance for Consumer Watchdog. He’s covered privacy issues extensively, including data collection, privacy rights and legislation, artificial intelligence, algorithms, and surveillance pricing.
 
He’s a recovering daily newspaper reporter with experience covering local government, education, and the criminal justice system at the Hartford Advocate, Middletown Press, and  Manchester Journal Inquirer. His work has appeared in Vice, Daily Beast, The New Republic, KCRW and Los Angeles Magazine.
 
While covering civil litigation at the Los Angeles Daily Journal he won LA Press Club awards for his stories detailing corruption at the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office and the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power. The stories led to the criminal prosecutions of multiple city officials. Justin also authored The Debaser, an independent newsletter about LA culture and politics that garnered him an appearance on the ABC/Hulu documentary about disgraced plaintiff’s attorney Tom Girardi called “The Housewife and the Hustler.”

Politico – Refinery profit caps are so 2023

By Noah Baustin, POLITICO OIL SLICK: The California Energy Commission is less than three days away from a pivotal vote to delay oil refinery regulations....

The San Diego Union-Tribune – Transparency or retaliation? State insurance chief accused of targeting critic

The advocacy group Consumer Watchdog has yet to receive what has historically been a routine recertification from the California Department of Insurance By Jeff McDonald,...

The Los Angeles Times – Documents will be unsealed in L.A. city attorney and DWP corruption case, judge rules

By Dakota Smith, LOS ANGELES TIMES https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-04-12/documents-unsealed-city-attorney-dwp-corruption More than 1,000 pages of confidential documents from a federal criminal investigation into the Los Angeles city attorney's office...

Politico – Black Box Open

By BLANCA BEGERT and CAMILLE VON KAENEL, POLITICO With help from Jordan Wolman and Wes Venteicher https://www.politico.com/newsletters/california-climate/2023/10/25/what-newsom-said-to-xi-on-climate-00123654?nname=california-climate&nid=00000189-315c-d8dd-a1ed-797dc9f10000&nrid=0000014c-2419-d9dd-a5ec-34bdbd970004&nlid=2745178 BLACK BOX OPEN: The Insurance Department was pushing lawmakers to pass industry-friendly measures in...

KOGO-AM (Radio) – San Diego, CA: Huge Increases on Car Insurance Rates

By Staff Reporters, KOGO – San Diego, CA Click below to listen to the audio of this radio broadcast segment.

KCBS-AM (Radio) – San Francisco, CA: Consumer Watchdog Suggests CA Should Develop a Public Model for Forecasting Wildfire Risks

By staff reporters, KCBS – San Francisco, CA Click below to listen to the audio of this radio broadcast segment.

The Sacramento Bee – Gavin Newsom ‘Declared War’ on Big Oil. What Does It Mean for California’s Clean Energy Transition?

By Maggie Angst, THE SACRAMENTO BEE https://www.sacbee.com/article271060772.html Since 1896, the sprawling Phillips 66 refinery in Rodeo has turned millions of barrels of crude oil into everything...

Newsletter

To be updated with all the latest news, press releases and special reports.

Don't miss

Consumer Alert Details Uber Example of Surveillance Pricing

Uber Tells Us One Thing and Does Another Los Angeles,...

New Episode of Smoke & Mirrors Explores Why Fire Survivors Want California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara Out

A backdoor agreement between California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara and major insurance companies led to a wave of dropped policies before 2025’s catastrophic LA fires.
Support Consumer Watchdog