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.”
Fracking Regulations Only Exxon Could Love
California's oil and gas industry regulators are about to write final state regulations on the controversial practice of fracking natural gas and oil wells in the state. Don't expect any backbone, however, from the state Department of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Regulation.
AT&T, Dependably in Forefront of Consumer Abuse
Comedy is funnier when it hits you in the gut. That's what made a famous skit by Lily Tomlin about the phone company's abuse of customers so memorable, one tag line being "We are omnipotent."
Did ‘Don’t Shut It Down’ Mentality Cause Chevron Refinery Disaster?
More than two hours passed at Chevron's Richmond, CA, refinery between the discovery of a leak and the ignition of a blaze that threatened the health of thousands of nearby residents and sent hundreds to hospital emergency rooms Monday night. At any point during those hours, shutting down the big crude-oil processing unit in which a pipe was leaking could have prevented or greatly limited the disaster.
Tax-Dodger CEOS Race to Cheat Californians–Watch It Now!
Consumer Watchdog has been growling for a while about global corporations that use a tax loophole to pay less in California corporate taxes than in-state companies.
Oil vs Water: California’s Underground Battle
The word "fracking" exploded into the American vocabulary just a few years ago.