Privacy

Consumer Watchdog Was Right: NHSTA Chief Hired By Self-Driving Car Startup

April 6, 2017  ·  Evan Thomas King

<p>Stealth auto startup Zoox has hired Mark Rosekind, the former head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). While Rosekind previously regulated vehicles, he will now be the chief safety innovation officer at Zoox, a stealth robotics startup that is developing fully-autonomous vehicles.</p> <p>This is exactly the kind of conflict of interest that consumer advocates were concerned about last year when they urged federal employees to refrain from taking positions in the same industry that they regulated.</p>

Consumer Group Calls Foul After Former Highway Safety Chief Joins Self-Driving Car Startup

April 5, 2017  ·  Evan Thomas King

<p>A leading consumer group is raising red flags over a former highway safety chief’s move to join a self-driving vehicle firm he had a hand in regulating under the Obama administration.</p> <p>Consumer Watchdog on Tuesday decried the hiring of former National Highway Traffic Safety Administration chief Mark Rosekind by autonomous vehicle developer Zoox.</p>

Final Nail: Trump Repeals FCC’s Broadband Privacy Rules

April 4, 2017  ·  Evan Thomas King

<p>Stick a fork in the Federal Communication Commission’s Obama-era privacy rules.</p> <p><br /> As promised, President Trump signed a bill Monday to repeal the ISP privacy regulation passed last year under former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. The repeal follows Republican-led Senate and House votes to kill the regs in late March.</p> <p><br /> The rules would have required broadband providers to obtain explicit opt-in before using subscriber data for targeted advertising, including web browsing, geolocation information and app usage.</p>

Uber Safety Driver: “No Time To React” before Autonomous Crash

March 30, 2017  ·  Evan Thomas King

<p>A driver turns left across multiple lanes at an intersection. Traffic obscures his or her view. An oncoming car approaches unseen. A collision occurs.</p> <p>That’s a scenario that’s all too common among the estimated 6.3 million traffic crashes that take place each year on U.S. roads, and it’s the same one that resulted in a collision last week that involved one of Uber’s self-driving vehicles in Tempe, Arizona.</p>

Uber Self-Driving Car Crash Detailed in Police Report

March 30, 2017  ·  Evan Thomas King

<p>A newly released Tempe, Ariz., police report sheds light on last week’s crash involving Uber Technologies Inc.’s self-driving vehicle, revealing that the sport-utility vehicle was hit after entering an intersection on a yellow light.</p>

House Votes to Kill Privacy Rules Binding ISPs

March 30, 2017  ·  Evan Thomas King

<p>The United States House of Representatives on Tuesday approved the Congressional Review Act, undoing privacy restrictions imposed on Internet service providers during the Obama administration.</p> <p>The Senate passed the CRA last week in a 50-48 vote along party lines.</p> <p>The White House has expressed support for the CRA.</p> <p>"This is one time I believe the White House," remarked John Simpson, privacy project director at Consumer Watchdog.</p>

House Privacy Vote Draws Crowd

March 29, 2017  ·  Evan Thomas King

<p> </p> <p>Groups on both sides of the braodband privacy debate flooded journalists' inboxes after House Republicans followed the Senate's lead and passed a Congressional Review Act resolution of disapproval Tuesday, repealing the FCC's broadband privacy rule framework.</p> <p>The President is expected to sign the resolution, which also prohibits the FCC from crafting substantially similar legislation.</p> <p>NCTA: The Internet & Television Association, which pushed Congress and the FCC to repeal the regs, was understandably pleased.</p>

When is a Sale Not a Sale? Amazon Under Fire for Inflated “Regular Prices”

March 28, 2017  ·  Evan Thomas King

<p>A Consumer watchdog group is calling out Amazon for what it calls deceptive practices by posting inflated list prices and leading consumers to believe they’re getting a better deal than they really are.</p>

Uber’s self-driving cars resume service in Pittsburgh

March 28, 2017  ·  Evan Thomas King

<p>Uber’s self-driving cars returned to Pittsburgh streets Monday, capping a nearly three-day hiatus.</p> <p>The ride-hailing company suspended its autonomous vehicles over the weekend after a wreck in Tempe, Ariz., rolled one of the cars. Police there cited a driver in another vehicle for a moving violation. They said the Uber SUV, in self-driving mode when the crash occurred Friday night, was following traffic laws.</p>

Uber Self-Driving Cars Return to Streets After Last Week’s Accident

March 28, 2017  ·  Evan Thomas King

<p>Uber's self-driving cars are on the road again, just a few days after one of their Volvo SUVs overturned following an intersection crash in Tempe, Arizona.</p> <p><br /> Uber paused the program after the accident last week but quickly put its cars back on the road in San Francisco Monday and said it would return to the streets of Tempe and Pittsburgh later in the day.<br /> There was general agreement that the accident was caused by a driver who failed to yield in an intersection and struck the Uber vehicle.</p>

Consumer Advocates Bemoan Senate Vote to Lift ISP Privacy Restrictions

March 27, 2017  ·  Evan Thomas King

<p>Privacy advocates and consumer groups are fighting back against the U.S. Senate's Thursday vote to undo privacy restrictions on Internet service providers.</p> <p>In a 50-48 party line vote, the Senate approved the Congressional Review Act, S.J. Res. 34. If the House of Representatives gives it the green light, it then will go to the president to be signed into law.</p> <p>"We're working actively with a coalition of other consumer groups pushing to defeat the resolution in the House," said John Simpson, director of the Consumer Watchdog Privacy Project.</p>

Consumer Watchdog Says Amazon’s List Prices Are Bogus

March 21, 2017  ·  Evan Thomas King

<p>The California-based Consumer Watchdog group claims Amazon is misleading its customers by posting inflated list prices to give the impression the company is offering more of a discount.</p> <p><br /> The nonprofit public-interest group filed a petition to Calif. Attorney General Xavier Becerra on Monday, claiming Amazon is violating state and federal law because, Consumer Watchdog said based on its own study in February, many products Amazon’s website feature list prices that are greater than the existing market price.</p>