Privacy

H.J. Heinz To Buy Kraft Foods Group In Deal Estimated At $36.6 Billion

March 25, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Consumers' growing appetite for healthier fare is pushing together two of the world's largest processed-food companies — a deal that would combine an extensive shopping list of household names including Heinz Ketchup, Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, Oscar Mayer Wieners and Jell-O.</p> <p>H.J. Heinz Co.'s plan to buy Kraft Foods Group Inc. was engineered by Heinz's owners, Brazilian investment firm 3G Capital and billionaire investor Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway.</p>

Feeling Blue

March 22, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Critics couldn't help but note that the state Franchise Tax Board's decision in August to yank the tax-exempt status of not-for-profit Blue Shield of California came only days after we reported that the company was<br /> spending millions for a luxury box at Levi's Stadium.</p> <p>"The skybox fell on their head," Jamie Court of Consumer Watchdog said after the news surfaced last week that Blue Shield could now be on the hook for an estimated $40 million annually in state taxes.</p>

Consumer Group Warns Of Safety Shortcomings In Driverless Cars

March 20, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Tesla CEO Elon Musk is saying his company will have driverless cars in the U.S. by this summer. Google is working on its pod-shaped driverless cars and just about everyone else is talking about getting into the act.</p> <p>The assumption is that driverless cars will be safer than those with humans at the wheel. But is that really true? A California consumer group says it's not convinced.</p>

Consumer Group: Self-Driving Cars Unsafe Without Steering Wheels

March 20, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<p>It will be years before driverless cars are released to the public, but one consumer activist group is already taking aim at <strong>Google</strong>, one company that is blazing the technological trail.</p>

Facebook Hoax Suicide Post Ends In Arrest For US Man

March 20, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<p class="introduction" id="story_continues_1">A man who posted a hoax suicide threat on Facebook ending up being arrested and put in a psychiatric institution for nearly three days.</p> <p>Shane Tusch, 48, a part-time electrician from San Mateo, California, said he wanted to test Facebook's revamped suicide prevention programme.</p> <p>But after threatening to hang himself from the Golden Gate Bridge, a reader alerted police who then arrested him.</p> <p>Mr. Tusch says he was denied "any humane care" and subjected to medical tests.</p>

Report: 2012 FTC Investigators Wanted To Sue Google For Antitrust Violations

March 20, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<p><b>Yet the FTC publicly announced the exact opposite conclusion.</b></p> <p>The Wall Street Journal has acquired and <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/how-google-skewed-search-results-1426793553">released internal </a>Federal Trade Commission documents that raise some interesting questions about the FTC's official handling of an antitrust investigation into Google's practices.</p>

Google Is Back Under The Microscope Again

March 20, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<p>In the wake of yesterday's leaked FTC report indicating that <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/what-the-new-ftc-report-says-about-google-2015-3">Google threatened web sites with removal from its search engine</a> if they didn't let Google use their content, the backlash against Google is rising again.</p>

Advocacy Group Calls For FTC To Reopen Google Investigation

March 20, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<p>The advocacy group Consumer Watchdog is calling on the Federal Trade Commission to reopen an antitrust investigation into Google, in light of this week's news that a 2012 staff report recommended taking the company to court.</p> <p>Consumer Watchdog also is urging the Senate to examine how Google “escaped prosecution for its anticompetitive practices.”</p>

Google’s Driverless Cars Should Watch Out For Consumers, DMV & Squirrels

March 19, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<p>There are consumer advocates watching out for driverless self-driving cars and the safety of drivers, pedestrians, traffic cops and more. Consumer Watchdog sent a letter the California Department of Motor Vehicles.</p> <p>Today, Consumer Watchdog warned the California DMV that it shouldn’t let Google and others with a vested interest in developing driverless vehicles to push the DMV into issuing rules that are inadequate to protect public safety.</p>

A Man’s Fake Facebook Suicide Post Gets Him Detained

March 14, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Shane Tusch found out the hard way that Facebook’s suicide prevention tool works — sort of. In fact, what began as a test of the system landed him in mental health facilities for about 70 hours.</p>

FTC Complaint Against DIRECTV Should Halt AT&T/DIRECTV Merger Unless Hidden Fees, False Advertising Addressed, Consumer Watchdog Says

March 13, 2015  ·  Harvey Rosenfield

<p><img class=" alignright size-full wp-image-20548" alt="" class="right" src="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/images_directvlogo_0.jpg" style="width: 275px; height: 200px; margin-left: 7px; margin-right: 7px; float: right;" width="386" height="297" />Santa Monica, CA — Consumer Watchdog, the California-based non-profit that sued DIRECTV for abusive practices 7 years ago on behalf of overcharged consumers, hailed the Federal Trade Commission’s decision to take legal action against the satellite company for similar anti-consumer practices.</p>

White House Privacy Bill Of Rights Gets Mixed Reviews

March 10, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<p>You are nearly naked to the data industry, and Washington just offered you a mirror — but not pants.</p> <p>Two decades after the invention of computer “cookies” allowed companies to track your use of the Internet, <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/legislative/letters/cpbr-act-of-2015-discussion-draft.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the White House on Feb. 27 floated a draft Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights</a> that purports to provide “baseline protections for individual privacy.”</p>