Privacy

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>

Checking Out What Big Data Knows About You

March 8, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Maybe the data gods don’t have us all pegged — yet.</p> <p>One of the biggest data collectors and sellers, Little Rock-based Acxiom, knows all about my house, my car and my purchases of vegetable seeds. It believes I have 32 interests — 21 of which are accurate.</p> <p>But its files also say that my education ended with high school, and that I’m an unmarried, childless craftsman with a truck, earning less than $30,000 — all wrong. (To be fair, Acxiom’s data on two of my colleagues were more accurate.)</p>

Hillary Clinton Emails Illuminate California Debate About What’s Public

March 6, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<div id="content-body-713359-12894413"> <p>Hillary Rodham Clinton did it. So did Mitt Romney. And Sarah Palin.</p> <p>But reliance on private email accounts to conduct government business has for some time irked citizens and watchdog organizations who argue the tactic has been exploited to effectively shield conversations from public view.</p> <p>California law on the subject remains unsettled, leaving many public officials essentially free to conduct back-channel communication. The Legislature has made no moves to clarify the situation, and a court battle is raging in San Jose.</p>

Senate Democrats Reintroduce Bill To Curb Data Brokers

March 5, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Four Senate Democrats have re-introduced a bill that would enable consumers to wield control over how information about them is used by data brokers.</p> <p>The Data Broker Accountability and Transparency Act (S. 668) empowers consumers to stop the use and sale of their personal information by data brokers. The measure also allows consumers to correct information held by data brokers, which the bill defines as companies that collect personal information in order to sell it to third parties.</p>

We Done Good, Consumer Protection Chief Tells Lawmakers

March 5, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<p class="story-body">The United States <a href="http://hwww.consumerfinance.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Consumer Financial Protection Bureau</a> has made great strides in carrying out its mission, which is to ensure consumers are fairly treated in the financial marketplace, Director Richard Cordray said Tuesday in delivering the bureau's semiannual report at a House Financial Services hearing.</p>

Attorney General’s Wealth Jumps In Marriage To Fellow Lawyer

March 4, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<p>SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - Attorney General Kamala Harris has investments worth as much as $1 million after her marriage last summer to Douglas Emhoff, who owns stock in dozens of companies in industries the attorney general oversees, such as technology and communications interests, according to a filing released Tuesday.</p> <p>Harris is a career prosecutor with a $154,150 state salary who had no reportable investments or income to disclose when she filed her annual conflict-of-interest statement a year ago.</p>

Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights Doesn’t Go Far Enough, Critics Say

March 3, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<p>The White House published a draft of the Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights Act three years in the making late February, but not all privacy advocacy groups are satisfied.</p> <p>In a letter to President Obama, representatives from U.S. privacy and technology groups Center for Democracy and Technology, Consumer Watchdog, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Public Knowledge and others expressed concern that the draft bill doesn’t go far enough to protect consumers.</p>

Privacy Coalition Finds Obama Proposal Lacking

March 3, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<p><b>The consumer privacy bill of rights allows companies to limit consumer control, critics say</b></p> <div id="drr-container" itemprop="articleBody"> <p style="">A consumer privacy proposal from U.S. President Barack Obama's administration gives people too little control over their personal data and companies too much latitude to use that information, a coalition of 14 privacy and digital rights groups said.</p>

Privacy ‘Bill Of Rights’ Faces Attack From All Sides

March 3, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<p>The White House's proposed privacy bill of rights, which dropped late Friday afternoon, is leaving just about everyone unhappy. Some privacy advocates immediately said the bill doesn't go far enough, while industry representatives quickly said the bill was unnecessary.</p>

Critics Say White House’s Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights Falls Short of Expectations, Protections

March 3, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<p>The White House last week released draft legislation designed to better protect consumer data collected by companies, but already several advocacy groups have said it does not go far enough.</p> <p>The proposed Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights [.<a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/legislative/letters/cpbr-act-of-2015-discussion-draft.pdf">pdf</a>] would require companies that collect, retain and use personal data of consumers to clearly, concisely and easily provide notices about their privacy and security practices.</p>

White House Releases Proposed “Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights,” To Little Acclaim

March 2, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<p><b>Privacy advocates don't like it, and tech companies don't either</b></p> <p>The good news: late last Friday, the White House released a proposed draft of something it calls a “Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights,” which theoretically would give Americans some protection or control regarding the data which various companies and businesses collect about them.</p>