February 1, 2024
When California’s insurance regulator operated behind closed doors, the insurance companies always won. Insurance premiums soared, people were denied insurance for no legitimate reason, and insurance companies reaped windfall profits.…
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January 11, 2024
Major Wall Street investment banks are pouring billions of dollars into AI research, patents, and financing without adequate safeguards, according to an investigation by Consumer Watchdog.
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April 19, 2023
After decades of consumer and media criticism of California’s failed bottle deposit return program, Governor Newsom and the California Legislature last year finally passed a substantive reform of the program.
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March 29, 2023
Automated decision-making has become the unseen hand of discrimination, preventing the most vulnerable members of society from achieving important life goals. More evidence is emerging that discrimination is borne out…
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October 19, 2022
Our personal data is sold hundreds of times a day and worth hundreds of billions1 of dollars, but if regulations for California’s strongest-in-the-nation privacy law are drawn correctly, consumers will…
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October 6, 2022
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY “Oil companies are ripping you off,” Governor Gavin Newsom tweeted on September 30. “Their record profits are coming at your expense at the pump. I’m calling for a…
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July 15, 2022
C alifornia’s bottle deposit system is in disrepair. The rate at which consumers redeem their California Redemption Value (CRV) deposits is 58%, the third lowest among bottle deposit states. Too…
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July 11, 2022
For many years, insurance companies have used illegal coverage limitations in California1 homeowners, condominium, and renters insurance policies to deny or lowball claims after a wildfire disaster. The financial harm—and…
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June 2, 2022
According to the oil industry, California oil and gas production is indispensable. But a rough tally of costs in the form of harm to public health from oil and gas…
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May 31, 2022
NTRODUCTION Medi-Cal has the right to be reimbursed for the cost of health care that a patient needs as a result of medical negligence. That reimbursement occurs after the successful…
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March 30, 2022
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Personal car data is the new gold rush of the auto industry. Cars collect more data than our1 phones. As a result, car companies have become data miners.
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January 6, 2022
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY A Consumer Watchdog investigation into fraud under California’s bottle deposit law finds fraud is rampant in the system – potentially costing consumers hundreds of millions of dollars –in…
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