Consumer Law & Policy Blog

How protective orders impede public safety

Reuters reports on how protective orders sealing evidence about defective cars, drugs, and other products from public view can hide health and safety information from the public and impede government agencies -- such as the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Food and Drug Administration -- from protecting the public. The article is here.

Robocalls up 22% in 2019

The Hill reports: Roughly 58.5 billion robocalls were made in the U.S. last year, according to new research, marking a 22 percent increase from 2018. YouMail, a company that provides a service to block robocalls, estimated that the average American received 178.3 robocalls during the year.

The full story is here.

Apps are sharing your personal information. Are they violating data privacy laws?

A report released Tuesday by the Norwegian Consumer Council, a government-funded nonprofit organization in Oslo, describes how apps on our phones systematically violate users’ privacy collecting and sharing information with third-party advertisers without users’ knowledge or consent. The report "demonstrate[s] how every time we use our phones, a large number of shadowy entities that are virtually unknown to consumers are receiving personal data about our interests, habits, and behaviour." For example, some apps share users' dating choices, location, and/or ethnicity. One app shared information with more than 300 advertisers or other companies.

The report is here. A New York Times article on the report is here.

Although the article points out that the sharing practices may violate data privacy laws, such as laws in the EU and California, the U.S. has no nationwide data privacy law.

New report on safety risks faced by travelers and limits on their legal rights

The Center for Justice & Democracy at New York Law School has released a report examining both safety risks and disappearing legal rights for commuters and business travelers. The study presents an overview of some of the most common yet dangerous methods of transportation today and explores the shrinking legal options available to individuals harmed during travel.

The report is here.

Politico report on consumer groups' opposition to proposed Community Reinvestment Act regs

Here.  Excerpt:

Community groups across the U.S. are mobilizing to oppose a plan by President Donald Trump's bank regulators to radically remake a landmark law designed to combat discriminatory lending, saying the proposal would undercut that goal.

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The groups say the proposed regulation, which Otting released jointly with the FDIC on Dec. 12, will weaken the Community Reinvestment Act, a 1977 law that requires banks to lend to lower-income neighborhoods to end the discriminatory practice called redlining. It also gives regulators the power to judge how well the lenders comply, a process that banks say is often arbitrary and lacks transparency.

The activists argue that Otting's proposal would give lenders a wide berth to satisfy the law's requirements through big dollar projects — such as sports stadiums — without consulting local residents.

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[Joseph] Otting, who is comptroller of the currency, has strongly defended his proposal, saying he is seeking to offer greater incentives for banks to extend loans to creditworthy borrowers in underserved neighborhoods and to think creatively about helping their communities.

 

American Banker lists 2020 congressional agenda involving banks, including CFPB issues and national usury cap

Here.  Free content. In light of the election and the divided Congress, it seems unlikely that anything controversial will pass.