Spotlight

Ten Most Recent Spotlight

Friday, October 30, 2009

consumer vs consumer, privacy || NPR series examines digital privacy

National Public Radio (NPR) has launched series that looks at many aspects of digital privacy, including a discussion on cell phone privacy, social networking, and privacy law.

Friday, August 21, 2009

consumer vs consumer, privacy || Personal health records subject to breach notice

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 includes provisions to strengthen privacy and security protections for companies that offer web-based “personal health record” services. (One such business in Microsoft Health Vault.) The law directed the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to issue a rule requiring these companies to contact customers in the event of a security breach. After receiving comments from the public, the FTC issued the Health Breach Notification Rule.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

consumer vs consumer, moneywise, housing, financial, insurance, privacy || New Credit Card Survey 2009 now online

Consumer Action’s 2009 Credit Card Survey contains information on credit card rates, fees, terms and industry practices for 39 cards from 22 issuers.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

consumer vs consumer, housing || Survey finds California homeowners, renters fall through the cracks

Despite new federal and state initiatives, the banking industry continues to fail to adequately address the foreclosure crisis, while new arenas for abuse of consumers are thriving, according to a survey by the California Reinvestment Coalition.

Thursday, June 04, 2009

consumer vs consumer, insurance || Fake health plans prey on the vulnerable

In an economic climate where people are being laid off and losing their health insurance, CNN is reporting that health care scams are on the rise. A common scam involves signing up for a medical “discount card,” usually for a monthly fee, that offers reduced rates for doctor visits, hospital stays, prescription drugs, and other treatments. These fake programs bill themselves as a cheaper alternative to purchasing health insurance.

But when patients show up the get medical treatment, providers have never heard of the program, the cards are worthless, and consumers are out several hundred dollars that they don’t have to spare.

consumer vs consumer, privacy || Report: ‘Web bugs’ tracking you online

Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley’s School of Information released a report on June 1 showing that the most popular Web sites in the United States all share data with their corporate affiliates and allow third parties to collect information directly by using tracking beacons known as “Web bugs” - despite the sites’ claims that they don’t share user data with third parties.

Wednesday, June 03, 2009

consumer vs consumer, moneywise, privacy || Looking for a job and finding a scam

Finding work in today’s economy isn’t easy. To make matters worse, some of the millions of Americans going online to find work are, instead, being scammed.

According to MSN and Marketwatch, some consumers are falling victim to fake job postings that lure an unsuspecting applicant into becoming a “mule” for illegal operations, such as wiring money or shipping stolen merchandise. The job description might sound legitimate, using the words “international wire transfers” or “repackaging merchandise” to attract would-be employees, and some scammers are even setting up fake professional-looking corporate websites for the job posts.

Thursday, May 28, 2009

consumer vs consumer, moneywise, housing, financial, insurance, privacy || CONSUMER ACTION 2009 fundraising event

On Wednesday, June 24, 2009 in San Francisco, Consumer Action will celebrate its 38th Anniversary.

Thursday, March 05, 2009

consumer vs consumer, moneywise || 2009 MoneyWi$e Stipend Program

Consumer Action and Capital One are proud to announce the selection of stipend programs for 2009. Seventeen community organizations that attended the MoneyWi$e trainings hosted in Texas and Louisiana will receive financial support from Consumer Action and Capital One to further advance their financial literacy efforts.

Thursday, January 29, 2009

consumer vs consumer, housing, financial, insurance || Congressional Oversight Committee report released

A new report by the Congressional Oversight Committee points to three areas of regulation that could have prevented the current economic crisis.