We have blogged before about the Third Circuit’s demanding “ascertainability” standard for class certification, which poses a class-action barrier unsupported by the rule. See here, here, and here. The Third Circuit yesterday issued another opinion on the topic, this time in a case brought under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act called City Select Auto Sales, Inc. […]
Author Archives: Allison Zieve
Uber Technologies, Inc. has agreed to implement a comprehensive privacy program and obtain regular, independent audits to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that the ride-sharing company deceived consumers by failing to monitor employee access to consumer personal information and by failing to reasonably secure sensitive consumer data stored in the cloud. In its complaint, the […]
The Washington Post reports: According to Zillow, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has concluded a two-year investigation into the company’s “co-marketing” arrangements that allow mortgage lenders to pay for portions of realty agents’ monthly advertising costs on Zillow websites. In exchange for the money, lenders are presented in agents’ ads to site visitors as sources […]
Financial Times reports: One of the Federal Reserve’s top policymakers has attacked attempts to reverse the post-crisis drive for tougher regulation, calling efforts to loosen constraints on banks “dangerous and extremely short-sighted”. Stanley Fischer, the vice-chairman of the Fed’s board of governors, said in an interview with the Financial Times that 10 years after the […]
Premiums for the most popular health insurance plans would shoot up 20 percent next year, and federal budget deficits would increase by $194 billion in the coming decade if President Trump carries out his threat to end certain subsidies paid under the Affordable Care Act to insurance companies for the benefit of low-income people, reports […]
The Center for Auto Safety, the nation’s leading independent non-profit organization providing consumers a voice for auto safety, quality, and fuel economy, has announced the appointment of Jason K. Levine as its new Executive Director. Mr. Levine succeeds Clarence M. Ditlow III, who led the Center for 40 years, until his death last November. Mr. […]
From an op-ed by Janis Kestenbaum, formerly of the Federal Trade Commission, in The Hill today: While children may be fans of talking dinosaurs, robots and stuffed animals, the federal government appears to have its concerns. At least that is the suggestion from a warning to parents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation that came […]
From the New York Times: When you wash your hair, clean or moisturize your skin, polish your nails, or put on makeup, deodorant or sunscreen, do you ever think about whether the product you’re using may do more harm than good? Maybe you should. Thanks to a lack of federal regulations, the watchword for consumers […]
The Washington Post reports: The heat on Wells Fargo over its auto lending business has intensified, with customers filing at least three lawsuits, politicians calling for hearings and a bank regulator issuing a subpoena for records. Wells Fargo, still trying to recover from a fake accounts scandal, said last week that roughly 570,000 customers were […]
Lots of editorials and op-eds on consumer issues lately. In The Hill today: Congress this summer is considering whether to pass legislation that would fundamentally damage the ability of the Federal Trade Commission to protect consumers from pyramid schemes. As one of the commissioners of the FTC, I have a much different view. Americans lose […]