Uber settles with FTC over allegedly deceptive privacy and data security practices

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 […]

CFPB investigating Zillow’s ad practices

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 […]

Fed Reserve vice chair calls plans to unwind banking rules “very, very dangerous”

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 […]

On remand from the Supreme Court: plaintiff has standing in Spokeo v. Robins

Many of our readers will recall the Supreme Court's decision last year in Spokeo v. Robins in which the Court explained, in general terms, what it means for a plaintiff to allege a "concrete" injury sufficient to establish article III standing. The Court then remanded the case to the Ninth Circuit for findings on "concreteness" measured against […]

Mortgage Default Rate Reported to be at Lowest Level in Decade; Could the CFPB be the Cause?

by Jeff Sovern Here is a report on the mortgage default rate from Housing Wire. So we have a low mortgage default rate and record highs in consumer debt, as Brian reported earlier, half a dozen years after creation of the CFPB.  Yet conservatives want to eliminate or reduce the Bureau's power.   

CFP: Northeast Privacy Scholars Workshop

We received the following call for papers: The Innovation Center for Law and Technologyat New York Law School and The Center on Law and Information Policyat Fordham University School of Law are pleased to issue this Call for Papers for the inaugural Northeast Privacy Scholars Workshop, which will take place at New York Law School on October […]

More on all-time high consumer debt

Following up on an earlier post, this Reuters story by Jonathan Spicer reports that Americans' debt level notched another record high in the second quarter, after having earlier in the year surpassed its pre-crisis peak, on the back of modest rises in mortgage, auto and credit card debt, where delinquencies jumped. Total U.S. household debt was $12.84 trillion […]

End to ACA subsidies would cause huge increases in insurance premiums and in the federal deficit

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 […]

Center for Auto Safety names new executive director

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. […]