It's been a while since we discussed the Facebook minors'-privacy case, a class action over Facebook's use of members' images in ads without their consent. Public Citizen represented parents who objected to the proposed settlement because it permitted Facebook to continue using their children's images in ads without parental consent — a practice that violates […]
From the Times: Mayor Bill de Blasio is set to announce on Wednesday a $15-an-hour minimum wage for New York City’s public work force that city officials said would be among the highest of its kind in the country. Under the mayor’s plan, which matches a similar increase for state employees enacted by Gov. Andrew […]
The Federal Trade Commission had a busy yesterday, settling charges in three separate matters, as described in these FTC press releases: FTC Secures $4.4 Million From Online Payday Lenders to Settle Deception Charges Dental Practice Software Provider Settles FTC Charges It Misled Customers About Encryption of Patient Data Lumosity to Pay $2 Million to Settle […]
The NYT reports: The Justice Department sued the German automaker Volkswagen in federal court on Monday, saying that the company installed illegal devices in nearly 600,000 diesel engine systems to impair emissions controls, increasing harmful air pollution. But despite a pledge by the Justice Department in September to go after executives responsible for corporate wrongdoing, federal […]
Quoting from the announcement: The Department of Mercantile Law at the University of Pretoria, South Africa will host an international consumer law conference that will focus on relevant developments internationally and nationally in the field of consumer law. The conference theme is "Towards Aligning Consumer Protection in a Global Consumer Market". The following aspects of […]
Ibrahim Altaweel of Good Research, Nathan Good, also of Good Research, and Chris Jay Hoofnagle of Berkeley have posted their updated Web Privacy Census, Technology Science 2015121502, Online. Here is the abstract: Most people may believe that online activities are tracked more pervasively now than they were in the past. In 2011, we started surveying […]
…is a Post feature from last week about the practice of structured-settlement purchasing. The story summarizes: Unlike traditional settlements, which are paid out in one sum, structured settlements dispense the payout in portions over a lifetime to protect vulnerable people from immediately spending it all. Since 1975, insurance firms have committed an estimated $350 billion to […]
Jeffrey Davis of Florida has written Regulating for the First Time the Decision to Grant Consumer Credit: A Look at the First Steps Taken by the United States and Australia. Here is the abstract: In this Article, I discuss the changes in three consumer-credit realms. First, I compare the Australian regime applicable to all forms […]
From Pearls Before Swine. (HT: ContractsProf Blog)
by Jeff Sovern Richard posted a link last week to the Times article about how debt collectors first sue in court and then when consumers sue them, use arbitration clauses to block the consumer law suit. Today the Times published four letters responding to the article, including mine. I want to comment on two of […]