Consumer Watchdog – Fighting Corporateering - Blog

Despite what the spinmeisters over at Google's Public Policy Blog would have you believe, the Internet giant is facing tough...

Wouldn't it be great if we could all deduct our federal income and investment taxes from next year's income? And if we could also deduct that stress-reducing trip to a spa in Bora Bora? And if the government would just take our word for it? Fantasy for us, but the health insurance industry think that's what federal health reform ought to allow, on a corporate scale.

Four members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet, on Monday ...

I'm just back from a sweltering week in Washington, DC, convinced that those of us who care about protecting consumers' online privacy have reason for optimism.  There is growing interest in creating a "Do Not Track...

It's livelier Saturday at the National Association of Insurance Commissioners meeting in Seattle. Most refreshing was a medium-sized street demonstration, with forays into meeting rooms, by young and old demonstrators protesting lobbyist influence on health care reform. They handed out "lobbyist disinfectant packs," including soap and face masks, and demanded that regulators do their job for consumers. The sponsor was the "Puget Sound Alliance for Retired Americans," and it was backed by Health Care for America Now, a national group that is finally engaging with vigor on regulation issues.

It's going to be consumer advocates vs. a large scrum of health insurance company lobbyist in Seattle for the next several days at the summer meeting of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. In advance of that, we've...

A Wall Street Journal article this week details how Google is increasingly moving to maximize profits  from the vast amount of personal data it has amassed in its global network of servers at the expense of consumers' privacy.