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Consumer Protection

PROTECTING CONSUMER SAFETY—Toys should not be toxic or dangerous for children to play with. Our food should not make us sick. The terms for banking and credit accounts should be clear and easy to understand.

LOOKING OUT FOR CONSUMERS

CALPIRG’s consumer program works to alert the public to hidden dangers and scams and to ban anti-consumer practices and unsafe products.

TROUBLE IN TOYLAND

For 27 years, CALPIRG’s "Trouble In Toyland" report has surveyed store shelves and identified choking hazards, noise hazards and other dangers. Our report has led to at least 150 recalls and other regulatory actions over the years.

Get our tips for buying safer toys.

BIGGER BANKS, BIGGER FEES

In April, CALPIRG released a report in which we surveyed more than 350 bank branches and revealed that fewer than half of branches obeyed their legal duty to fully disclose fees to prospective customers, while one in four provided no fee information at all. We also found that despite widespread stories about the “death” of free checking, free and low-cost checking choices are still widely available, if consumers shop around.

Find out how to beat high bank fees.

SEE ALL CONSUMER RESOURCES

Issue updates

News Release | CALPIRG Education Fund | Consumer Protection, Higher Ed

As Fall Financial Aid is Disbursed, Senator Issues Urgent Warning to Students Using Campus Debit Cards

Financial aid distributed in the next weeks can quickly be lost to predatory bank fees .

> Keep Reading
Blog Post | Consumer Protection

Parties Take a Stand for an Open Internet In 2012 | Jon Fox

There is at least one issue that both parties seem to agree on during this election cycle – that the Internet should remain free and open.

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News Release | CALPIRG | Consumer Protection

California Approves S.B. 1349, protecting students’ privacy on social networks

CALPIRG is pleased to see the privacy protections Californians currently enjoy extended to include social media and online sites.

> Keep Reading
News Release | CALPIRG Education Fund | Consumer Protection

CALPIRG Helps Parents & Consumers’ breathe easier sending their kids back to school

CALPIRG highlights ways to create safer and healthier learning environments by eliminating indoor air pollution caused by toxic chemicals.

> Keep Reading
News Release | CALPIRG | Consumer Protection, Food

CALPIRG Supports Consumers’ Right to Know About Genetically Engineered Foods

CALPIRG endorses Prop 37, joins over 1,000 other consumer, environmental, labor, farmer, health and business groups in the call for the labeling of genetically engineered food.

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Media Hit | Consumer Protection

Financial loss from identity theft increasing, report says

Higher dollar loss per victim of identity theft, according to a new report by the California Public Interest Research Group.
Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/06/27/4595220/financial-loss-from-identity-th...

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News Release | CALPIRG Education Fund | Consumer Protection

New Report on Technology & Identity Theft Shows Victims are Losing More Money

California Victims Lost an Average of $786 in Theft Cases Investigated Last Year, Significantly Up from the Previous Year

> Keep Reading
News Release | CALPIRG | Food

Senate Vote on Farm Bill a Disappointment

"CALPIRG is disappointed in the Senate’s approval of the 2012 Farm Bill, which will send tens of billions of taxpayer dollars to Big Ag. The Senate missed a golden opportunity to tackle the problem of wasteful agricultural subsidies, which have cost taxpayers $260 billion since 1995."  

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News Release | CALPIRG | Food

Flawed Farm Bill Heads Towards Senate Floor

CALPIRG urges our U.S. Senators, Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, to vote no on the 2012 Farm Bill unless it is amended to stop wasteful taxpayer subsidies to large, profitable agribusinesses. At a time of tough budget choices, the last thing we should be doing with our tax dollars, is giving billions to companies that don't need the support.  

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News Release | CALPIRG Education Fund | Consumer Protection, Higher Ed

BANKS SKIM MILLIONS IN FEES FROM STUDENT AID

Banks and other financial firms take advantage of partnerships with colleges and universities, harming students.

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Report | CALPIRIG Education Fund | Consumer Protection

Privacy Denied

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Report | CALPIRG Education Fund | Consumer Protection

Common Sense Accounting Reforms For California Investors And Taxpayers

The California marketplace is plagued by increasing conflict-of-interest problems that lead to inaccurate corporate audits, an upsurge in “earnings restatements”, and a loss of investor confidence.

> Keep Reading
Report | CALPIRG Education Fund | Consumer Protection

Rent-A-Bank Payday Lending:

One consequence of deregulation of interest rates, high credit card interest rates and high bank fees has been the rapid growth of the alternative financial services (or fringe banking) industry, which includes check cashing outlets, payday loan companies, rent-to-own stores, high cost second mortgage companies, sub-prime auto lenders, traditional pawn shops and the growing business of auto title pawn companies. This report examines payday lending in detail.

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Blog Post | Budget, Consumer Protection, Higher Ed

New FCC rules to prevent cramming on landline phone bills | Jon Fox

FCC announces new rules to stop “Cramming” on land lines, ignores wireless phone lines.

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Blog Post | Consumer Protection

LA Times highlights failure to provide cheap broadband Internet | Jon Fox

LA Times columnist David Lazarus highlights the fact that the USA is falling behind the rest of the world in providing access to low coast quality Internet service.

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Blog Post | Consumer Protection

CFPB Release new tools to help students manage debt | Jon Fox

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) launches a beta version of the Financial Aid Comparison Shopper - an interactive online tool designed to help students plan for the costs of higher education.

> Keep Reading
Blog Post | Consumer Protection, Tax

FTC Supports Do Not Track, Meekly

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released today a new report calling on Internet companies to put in place a "Do Not Track" system that would give consumers more control over their personal data online by the end of the year . The FTC also called on Congress to pass privacy legislation that would allow consumers to see how their online data is collected, used and sold, and give consumers the ability to stop such practices. 
 

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Blog Post | Consumer Protection, Tax

CFPB launches new consumer Q&A resource page | Jon Fox

The CFPB launches a new interactive online tool that helps consumers find answers to their basic financial questions.

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Tools & Resources

TOY SAFETY TIPS ON-THE-GO

From toxic chemicals to choking hazards to dangerous magnets, see what dangerous toys to watch out for while you shop.

TOYSAFETY.MOBI

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