Three years ago, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau warned consumers that some credit card companies weren’t clearly disclosing the risks of promotions, including deferred-interest offers that promise not to charge interest on purchases as long as the balance is paid off by a certain date. However, if that doesn’t happen customers can find their bill nearly doubled thanks to retroactive interest charges. Now the agency is setting its sights on retailers, urging them consider more transparent promotions for store-branded credit cards. [More]
transparency
Surprise Charges: Feds Advise Retailers To Make “No Interest” Store Credit Offers More Transparent
By 6.8.17
New Owner Of Gander Mountain Releases Updated List Of 63 Stores Staying Open
By 5.12.17 — Updated: 5.25.17
Outdoors and hunting store Gander Mountain found a new owner after filing for bankruptcy in March, and what remains of the brand will become part of the Camping World chain of RV dealerships and camping supply stores. It’s a messy, painful process and the list of which Gander Mountain locations will remain open continues to change, based on the latest list released by the company’s new owners. [More]
Why Are So Many Tech & Telecom Companies Bad At Respecting Your Privacy?
By and 3.23.17
The 21st century world is all about data: who has it, how they use it, when they share it, and how much they make from selling it. Despite the proliferation of terms of service and privacy policies, the companies responsible for handling our data are largely doing a poor job of telling us what they do with it. [More]
Senators Trying To Strike Down Vermont GMO Labeling Law At Last Minute
By 6.27.16
Two years ago, Vermont became the first state to pass a law requiring clear disclosures of foods containing genetically modified/engineered ingredients. A number of packaged food giants — including PepsiCo, Mars Inc., General Mills, and Campbell Soup Co. — have already made the decision to label their products on a nationwide basis in advance of the July 1 start of the new rules. With that deadline approaching, a pair of agribusiness-backed senators have introduced legislation that would kill the Vermont law, prevent other states from enacting similar regulations, and give companies two years to create a label with little to no information. [More]
Court Rejects Twitter’s Transparency Lawsuit Against Justice Dept.
By 5.3.16
Twitter has hit a substantial roadblock in its nearly two-year legal battle against restrictions on what it can reveal to users about requests for data from federal law enforcement agencies. Yesterday, a U.S. District Court dismissed a substantial chunk of Twitter’s case, though the social media platform will be given an opportunity to try again. [More]
FCC, CFPB Announce Nutrition-Like Labels For Broadband
By 4.4.16
When the FCC narrowly approved the Open Internet Order a year ago, most of the discussion involved “net neutrality” — the rules against Internet service providers being able to block, slow down, or prioritize access to specific sites and content. However, the Order also contained new transparency rules requiring broadband providers to, well, be more transparent with consumers, which is why today the FCC announced a new labeling system to help keep consumers informed. [More]
Congressional Committee Grills FCC About The Way They Do The Things They Do
By 3.22.16
Agencies like the FCC operate under the auspices of Congress, which has oversight authority. And when an agency like the FCC touches a political third rail — in their case, regulation of powerful communications companies — they can expect to have to answer to Congress. Sometimes repeatedly. And so the FCC found itself on Capitol Hill today, being grilled by a panel of passionate Representatives. [More]
Kickstarter Hires Investigative Reporter To Figure Out Where Mini-Drone Campaign Went Wrong
By 1.20.16
A company based in Wales showed up on Kickstarter with what looked like a working prototype of a really impressive consumer drone small enough to land on a saucer. Yet the promised drones never shipped. What happened? Kickstarter decided to find out, taking an unusual tactic: the company hired a local investigative reporter to, well, investigate. This week, the report came out. [More]
Should Hotels Be Required To Include Mandatory “Resort Fees” In Published Room Rates?
By 7.6.15
In order to minimize surprise when it comes time to pay, airlines in the U.S. now need to include all mandatory fees in their published airfares, but the same isn’t true for hotels. Many destinations now tack on so-called “resort fees” that claim to cover things like access to in-hotel gyms and pools, but which are mandatory for all guests whether you use those amenities or not. Even though these required add-on charges can significantly increase a guest’s total bill, hotels do not have to include the fee in their listed rates. [More]
Judge Says USA FREEDOM Act May Scuttle Twitter’s Transparency Lawsuit
By 6.12.15
Last October, Twitter sued the Justice Department, the U.S. Attorney General, the FBI, and FBI Director James Comey, because the social media platform believed it has a First Amendment right to be fully transparent with its users about the number and nature of national security requests it receives from the government. But with the recent passing of the USA FREEDOM Act, the judge in the case says there may be no need for the lawsuit to move forward. [More]
Feds Try To Have Most Of Twitter’s Transparency Lawsuit Dismissed
By 1.13.15
Last October, in response to efforts by the federal government to limit what websites can reveal about national security requests regarding its users, Twitter sued the Justice Dept., U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, the FBI and its Director James Comey. The DOJ fired back with a recent filing asking the court to dismiss most of the complaint, saying that federal guidelines do not restrict Twitter’s First Amendment rights. [More]
Facebook: Govt. Requests For User Data Up 24% In First Half Of 2014
By 11.4.14
The whole notion of companies being transparent — or at least as transparent as they are allowed to be — about governmental requests for personal data is still quite new, so it’s too soon to identify trends based on the little bit of information we’re given, but today Facebook said that governmental requests for user data during the first half of 2014 were 24% higher worldwide than they were during the six months previous. [More]
FCC Reminds Internet Providers & Wireless Companies To Follow Transparency Rules… Or Else
By 7.23.14
Earlier this year, a federal appeals court gutted the part of the 2010 Open Internet Rules dealing with so-called net neutrality. What this decision didn’t affect are the rules requiring that providers of broadband Internet access services disclose accurate information about their service offerings to the public. And so today, the FCC is sending out a reminder to ISPs (both fixed and mobile) that they need to follow the transparency guidelines or face the possibility of penalties. [More]
AT&T Received Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Orders For 35,000 Accounts In 6 Months
By 2.18.14
Weeks after the U.S. Attorney General issued guidance allowing tech and telecom companies to provide slightly more information about federal law enforcement requests, AT&T has issued its first accounting of these queries. And according to the data, the Death Star received national security letters dealing with up to 5,000 accounts in all of 2013, while court orders issued under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act during the first half of 2013 were tied to more than 35,000 accounts. [More]
Feds To Allow Tech Companies To Provide More Transparent Info On Data Requests
By 1.27.14
While a number of the largest websites and telecom companies have recently published transparency data detailing the number of data requests made about consumers, these companies have been very limited with regard to what they could say about federal requests that fall under the header of national security. In response to a call for more transparency from several major Internet businesses, the government is changing its restrictions. [More]
Verizon Received More Than 320,000 Law Enforcement Requests In 2013
By 1.22.14
Verizon has finally gotten around to publishing a transparency report detailing the various requests for customer information made by local, state, and federal authorities during the last year. Over the course of the year, the company says it received more then 320,000 such requests including more than 1,000 queries related to national security issues. [More]
Apple Slams Government ‘Gag Order’ On Customer Data Requests
By 11.6.13
Last night, Apple provided some very vague details about the number of requests for customer information it received from U.S. law enforcement and national security officials. At the same time, the company made it very clear that it would provide more precise information about the number of these requests, if only the government would let it. [More]
Chick Fil-A To Offer Kitchen Tours To Customers Who Ask
By 4.19.13
UPDATE: Chick fil-A has confirmed the tours to Consumerist and provided a few additional details. [More]
