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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 25 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

Blog Post | Consumer Protection

Do Not Track gets another push | Jon Fox

FTC tells congress of need for meaningful Do Not Track policies.

> Keep Reading
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.

> Keep Reading
News Release | CALPIRG | Budget, Food

SENATE COMMITTEE APPROVES NEW TAXPAYER GIVEAWAYS TO BIG AG

Statement of Emily Rusch on the Senate Agriculture Committee’s approval of the 2012 Farm Bill: As this flawed legislation heads to the Senate floor, we urge Senators to stand with the public, not Big Ag. 

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

CALPIRG Calls on USDA to Increase Testing for Mad Cow

The US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) statement confirming the presence of an infected cow with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) - commonly referred to as “mad cow disease” - in California reinforces the need for increased animal testing.

> Keep Reading
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.

> Keep Reading

Pages

News Release | CALPIRG | Budget, Food

SENATE COMMITTEE APPROVES NEW TAXPAYER GIVEAWAYS TO BIG AG

Statement of Emily Rusch on the Senate Agriculture Committee’s approval of the 2012 Farm Bill: As this flawed legislation heads to the Senate floor, we urge Senators to stand with the public, not Big Ag. 

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

CALPIRG Calls on USDA to Increase Testing for Mad Cow

The US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) statement confirming the presence of an infected cow with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) - commonly referred to as “mad cow disease” - in California reinforces the need for increased animal testing.

> Keep Reading
Media Hit | Food

KCOY Central Coast News: Consumer Group Shows Taxpayer Money Going to Junk Food

University of California students with the consumer group CALPIRG released a study that shows billions of taxpayer dollars have gone to subsidize junk food ingredients.

> Keep Reading
News Release | CALPIRG | Food

Over 25,000 Californians Tell Congress "Stop Subsidizing Obesity"

This week, as the U.S. Senate holds a major hearing on agriculture subsidies in preparation for writing the 2012 Farm Bill, CALPIRG organizers and activists across California report delivering over 25,000 California public comments to members of Congress, calling on them to end subsidies to businesses that don’t need the support, and who grow ingredients for unhealthy food. 

> Keep Reading
Media Hit | Consumer Protection

AP: Mobile applications to post privacy policies before installation under California agreement

“Having privacy policies is step one to protecting consumers’ personal information,” Jon Fox said in a statement. “Step two is making sure the privacy policies are strong.”

> Keep Reading

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Result | Consumer Protection

KIDS’ SCHOOL LUNCHES NOW SAFER

For years, America’s schoolchildren have been eating beef, chicken and other foods that would have been rejected as substandard even by fast food chains. Thanks in part to our advocacy, the U.S.D.A. has stopped buying such low-quality meat for school lunches.

> Keep Reading
Report | CALPIRG Education Fund | Consumer Protection

Making the Right Call

CALPIRG Education Fund releases new cell phone shoppers’ guide offering simple tips consumers can take to save money when buying a new cell phone.

> Keep Reading
Report | Consumer Protection

Trouble in Toyland

The 2011 Trouble in Toyland report is our 26th annual survey of toy safety. In this report, we provide safety guidelines for consumers when purchasing toys for young children and provide examples of toys currently on store shelves that may pose potential safety hazards.

> Keep Reading
Report | CALPIRG | Budget, Food, Tax

Toward Common Ground

Our nation faces unprecedented fiscal challenges, as the commitments we’ve made now and into the future far outpace our fiscal capacity. Congress, the President’s National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, and citizens across the country must grapple with very difficult decisions about how we can put our fiscal house in order. It will be critical to reach out across party lines and across ideological persuasions to achieve common-sense reforms that can bring us closer to balance.

> Keep Reading
Report | Food

Apples to Twinkies

America is facing an obesity epidemic – one that’s hitting children especially hard. Childhood obesity rates have tripled over the last three decades, with one in five kids aged 6 to 11 now obese.

> Keep Reading
Report | CALPIRG | Consumer Protection, Financial Reform

10 Reasons We Need The CFPB Now

This report outlines predatory financial practices that hurt consumers and helped collapse the economy, costing us eight million jobs, millions of foreclosed homes and trillions of dollars in lost home and retirement values. It explains these and other emerging problems as “10 Reasons We Need The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Now.”

> Keep Reading

Pages

Blog Post | Consumer Protection

Do Not Track gets another push | Jon Fox

FTC tells congress of need for meaningful Do Not Track policies.

> Keep Reading
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.

> Keep Reading
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.

> Keep Reading
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. 
 

> Keep Reading

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Resources

Learn about unsafe products, scams, anti-consumer practices and how you as a consumer can protect yourself.

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