Last week, consumer groups looked at the European Commission’s Impact Assessment, a new competition tool for the digital age. The commission is looking at expanding its antitrust toolkit due to concerns about gaps in the current EU competition rules.
I should have been more prepared. The Australians warned us. The wildfires they experienced during their summer fire season were the worst in history. But here I am. Not only staying home due to covid-19, but now, I have to stay inside due to smoky air from wildfires.
If you see a message on WhatsApp or Facebook offering you free help during the pandemic, watch out. People are reporting seeing messages that seem to be from Pepsi, Walmart, Whole Foods, Target, and other well-known companies.
Problems with car sales and repairs and home improvement and construction once again topped the list of complaints reported to state and local consumer agencies across the country, according to an annual survey by the Consumer Federation of America.
Cisco is making it easier to find out what personal information the company collects and how it uses it during videoconferencing calls on its Webex platform. The changes come in response to a recent Consumer Reports evaluation of the platform’s privacy policy.
Consumer Reports recently uncovered privacy concerns with Zoom. Researchers found that Zoom, like many digital platforms, outlines in its privacy policy that it collects personal information about its users, but doesn’t disclose details about how that information is used.
Be alert for scams related to the pending federal stimulus package. While a deal has been negotiated and the bill awaits final votes and the president’s signature, Congress’ economic relief package proposes to send money to individual Americans due to financial distress caused by COVID-19.
Thirty-one attorneys general are urging Amazon, Facebook, eBay, Walmart, and Craigslist to more rigorously monitor inflated consumer price practices by online sellers using their services. A letter sent Monday to the companies lists several examples of inflated prices on their marketplace platforms.
Gift cards are a popular, convenient gift for the holidays. This holiday season, more than half of Americans plan to buy gift cards. They’ll purchase an average of four gift cards worth about $49 each. Spending on gift cards is expected to reach $29.9 billion.
