Consumer Protection

Tomorrow, Colorado joins fifteen other states and the District of Columbia in stopping predatory payday lenders from charging Coloradans triple-digit rates to borrow small loans of $500 or less. Starting February 1st, payday loan companies can no longer charge interest and fees that add up to over 200% APR but must abide by Colorado’s usury cap of 36%. The change comes after 77% of voters passed Proposition 111 in November, ending an era of predatory payday lending practices that targeted low-income borrowers, veterans, and communities of color. Coloradans will save an expected $50 million per year in payday loan fees.

From E. coli-infected romaine lettuce to Salmonella-tainted beef, contaminated foods lead to illnesses that sicken as many as 1 in 6 Americans annually. In 2018, this epidemic helped spur major recalls, which caused stores and restaurants to toss millions of pounds of meat and produce.  CoPIRG Foundation’s new report How Safe is Our Food?, released today, reveals how fundamental flaws in our current food safety system have led to a jump in these recalls since 2013.

While we are glad that Fiat Chrysler is paying something for damaging the health of Americans and deceiving customers, this settlement does not go far enough. It neither ensures these violations of the public trust won’t happen again nor makes consumers whole.

This holiday season, watch out for dangerous and toxic toys. CoPIRG Foundation’s 33rd annual Trouble in Toyland report found toxic amounts of boron in slime products and a failure by Amazon to appropriately label choking hazards. Boron can cause nausea, vomiting and other health issues.

Facebook announced today that earlier this week, "attackers exploited a vulnerability in Facebook’s code that impacted “View As”, a feature that lets people see what their own profile looks like to someone else. This allowed them to steal Facebook access tokens which they could then use to take over people’s accounts."

A year ago, Equifax announced that hackers had breached its system and accessed the data of nearly 150 million U.S. consumers. To mark the anniversary of that notorious announcement, CoPIRG Foundation is releasing a report containing suggestions on how Congress, state officials and consumers can safeguard personal information.