Behind the Scenes

Thanks to you and other members, we are close to passing bipartisan legislation to help stop unwanted robocalls. A crackdown on robocalls is one step closer after the U.S. House of Representatives voted 429-3 this summer to increase consumer protections against them. The Stopping Bad Robocalls Act builds on the TRACED Act passed by the U.S. Senate in May. The House and Senate are now reconciling the bills into a final version for the president's signature.  Click here to send a quick email to your lawmaker today to help get this bill over the line to victory!

"We are pleased Congress is taking action to rein in the abuse from robocalls," says Maureen Mahoney, policy analyst at Consumer Reports. "These calls aren't just annoying. Shady businesses are using them to steal your money and personal information." The bills require phone service providers to put in place an effective call authentication system that will help determine whether a number that shows up on caller ID is genuine and registered to the caller. The bills also strengthen the Federal Communications Commission's enforcement authority against robocall scammers. CR is pushing lawmakers to include the strongest parts of both bills in the final version: We are keen to make sure that anti-robocall tools are offered at no additional charge to consumers and that robocalls are made only with the consumer's consent. As Congress works to finalize the bill, remember to protect yourself, including listing your phone numbers with the Do Not Call Registry at donotcall.gov and asking your phone service provider whether it offers free, advanced tools to block robocalls. CR and our members worked hard to get both the House and Senate bills passed. Since June 2018, CR members have contacted Congress with more than 700,000 emails urging passage of legislation to crack down on robocalls. It's made a difference—thank you!

Recently, CR joined mothers who founded Parents Against Tip-Overs (PAT) at a news conference outside Ikea's New York City store, calling on the company to do more to alert the public about the dangers of Malm dressers, which were the subject of a major recall three years ago because of their link to deadly tip-overs. 

At the time, Ikea dressers were tied to the deaths of seven  children and 17 injuries. The numbers have increased to 10 child fatalities and at least 144 tip-over injuries. In response to the news conference, Ikea released recall data for the first time in two years, which revealed that an overwhelming portion of the recalled dressers—at least 15 million of them—are unaccounted for. CR and PAT are calling on Ikea to make it easier for  consumers to return the dressers or have them picked up from their homes. CR and other advocates are urging Congress to pass the Stop Tip-overs of Unstable, Risky Dressers on Youth (STURDY) Act, which would create a mandatory rule for dressers that is stronger than the industry's current voluntary standard.

Season One of CR's first-ever weekly TV series, "Consumer 101" in English and "Taller Del Consumidor" in Spanish, garnered multiple awards and big audiences—more than 1 million people watched each episode on NBC and more than 160,000 watched on Telemundo. What's the encore? A second season! CR is already well into production, shooting segments on everything from how to protect your digital privacy to why worn tires are dangerous on wet roads. Watch this fall on NBC, NBC.com, Hulu, and the Armed Forces Network, and through Roku, Apple TV, and Chromecast via Pluto TV. See sneak peeks here and join our Facebook group.

CR recently tested 29 common WiFi routers and found notable differences in how the routers handle digital security. While CR has been publishing router ratings for years, we've now made the tests more rigorous, screening for approximately 60 indicators of good security and privacy practices, as well as almost 100 data points used to evaluate speed, ease of use, and other characteristics. The new router ratings are one of the first outputs of the Digital Lab. "As part of the Digital Lab, we're scrutinizing as many products as we can with respect to their privacy practices," says Robert Richter, who oversees security and privacy testing at CR.

Ben Moskowitz joined CR in July to oversee its new Digital Lab. Prior to CR, Moskowitz was director of development for innovation at the International Rescue Committee, where he led the design of life-changing solutions for refugees and people affected by conflict. He has also served as the senior director, development strategy at the Mozilla Foundation, where he built research programs and open-source software with public and private partners.

What is the Digital Lab and how did it come about?
CR's Digital Lab is a major initiative to expand CR's work on privacy, digital security, and emerging issues in digital consumer protection. Marta Tellado, our president & CEO, made privacy and security in the digital market a centerpiece of our strategy when she arrived in 2015. One of CR's first moves was to launch The Digital Standard, a framework to evaluate connected products and services. We've also built more robust testing infrastructure for  connected products and services. This enabled us to uncover serious security vulnerabilities in a mobile app designed to help women track their fertility as well as data vulnerabilities in smart TVs. We also produced our first-ever comparative ratings of peer-to-peer digital payment services last year. The Digital Lab will accelerate this work, bringing together diverse voices and experts from a variety of disciplines to continuously test and monitor connected products and services—and advocating for policies that restore people's control over their online lives. 

Why is the Digital Lab important for consumers?
Technology companies have grown large because they make our lives easier and offer services we enjoy. But in exchange for that convenience, we've given vast amounts of personal data to a small number of internet companies. And when those companies begin to operate as retailers, news aggregators, advertising platforms, and information gatekeepers, they don't just rise to the top of the marketplace—they become the marketplace. We will all benefit from more choice and transparency online. Organizations like CR have an important role to play in generating research, keeping consumers informed, and keeping the playing field fair. 

What's the biggest challenge you face?
The top seven technology companies generate over $100 million every hour. These giants have made the old models of delivering news and buying products obsolete. But because they don't resemble the industries we've spent the last century developing rules and norms to rein in, they haven't been required to take on the responsibilities and legal obligations of the institutions they've replaced. CR has always generated the hard evidence needed for individuals to make better purchasing decisions, for companies to make better products, and for policymakers to put consumers' interests first. Today, this task is exponentially more difficult. We need to better concentrate our testing and research efforts, recruit and partner with public interest engineers to keep watch over tech companies' practices, and keep pace with the fastest-evolving sector of the economy.

Sounds like you'll be busy! But what do you like to do in your spare time?
I'm a proud geek who enjoys collecting vintage electronics and dusty sci-fi paperbacks! But I also love to hear from CR members who have ideas about where we should  focus our efforts—I'm @benrito on Twitter.