uDEA Sued Over Secret Mass Surveillance Of Phone Callsr

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  (Renee Rendler-Kaplan)

  
  
  
  The backlash against the federal government’s surveillance programs continues. This time, the folks at Human Rights Watch have filed suit against the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, alleging that the DEA’s bulk collection of data related to certain phone calls made by the organization runs afoul of basic protections afforded by the Constitution.
  

  According to the complaint [PDF] filed yesterday in a federal court in California, the DEA is collecting, retaining, searching, and disseminating information about calls made between Rights Watch staffers and people in certain countries — and that all this data gathering is being done “without any suspicion of wrongdoing and without any judicial authorization or oversight.”

  
  

  HRW argues that this information — which includes the initiating telephone number, the receiving telephone number, the date/time/duration of call, and the method by which the call was billed — being put into the hands of the federal government substantially burdens the organization’s ability to follow through on its mission to defend and promote human rights, and that it violates the callers’ protections under the First and Fourth Amendments.

  
  

  “The DEA’s program of untargeted and suspicionless surveillance of Americans’ international telephone call records… affects millions of innocent people, yet the DEA operated the program in secret for years,” explains Nate Cardozo, staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which is representing Human Rights Watch. “Both the First and Fourth Amendment protect Americans from this kind of overreaching surveillance. This lawsuit aims to vindicate HRW’s rights, and the rights of all Americans, to make calls overseas without being subject to government surveillance.”

  
  

  The Mass Surveillance Program detailed in the complaint involves the DEA using its authority under 21 U.S.C. § 876 to issue subpoenas to telecom companies demand the “production of any records (including books, papers, documents, and other tangible things which constitute or contain evidence) which the Attorney General finds relevant or material” to any investigation relate to the enforcement of the Controlled Substances Act.

  
  

  In this case, subpoenas sought information on calls made by American residents to certain “Designated Countries” — countries determined to have a “demonstrated nexus to international drug trafficking and related criminal activities.”

  
  

  The DEA has only publicly acknowledged one country, Iran, under this designation, but the complaint notes that the White House has labeled several other countries — Afghanistan, The Bahamas, Bolivia, Burma, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Jamaica, Laos, Mexico, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela — as major players in drug production or transit.

  
  

  Human Rights Watch alleges that the information collected is not held only by the DEA, but is shared with other agencies, including the FBI and Homeland Security.

  
  

  While it’s been claimed that the Mass Surveillance Program was suspended in 2013, the complaint alleges that the information gathered is still being used, and that the government has not indicated whether the collected info has been purged.

  
  

  Additionally, notes the complaint, the DEA “could resume bulk collection under 21 U.S.C. § 876 at any time,” and the government “may still be collecting call record information in bulk under other authorities.”

  
  

  While many of the recent government snooping revelations resulted from Edward Snowden’s leaks about National Security Agency programs, the DEA’s Mass Surveillance Program was unknown to the public until Jan. 2015, when court ordered the agency to provide more details during a criminal case against a man accused of violating export restrictions on goods to Iran.

  
  

  “Human Rights Watch often works with people in dire circumstances around the world. Our sources are sometimes in life or death situations, and speaking out can make them a target,” said Dinah PoKempner, general counsel of Human Rights Watch. “Who we communicate with and when we communicate with them is often extraordinarily sensitive—and it’s information that we would never turn over to the government lightly.”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


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by Chris Morran via Consumerist

uNHTSA Closes Probe Into 1.9M Chrysler, Dodge Minivans Without Determining Cause Of Stalling Issuer

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  (bluwmongoose)
  

  
  
  
  Following months of analyzing data, reviewing a recall petition and assessing more than 720 consumers complaints, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration decided to close a probe into nearly 1.9 million Chrysler minivans without finding a safety issue or determining why the vehicles stall.
  

  NHTSA’s probe, which first began [PDF] in September 2014, centered on model year 2003 to 2007 Dodge Grand Caravans, Dodge Caravans, Chrysler Town & Country and Chrysler Voyager minivans that suffered engine stalls shortly after refueling.

  
  

  The initial probe was initiated after the owner of a 2007 Dodge Grand Caravan submitted a petition [PDF] asking NTHSA to investigate widespread stalling complaints.

  
  

  According to a recent notice [PDF] from NHTSA, the decision to not move forward with a formal investigation was made because investigators believed it was unlikely to result in a finding that a defect related to the vehicle exists.

  
  

  The initial probe involved the evaluation of a consumer petition and the analysis of 161 consumer complaints submitted to the agency and 632 consumer complaints submitted to Chrysler.

  
  

  
  

  “After filling my van with gas, it stalls, I will leave the station and within the first mile, the car sputters and stalls,” a complaint by one vehicle owner states. “This has been going on for years.”

  
  

  “After fueling the vehicle, pulling out from the gas station, the van stall violently: loses power, lurches and surges,” another complainant writes. “This has become increasing severe, most recently nearly causing a collision.”

  
  

  
  

  NHTSA also considered the analysis of field data, reviews of technical information provided by Chrysler and testing of minivans identified as experiencing post-refuel engine stalls before making the decision to close the preliminary probe into the vans.

  
  

  NHTSA notes that the vehicle stalls occur only immediately after refueling and happen at low engine speeds and that the failure rate is low, even in vehicles that are eight to 13 years old.

  
  

  Additionally, the agency is unaware any reports of crashes or injuries resulting from the stall condition.

  
  

  “Given the need to allocate and prioritize NHTSA’s limited resources to best accomplish the Agency’s safety mission, the petition is denied,” the notice states.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


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by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

uRobocalling Phantom Debt Collector Accused Of Harassing, Defrauding Consumersr

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  (Dan Coulter)

  
  
  
  People hate debt collectors, perhaps as much as, if not more than, they despise robocalls from telemarketers. And phantom debt collectors — those who attempt to collect debts that aren’t owed to them, if at all — are among the worst of the bunch. So when you combine the automated recorded messages of robocalls with the incessant harassment of phantom debt collectors, you create a particularly loathsome Frankenstein’s monster.
  

  The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has filed suit [PDF] in a federal court in Georgia against several related debt collection operations, their principals, payment processors, and the telemarketing firm that allegedly aided them in their scheme.

  
  

  The complaint alleges that the collectors — using companies named Universal Debt & Payment Solutions; Universal Debt Solutions; WNY Account Solutions; WNY Solutions Group; Check & Credit Recovery; Credit Power; and S Payment Processing & Solutions — “engaged in a scheme to defraud consumers by using threats, intimidation, and harassment to collect ‘phantom’ debts.”

  
  

  Via robocalls placed through telemarketing defendant Global Connect, the CFPB says that the collectors threatened consumers with “false allegations of check fraud and false claims of debt owed.” People who received these calls were told they could end up being subjected to a “financial restraining order,” and that their employer would be notified about their debt. The calls also threatened wage-garnishment and arrest if the debt was not paid, alleges the complaint.

  
  

  “The Debt Collectors refused to identify the issuer of the supposed debt to consumers,” reads the lawsuit, “but convinced consumers of their legitimacy by providing the consumer’s personal information, including date of birth, place of employment, and Social Security number. In most, if not all, cases, consumers did not owe any debt the Debt Collectors had a right to collect.”

  
  

  In addition to the many actual company names involved in the collections, the CFPB says the defendants used a slate of fictional businesses, like “LRS Litigations,” “IRS Equity,” “Worldwide Requisitions,” and “Arbitration Resolution” to trick people into believing they would be sued if they didn’t pay up.

  
  

  These threats and misrepresentations resulted in millions of dollars in payments made under duress even if they were not owed.

  
  

  The CFPB is accusing the payment processing companies for the collectors — Global Payments, Inc.; Pathfinder Payment Solutions, Inc.; Frontline Processing Corp.; and Francis David Corp. d/b/a Electronic Merchant Services — of facilitating the “large-scale fraud by enabling the Debt Collectors to accept payment by consumers’ bank cards when the Payment Processors knew, or should have known, that the Debt Collectors were engaged in unlawful conduct.”

  
  

  The complaint contends that these payment processors gave the collectors “an air of legitimacy and allowed the Debt Collectors to efficiently process a high volume of collections.”

  
  

  Global Connect, the telemarketing firm used to blast out the robocalls, is accused of providing the debt collector defendants with the “ability to effortlessly broadcast millions of threatening and false statements to consumers in telephone messages.”

  
  

  The CFPB argues that the success of this phantom debt collection scheme relied on the participation of the processors and the telemarketing firm.

  
  

  The complaint was actually filed in March, but it remained under seal until today. Yesterday, a court granted a preliminary injunction halting the alleged bad behavior and freezing the assets of the individual defendants and their businesses.

  
  

  “Our lawsuit asserts that consumers were harassed, threatened, and deceived as part of a reprehensible scheme to collect debt that was not even owed,” said CFPB Director Richard Cordray in a statement. “We are taking action against the many parties that allegedly contributed to this phantom debt collection operation. The ringleaders of the scheme, the telemarketing company that broadcast millions of robo-calls, and the companies that processed the payments should all be held accountable for taking advantage of vulnerable consumers.”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


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by Chris Morran via Consumerist

uDollar Tree, Family Dollar Expected To Close 340 Stores For Merger Approvalr

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  (Mike Mozart)
  

  
  
  
  When Family Dollar accepted Dollar Tree’s proposal for a merger in January, the two companies estimated the deal would require the closing of no more than 300 stores. As federal regulators get closer to putting their stamp of approval on the dollar store marriage, they’re adding a few more stores to the chopping block.
  

  The Wall Street Journal reports that the Federal Trade Commission has identified 340 stores for divestiture as part of its merger review.

  
  

  Representatives for Dollar Tree told the WSJ Tuesday that most – if not all – of the stores singled out for divestiture will be Family Dollar locations representing about $47.4 million in operating revenue.

  
  

  Although the locations of the stores slated to close haven’t been revealed, Dollar Tree says it has received some signals of interest from potential buyers that would continue to operate the outlets as dollar stores.

  
  

  While the number of stores targeted for closing is more than the two dollar chains anticipated earlier this year, it’s still far less than what could have been earmarked has Family Dollar decided to merge with Dollar General.

  
  

  During the courting process, Family Dollar argued that closing the deal with Dollar Tree was a “virtual certainty” compared to Dollar General’s heftier bid, which they say wouldn’t stand up to regulatory approval.

  
  

  In a letter to shareholders January, Family Dollar said that following talks with the government, they believed it would be difficult for Dollar General to divest itself of enough stores to secure approval, saying there could be as many as 3,500 to 4,000 “presumptively problematic” stores in Dollar General’s proposal.

  
  

  The merger between Dollar Tree and Family Dollar is expected to be completed by May.

  
  

  Dollar Tree: FTC Nears End of Family Dollar Merger Review [The Wall Street Journal]

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


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by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

uAmazon’s Echo Speaker Gets More Connected, Can Control Hue Lights, WeMo Switchesr

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  Amazon introduced its Echo web-connected speaker thingy back in Nov. 2014 with the promise of a device that would not only play music but allow you to do voice-controlled information searches and set reminders. An update to the $200 Echo will now let users operate certain “smart” lightbulbs and electric switches.

  
  

  The e-tailer e-mailed Echo users today alerting them to the new functionalities of the device. Specifically, it allows them to use the Echo to operate Philips Hue LED lights and certain Belkin WeMo products.

  
  

  There are currently limitations on how many of these items can be operated through a single Echo. Up to three WeMo switches can be controlled through device, and up to five Hue lights. Those maximums will suffice for most people, but some smart-home fans who’ve installed the popular Hue lights and WeMo switches in multiple rooms may find this too limiting.

  
  

  That said, it does hint at the beginning of using the Echo as a true, hands-off control center for the entire home. Amazon did not name any other brands in today’s announcement, but there’s no reason to think the company will not ultimately expand to include controls for other product lines.

  
  

  The Echo has not exactly taken the market by storm, mostly because of the excruciatingly slow rollout of the device. Users who placed orders in 2014 are still waiting for delivery of their Echo and Amazon is still only allowing customers to request an invitation to maybe purchase one in the future.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


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by Chris Morran via Consumerist

uCFPB Launches Effort To Bring Financial Education To Schoolsr

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  (Alan Levine)

  
  
  
  

  While it’s never too late to become financially literate, it certainly helps if you start early. That’s why the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is launching a national effort to improve financial education in schools.

  
  
  
  

  The new educational initiative centers on a resource guide containing strategies to promote development and implementation of financial education in student coursework.

  
  

  Although the guide is targeted toward policymakers, the CFBP says it was designed to assist all educators.

  
  

  Each section of the guide – which begins with laying the groundwork for financial learning, building initiative and extending knowledge – includes case studies and a resource directory.

  
  

  The Bureau says the effort was established as a reaction to research reports that show students who receive financial education from kindergarten to twelfth grade achieve significantly higher savings and net worth later in life.

  
  

  “We have watched too many Americans struggle to manage their affairs within our complex financial system,” CFPB Director Richard Cordray said in a statement. “Financial education in our schools is critical to the financial well-being of future generations.”

  
  

  CFPB Launches Nationwide Effort to Advance Financial Education in Schools [CFPB]

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


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by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

uChipotle Still Doesn’t Know When Carnitas Will Be Available Everywhere Againr

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  (su-lin)

  
  
  
  It’s been nearly three months since a vendor-related issue led Chipotle to stop selling carnitas burritos at 1/3 of its stores, but the company still doesn’t know when it will be able to meet the full demand from pork fans.
  

  “We don’t know for sure when we’ll be fully supplied again,” a spokesman for Chipotle explains to Bloomberg. “For many years, we’ve been operating in a system where the primary food supply doesn’t meet our standards.”

  
  

  This is the risky road that a company like Chipotle chooses to take when it wants to be the size of a large fast food chain while offering meat that meets high standards like being free of antibiotics and from humanely treated animals.

  
  

  Chipotle dumped one of its major pork vendors after learning that pigs were not being kept in conditions mandated by the burrito chain.

  
  

  While Chipotle has previously had to temporarily compromise on its standards by using “conventionally” raised beef when it was unable to get a sufficient supply of antibiotic-free meat, the decision to axe carnitas from the menus of 600 Chipotle stores marked the first time the company had ever pulled a main menu ingredient.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


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by Chris Morran via Consumerist