The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse urges California voters to oppose the November 2nd ballot initiative Proposition 64, which limits the enforcement of laws that protect against consumer abuses, polluters, and privacy violations. We also urge those who are interested in learning more about the mischaracterization of “trial lawyers” and “shakedown” lawsuits as a national issue, to read on.
Our organization contacts numerous businesses and corporations to solve your consumer problems rather than using the court system. We also work closely with state and federal legislators to enact laws that prevent consumer abuses. In general, we believe that businesses can be profitable without gouging consumers, increasing pollution, violating the privacy of their customers, or perpetrating other abuses that increase their bottom line at your expense.
However, at times businesses do not act within the law regarding their customers’ personal information. Currently, California law allows organizations like ours to represent the interests of consumers who may not want to come forward themselves and publicly disclose sensitive personal information in order to be a plaintiff in a lawsuit, or who may not know that a situation they’re experiencing is in fact, against the law.
The PRC’s most recent case noted in our last email newsletter is against Albertsons and its pharmacies for allegedly using sensitive prescription information for marketing purposes without the consent of their pharmacy customers. We think this practice is wrong; so, we did something to attempt to stop it. We won’t be able to right this kind of wrong in the future if Proposition 64 passes.
This is why California Attorney General Bill Lockyer, our organization and many others are urging Californians to oppose to Proposition 64.
Looking at the supporters for Proposition 64 is a sure indication of those who want to curtail the ability of organizations like ours to bring attention to the way corporations are abusing consumers. You’ll see a long list of large corporations, car dealerships, banks like Bank of America, Union Bank, Household, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, and the California Grocers Association, not the small mom and pop business owners who are depicted as the “victims” of so-called “shakedown” lawsuits. For information about Proposition 64 supporters, see the following:
http://www.electionwatchdog.org/whosbehind.php
http://www.stopshakedownlawsuits.com/supporters_members.html
The long list of consumer organizations like ours, the American Lung Association, AARP, California Attorney General Bill Lockyer and others who oppose Proposition 64 are available at:
http://www.electionwatchdog.org/fs/fs000085.php
To our California recipients, we’d appreciate your opposition to Proposition 64 when you go to the ballot box on November 2nd. For those of you in other states, please keep this message in mind when you hear trial attorneys being vilified in national debates.
Click this link to learn more about the hazards of Proposition 64: http://www.NoOnProp64.com
Posted: Oct 14 2004
