Stopping Invasive Practices in Their Tracks

“Over the past several years, hundreds of thousands of consumers have made their voices heard by complaining to the commission about unwanted telephone calls—calls they didn’t ask for, that they don’t want, and that they can’t stop. Today, we help them gain some of their privacy back.”

—FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler on the agency’s decision paving the way for phone companies to effectively block robocalls for their customers, a priority for the American public.

The Federal Trade Commission received more than 3 million complaints in 2014 about unwanted calls.

The Federal Trade Commission received more than 3 million complaints in 2014 about unwanted calls. We knew it was a real problem when three out of four consumers told us they were highly annoyed by these unwanted automated phone calls, which prompted our decision to mobilize around the issue. Robocalls are more than just annoying: They can compromise privacy, lead to millions in financial losses, and force consumers to incur fees and charges for unwanted texts and calls.

Our mobile billboard at the nonprofit Internet Engineering Task Force meeting in Dallas, which included a session on caller ID spoofing. Scammers can falsify caller ID to make it look like they’re from the IRS or your area code. We wanted to remind attendees that more than 200,000 consumers want a solution to block those calls.

In a big win for consumers, the Federal Communications Commission listened to the complaints, including from the 50,000 petition signatures we sent, which accompanied a letter demanding free tools to block those unwanted calls. The agency voted in favor of allowing telephone carriers to offer effective robocall-blocking technology to their customers.

Despite the ruling, telephone companies haven’t moved forward, so 45 attorneys general and eight senators joined our call, and urged companies to provide robocall-blocking technology to their customers.

Staffer Delara Derakhshani delivering petitions containing thousands of signatures to the Federal Communications Commission. Ending robocalls has been one of our fastest-growing campaigns ever because it’s an important issue with consumers.

$350 million

Amount stolen from consumers every year in phone scams.

What’s next?

We continue to pressure AT&T, CenturyLink, and Verizon to offer robocall-blocking tools. Our online petition, which has garnered more than 500,000 signatures in just a few months, engages and encourages consumers to join us in this fight for their privacy.

$350 million

Amount stolen from consumers every year in phone scams.

Standing Up
for Consumer Choice

“This is a major victory for consumers who stood up against a media Goliath and won.”

—Marta L. Tellado, president and CEO of Consumer Reports, quoted in USA Today the day media giant Comcast dropped its bid to buy Time Warner Cable—a merger that would have hurt consumers.

Bigger isn’t always better—especially when it comes to serving consumers.

Bigger isn’t always better—especially when it comes to serving consumers. Comcast announced a $45.2 billion deal to merge with Time Warner Cable in February 2014. That would have given Comcast control over two-thirds of the country’s cable television customers and almost 40 percent of the high-speed Internet market. Not surprisingly, Consumer Reports and others in the public interest community opposed the merger because it would lead to higher prices, fewer choices, and even worse customer service.

Our activists at an event in Brooklyn, N.Y., which we convened with a few other national consumer advocate groups. Guests included New York residents and business owners, along with two members of Congress. We collected feedback from consumers at the event and submitted it to the FCC.

With the help of our members and followers, we launched a campaign to urge the Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Justice to take a hard look. More than 300,000 of our activists signed petitions or submitted comments to the FCC against the merger, and almost 12,000 voiced their opposition via phone calls to the agency’s chairman. We also leveraged our annual telecom Ratings showing dissatisfied customers for both Comcast and Time Warner Cable, and our ability to gauge public opinion through our national research center, which found overwhelming public opposition to the merger.

The DOJ and FCC were persuaded in favor of consumers, concluding that a merger would have given too much control of the broadband and video markets to one giant corporation. Ultimately, consumers won the fight.

This group of activists participated in a protest, then testified about the merger at a hearing before the California Public Utilities Commission, which regulates cable service. The consumers’ testimony helped demonstrate public opposition to the merger and added pressure on the commissioners to take a closer look at the controversial deal.

1
million+

Online petition signatures gathered for a broader effort to oppose the merger. Consumer Reports members and followers provided more than a third of the signatures.

What’s next?

We continue to scrutinize any market or corporate activity that would eliminate or reduce choice and drive up costs for consumers. We have our eye on two mergers announced in the summer of 2015 among the largest national health insurance companies—Aetna and Humana, and Anthem and Cigna. Consumer choices could be dramatically reduced, and the insurers could use their increased market position to raise premiums while squeezing providers and forcing them to cut corners on quality and service.

1
million+

Online petition signatures gathered for a broader effort to oppose the merger. Consumer Reports members and followers provided more than a third of the signatures.