Behold: "The Database of Doom"

The Washington Times gets it...

"Consumer agency endangers employers with rumor and innuendo"

EDITORIAL: CPSC's database of doom

WE INTERRUPT THIS PROGRAM…WITH AN ALTERNATIVE

Given the many flaws of the Commission’s draft final rule for the public database, my colleague, Commissioner Nord, and I have proposed an ALTERNATIVE DATABASE RULE. This rule more accurately reflects the law Congress provided us and it will address some of its key flaws.

Our alternative rule will:
- tighten up who can submit information so that the reports coming into the database are more reliable;
- improve the procedures for correcting inaccurate information so that consumers are not misled by bad information in the database; and
- put in place procedures for review of reports so that the database does not become a “post it and forget it” exercise.

There is still time for the Commission to make these changes since the database vote is not until November 17th. I hope this alternative will receive due consideration.

More details to come on the Database rule’s main flaws…

Click here for Commissioner Nancy Nord's blog post regarding our alternative

Garbage In...Garbage Out

Over the next few weeks, I will explain in detail the *MAIN FLAWS* in the database rule as currently proposed. It is my hope that this Commission will listen to the commenters and make significant, necessary changes before finalizing this rule:

Flaw #1: WHO CAN SUBMIT A REPORT

The CPSIA only mentions five categories of submitters: consumers; local, State, or Federal government agencies; health care professionals; child service providers; and public safety entities. Anyone looking at this list would see a common thread—these are all people who might have first-hand knowledge of the incident. Why would Congress have included this list, if it actually intended anyone to be able to submit a report? The answer is, it didn’t. Thus, the rule’s list of submitters should not include those who have no relationship to the incident in question.

But as currently conceived, anyone will be able to submit a “report of harm” to the new, public database—even if the submitter does not know who was harmed, the particular product involved (let alone the exact model), and did not see the incident occur. As of right now, in a national database full of incidents across all consumer products (everything from toasters, to ATVs, to furniture), we are not even limiting who can submit to people who have first-hand knowledge of an incident!

Why is this important? Because Congress intended to create a useful, accurate database for consumers wishing to make a purchase. But this database will not be useful to consumers if random bystanders, attorneys, advocacy groups or even well-intentioned citizens without key facts can fill it with unreliable reports. It will simply be garbage in…garbage out.

More to come…

"I can't hear you...I’m not listening"

This week’s consumer database hearing confirmed what I have feared since the NPR was released….this commission simply is not interested in listening to your concerns. More than 2/3 of the comments we received indicated that a more narrow definition of “consumer” or “others” would improve the accuracy and reliability of the database---something that is imperative for both consumers and manufacturers that will be using it. A massive public database with unverified complaints and no limits to what can come in (with a self-verification check box and disclaimer that barely pass the laugh test…) is useless to just about everyone but perhaps trial lawyers and advocacy groups looking for someone to sue or a new industry to regulate…..

I hope there is still a chance that the final rule will contain enough improvements to bring some common sense to this massive endeavor.

The clock is ticking....

Today the CPSC released the proposed rule for the notorious Public Database (aka the Publicly Available Consumer Product Safety Information Database). I’m sorry to say that it was drafted exclusively by the Majority Party Members of the Commission with next to no input from the Minority Members. As a result, the draft rule is very one-sided in its treatment of accuracy, privacy, and usefulness concerns. Here is an unsolicited (though I believe correct) view that was published independently or you can click here to read my official statement.

The public now has 60 days to comment, so please do yourself a favor and examine this rule carefully! AND COMMENT!

Chomp, Chomp

Hugh Hewitt warns that the Database Monster will devour American business

Later this week, the Commission will be voting on a proposed rule on how we will be implementing the consumer database, a publicly available consumer product database with reports of harm that can be generated by just about anyone—and on any consumer product from baby cribs to toasters. If you haven’t heard about it, Hugh Hewitt’s article above sums up the different abuses that could crop up from the “reports.”