Campaign Promises

Other/Miscellaneous -> Independent Organizations -> FTC

ItemIndependent Organizations
FTCGrade
IO-43 The Promise: "I'll institute a five-star rating system to inform consumers about the level of risk involved in every credit card."
When/Where: Obama Campaign Speech, Raleigh, NC dated 06/09/08.
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/09/us/politics/09transcript-obama.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1
Status:On 04/30/09, the House voted in favor of the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009. Also known as the Credit Card Act of 2009, the Senate passed it on 05/19/09. President Obama signed it into law on 05/22/09. The major reforms introduced by this new law: bans unfair rate increases, prevents unfair fee traps, plain sight/plain language disclosures, accountability, and protections for students and young people. While the foregoing were all positive steps with regard to consumer credit card protections, there was no "five-star rating system" established by this legislation.

The Credit Card Safety Star Act of 2009 (S.900) introduced by Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) on 04/27/09, as an example, would have responded to this promise but failed to garner congressional interest and expired with the 111th Congress at the end of CY2010.

This promise was not fulfilled.		0.00
IO-44 The Promise: "will create a Credit Card Bill of Rights to protect consumers."
When/Where: Obama-Biden Plan to Revitalize the Economy, 2008
Source: https://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20090429185145/http://change.gov/agenda/economy_agenda/
Status:After an initial 04/23/09 meeting with credit card company leaders and passage of legislation for the promised Bill of Rights for credit card holders, Obama signed the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure (CARD) Act - also known as the Credit Card Bill of Rights - on 05/22/09.

On 08/22/10, the final reform provisions of the CARD Act took effect. Since that date, consumers have been protected against unreasonable fees and penalties for late payments, as well as unfair practices involving gift cards. This law also made the terms of credit cards more understandable and put a stop to hidden over-the-limit fees and other practices designed to trap consumers. It restricted rate increases that applied retroactively to old balances. And the CARD Act prevented companies from increasing rates within the first year an account is opened.

This promise was fulfilled.		1.00
IO-45 The Promise: "...will require that parents have the option of receiving parental controls software that not only blocks objectionable Internet content but also prevents children from revealing personal information through their home computer."
When/Where: Obama-Biden Plan: "Connecting and Empowering All Americans Through Technology and Innovation" dated 11/13/07.
Source: https://www.wired.com/images_blogs/threatlevel/2009/04/obamatechplan.pdf
Status:Enforced by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) that became effective on 04/21/00 gave parents control over what information websites could collect from their children. Any website for children under 13, or any general site that collects personal information from children it knows are under 13, is required to comply with COPPA.

Under COPPA, sites have to get a parent's permission if they want to collect or share a child's personal information such as full name, address, email address, or cell phone number.

Quite a few software packages are available to help parents control a child's Internet experience and protect the child in the process. These range from the free "K9 Web Protection" by BlueCoat, to paid applications such as Internet Child Protection, NetNanny, CyberSitter, SafeEyes, Puresight PC, CyberPatrol, McAfee Family Protection, FilterPak, imView, and others.

As of end-CY2016, there was no record that President Obama had taken steps to "require" that parents have the option of receiving parental control software.

This promise was not fulfilled.		0.00