Current Events in November 2019

Google’s plan to collect data on tens of millions of patients under its “Project Nightingale” program is drawing federal scrutiny. 

The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this week that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has opened an inquiry into the project to determine whether it violates the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (known as HIPAA). 

For the project, Google has partnered with Ascension -- one of the largest Catholic and nonprofit healthcare providers. Ascension plans to share comprehensive patient health records with Google, according to the Journal. 

The Office for Civil Rights in the Department of Health and Human Services "will seek to learn more information about this mass collection of individuals' medical records to ensure that HIPAA protections were fully implemented,” the Journal said.

A company spokesperson told the publication that Google is "happy to cooperate" with the investigation.

Patient privacy concerns

In a blog post, Google described its collaboration with Ascension as a “business arrangement to help a provider with the latest technology, similar to the work we do with dozens of other healthcare providers."

The Journal reported that at least 150 Google employees had access to patient data. However, Google maintains that it’s fully complying with HIPAA regulations.

"We believe Google's work with Ascension adheres to industry-wide regulations (including HIPAA) regarding patient data, and comes with strict guidance on data privacy, security, and usage," Google said in the FAQ section of its blog post. 

The tech giant added that Ascension’s data "cannot be used for any other purpose than for providing these services we're offering under the agreement, and patient data cannot and will not be combined with any Google consumer data."

Google said Ascension authorized Google employees to handle patient data because the data is "very complex and non-standardized.” The firm said it needs to “configure and tune our processing systems to ensure correct product operations and patient safety.” 

Tech companies increasingly look to health care

Google’s privacy practices have undergone federal scrutiny before. Earlier this year, the company agreed to pay a record $170 million penalty to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for improperly collecting and profiting off of the personal information of children through targeted ads. 

The federal inquiry into Google’s healthcare venture comes as others in tech sector attempt to launch health care initiatives of their own. Apple CEO Tim Cook has said he believes his company’s greatest contribution will ultimately be health-related, and Amazon and Microsoft have each unveiled their own plans to expand into the healthcare industry. 

A Facebook bug that allowed the Facebook app to activate the cameras of those running iOS 13 has now been fixed. 

Web designer Joshua Maddux spotted the bug and posted about it on Twitter earlier this week, saying it “lets you see the camera open behind your feed.” A Facebook official responded thanking Maddux for noticing the glitch and promising to get to work on a fix. 

“This sounds like a bug, we are looking into it,” Guy Rosen, Facebook’s vice president of integrity, said Tuesday. 

Facebook said Wednesday that it was submitting fixes for the bug to Apple. According to The Verge, the Facebook iOS app has now been updated and is available in the App Store. 

Removing problematic content

Facebook has been attempting to mitigate a number of issues directly affecting users as of late. The company recently paid a record $5 billion fine to the FTC over its handling of user data in the 2018 Cambridge Analytica scandal. 

Earlier this month, Facebook announced that it recently became aware that a subset of app developers had retained data from user groups on the platform. The disclosure came just a few weeks after Facebook revealed that it suspended “tens of thousands” of apps, citing various privacy concerns. 

On Wednesday, the company announced that it removed 3.2 billion fraudulent accounts from April to September. Facebook said in its latest transparency report that it has improved its ability to proactively “detect and block attempts to create fake, abusive accounts.” 

"We can estimate that every day, we prevent millions of attempts to create fake accounts using these detection systems,” the company said. 

Facebook said it removed more than 11.6 million instances of content depicting child nudity and sexual exploitation of children on Facebook and 754,000 pieces on Instagram during the third quarter.

"While we are pleased with this progress, these technologies are not perfect and we know that mistakes can still happen," the company wrote in a blog post. "That's why we continue to invest in systems that enable us to improve our accuracy in removing content that violates our policies while safeguarding content that discusses or condemns hate speech.” 

The latest report from the government on consumer prices shows inflation remains tame, but a survey of consumers shows something different. Many consumers, especially women, don’t think they’re keeping up.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose in October by 0.4 percent, creating an inflation rate of 1.8 percent over the last 12 months. That’s slightly below where the Federal Reserve would like to see prices.

The official inflation rate rose last month largely because of higher gasoline prices, which have begun to slowly come down -- except in California. The index covering all forms of energy jumped 2.7 percent last month. The cost of medical care, recreation, and restaurants also rose.

More than half don’t think they’re keeping up

The prices consumers paid for clothing, household furnishings, new cars and trucks, and airline tickets went down in October. But if you didn’t buy any of those things, it might not feel like inflation is so tame.

That’s the conclusion of a survey of consumers conducted by CPI Inflation Calculator, a private online tool that analyzes inflation trends using official government data. A survey of 1,500 consumers between the ages of 18 and 65 found 56.1 percent don’t believe they’re keeping up with the rising cost of living.

Women were even more likely to say inflation isn’t so tame, with more than 63 percent of female respondents giving that response. Women 18 to 24 years of age feel the pinch even more, with 75 percent saying they aren’t keeping up with the cost of living. Fewer than 60 percent of men in that same age group gave that response.

Only 30 percent of the consumers participating in the survey said they are able to keep up with inflation. But again, when broken down demographically, more men than women declared that inflation is not a problem. Forty-two percent of men between the ages of 45 and 64 were not concerned about rising prices.

It often depends on what you buy

Whether a consumer is affected by inflation often comes down to where the individual consumer spends their money. If they have health problems or a child in college, they are most likely to think inflation is a problem. The costs of both of those categories are rising much faster than the rate of inflation.

Geography may also have something to do with it. Consumers who live in large coastal cities likely encounter a generally higher cost of living than people living in small- to medium-sized cities.

Rastelli Foods Group of Swedesboro, N.J., is recalling approximately 130,464 pounds of raw ground beef.

The products may be contaminated with extraneous materials -- specifically pieces of plastic.

There are no confirmed reports of adverse reactions.

The following items produced from October 3 – 15, 2019, are being recalled:

• 16-oz vacuum sealed packages containing “NATURE'S RANCHER 100% GRASS FED ORGANIC GROUND BEEF 85% LEAN, 15% FAT” with case code 9276, 9283, 9287, or 9288 and use or freeze by dates of 10/24/19, 10/31/19, 11/04/19, 11/07/19, and 11/11/19.
• 16-oz vacuum sealed packages containing “NATURE'S RANCHER 100% GRASS FED ORGANIC GROUND BEEF 93% LEAN, 7% FAT” with case code 9276, 9283, 9287, or 9288 and use or freeze by dates of 10/24/19, 10/31/19, 11/04/19, 11/07/19, and 11/11/19.

The recalled products, bearing establishment number “EST. 7877-A” inside the USDA mark of inspection, were shipped to distribution centers and further sent to retail locations in Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois and Maryland.

What to do

Customers who purchased the recalled products should not consume them, but discard or return them to the place of purchase.

Consumers with questions may contact Mike Kelly at (856) 803-1100.

Google is reportedly working toward launching a checking account product for consumers, according to The Wall Street Journal. 

A Google executive told the publication that the company’s “Cache” project could launch as soon as 2020. It will operate in partnership with Citigroup and the Stanford Federal Credit Union. Checking accounts will be branded with the names of the financial institutions rather than Google’s own name. 

Google executive Caesar Sengupta noted that customers’ financial data won’t be sold to advertisers; the new venture is simply intended to expand Google’s digital service offerings, he said. 

“If we can help more people do more stuff in a digital way online, it’s good for the internet and good for us,” Sengupta told the Journal. He added that the service could be used to offer loyalty card programs. 

Tech firms branching out into financial services

Google joins other big technology companies that have expressed an interest in offering financial services. Last year, Amazon was said to have been having discussions with J.P. Morgan about a potential checking account. 

In August, Apple launched its own credit card in collaboration with Goldman Sachs. The company is currently facing accusations that it assigns higher credit limits to men who apply for the card. 

Facebook is attempting to expand its presence in the financial services sector through the launch of a proposed cryptocurrency called Libra, but it is struggling to get lawmakers and financial backers on board with the venture. Facebook has also announced that it’s launching a new payments service called Facebook Pay, which offers a way for users across its services to make payments to one another. 

Regulatory skepticism

During a Wednesday interview on CNBC’s Squawk Box, Senator Mark Warner (D- Va.) expressed concern about problems that could arise in regulating big tech companies that are experimenting with financial service offerings. 

“I’m concerned when we got, whether it’s Libra or the Google proposal, ... these giant tech platforms entering into new fields before there are some regulatory rules of the road,” Warner said. “Because once they get in, the ability to extract them out is going to be virtually impossible.” 

Facebook announced on Tuesday that it’s launching a new payments system called Facebook Pay, which will allow users across Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp to send payments to one another. 

The company notes that the service is separate from its cryptocurrency venture, Libra. 

“Facebook Pay is built on existing financial infrastructure and partnerships, and is separate from the Calibra wallet which will run on the Libra network,” Deborah Liu, Facebook’s vice president of marketplace and commerce, said in a blog post.

Facebook’s new payment product will put the company in competition with services like Venmo, Apple Pay, and Square. Users will be able to use the service to transfer money from their bank account or credit cards to pay for “fundraisers, in-game purchases, event tickets, person-to-person payments on Messenger and purchases from select Pages and businesses on Facebook Marketplace.” 

The service will initially be rolled out to Facebook and Messenger users in the U.S. It can be found in the settings section of the Facebook or Messenger apps. 

“Over time, we plan to bring Facebook Pay to more people and places, including for use across Instagram and WhatsApp,” Liu said.  

New payments venture

The launch of the new payments system comes as Facebook attempts to get its Libra digital currency project off the ground. 

Facebook recently lost PayPal, Mastercard, and Visa as partners in its Libra project. The company is currently trying to convince lawmakers that Libra is a good idea despite bipartisan concerns about the possible impact of the project. 

At a congressional hearing in late October, CEO Mark Zuckerberg attempted to allay lawmaker concerns by saying that Libra could lower the cost of electronic payments and make it easier for people without bank accounts to transfer money.

The unveiling of Facebook Pay also further unifies Facebook’s services during a time in which many are calling for the massive platform to be broken up. Democratic Presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren has argued that the company should be broken up in order to encourage competition in the market. 

Facebook said Tuesday that its new payments product is “part of our ongoing work to make commerce more convenient, accessible and secure for people on our apps.” 

“We’ll continue to develop Facebook Pay and look for ways to make it even more valuable for people on our apps,” Liu said. 

Dean Foods is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, in part because consumers aren’t drinking milk the way they have in the past.

The company, the largest milk producer in the U.S., says rising debt and declining sales are forcing it to turn to bankruptcy in an effort to keep existing business operations going. The company said it will also focus on its pension obligations for current employees and retired employees.

At the same time, Dean Foods said it is engaged in “advanced discussions” with Dairy Farmers of America, Inc. (DFA), a major dairy co-op, about purchasing “substantially all assets” of the company.

"The actions we are announcing today are designed to enable us to continue serving our customers and operating as normal as we work toward the sale of our business," said Eric Beringause, who recently joined Dean Foods as CEO. "We have a strong operational footprint and distribution network, a robust portfolio of leading national brands and extensive private label capabilities, all supported by approximately 15,000 dedicated employees around the country.”

Changing environment

Beringause says Dean Foods has tried to adapt to a changing environment, but the decline in milk consumption has been a strong headwind that has been hard to overcome. However, he says the company will continue to “provide customers with an uninterrupted supply of high-quality dairy products.”

Dean Foods reports milk sales are down another 7 percent so far in 2019, and company profits have fallen 14 percent. The company produces a number of different brands of milk products, including Dairy Pure, Land O’Lakes, and Organic Valley. It blames most of its financial trouble on an "accelerated decline in the conventional white milk category."

‘Obsession’ with oat milk

In March, an industry publication noted that consumers’ “obsession” with oat milk and other non-cow forms of milk was devastating the dairy industry. That month, DFA reported that its total sales in 2018 had dropped by roughly $1.1 billion dollars compared to 2017. The group said consumers’ move to oat, nut, soy, and other alternative “milk” products was not an insignificant part of the trend.

The dairy industry has even been forced to fight to maintain milk’s longtime role in the school lunchroom. The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) worked with the Agriculture Department last month to make clear that bottled water is not a replacement for milk in the lunch line.

As it seeks bankruptcy protection, Dean Foods reports that it has received commitments of $850 million in new financing to reorganize its business.

Going back to work after a serious medical condition comes with obstacles, as recent studies involving both cancer and heart attack survivors have revealed. 

Now, researchers from the University of California at San Diego have discovered that patients recovering from a stint in the intensive care unit (ICU) are facing similar struggles returning to work. 

“We already know that more than 50 percent of patients surviving critical illness experience impairments in cognitive, physical, and/or mental health after ICU stays,” said researcher Dr. Biren Kamdar. “We now can add delayed return-to-work and joblessness to the potential adverse outcomes.” 

Job struggles

To understand the effect that time in the ICU has on later job prospects, the researchers analyzed previous studies that included 10,000 patients who spent time in the ICU. All of the patients were employed before their hospital time, and the researchers worked to determine how their employment status was affected by their illness. 

As Dr. Kamdar explained, patients often still struggle with health concerns after they leave the ICU. The researchers’ study revealed that those concerns are often compounded by stress related to newfound unemployment. 

“Survival is not enough,” said Dr. Kamdar. “We are seeing that many patients get discharged from the ICU and then experience disabilities that significantly affect their quality of life. We need to shift the paradigm of care in the ICU to include early and effective interventions aimed at helping patients get back to a normal life, including returning to work.”  

The largest proportion of ICU survivors were affected by unemployment in the first three months after their time in the hospital, a window that the researchers discovered left two-thirds of ICU patients without jobs. The longer the patient was out of the ICU, the less likely they were to be unemployed. But even after one year, over 30 percent of patients were still out of work. 

“Impacts ranged from unplanned job changes to complete job loss to early retirement,” Dr. Kamdar said. “Survivors frequently required ongoing disability benefits with rates of 20 to 27 percent at one year, and 59 to 89 percent at 76 months.” 

The researchers are putting the onus on hospitals because they say more can be done to help patients while they’re still in the ICU. They hope that future interventions can help patients get in the best shape possible upon discharge so they can make a return to their daily lives as seamlessly as can be expected. 

“Designing and evaluating novel ICU-based interventions is necessary to give patients a chance of having better long-term outcomes,” said Dr. Kamdar. “In coordination with employers, patients may be able to return to their chosen vocations.”  

Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell will testify today before the Congressional Joint Economic Committee and then again on Thursday before the House Budget Committee.

The Fed chief will likely provide strong clues about his plans for monetary policy in 2020, and most market analysts don’t expect him to deliver any surprises. At the end of last month, as the Fed cut its key interest rate a quarter-point, Powell said the economy appears to be in a good place, suggesting monetary policy would pretty much remain unchanged next year.

Next year, of course, is an election year, and the state of the economy is likely to be an issue. Lower rates could have a stimulative effect and boost the prospects of the current resident of the White House.

President Trump has made no secret of his desire for lower interest rates. He has harshly criticized Powell over the last year for raising rates, then not cutting them fast enough. In a speech Tuesday to the Economic Club of New York, Trump for the first time called for negative interest rates, in which bond investors get back less money from the government than they invest.

‘Give me some of that money’

Trump pointed out that the U.S. is competing economically with countries such as Germany, which has recently adopted negative rates. He said the U.S. should follow suit to keep things even.

“Give me some of that money. I want some of that money,” Trump said in his speech. “Our Federal Reserve doesn’t let us do it. It puts us at a competitive disadvantage to other countries.”

But economists generally consider negative interest rates to be a red flag, signaling fear on the part of investors. Why else, they ask, would people give the government their money and be willing to accept less of it back when the bond matures? 

Writing for Bloomberg News, Christopher Condon and Rich Miller point out that a Federal Reserve that takes no action on interest rates during an election year would be unusual. They note that Fed policy has fluctuated one way or another in the last 10 presidential years. 

Since its founding, the Federal Reserve has tried to maintain its independence from presidents and from politics in general, but it has faced a stiff challenge since President Trump took office. While many presidents may have been unhappy with Fed policy, none have been as vocal about it as Trump.

For that reason, many analysts believe the current Fed will be very reluctant to react to presidential tweets next year and, barring an economic setback, will hold monetary policy -- and interest rates -- steady through the election year.

American Honda Motor Co. is recalling ten model year 2019-2020 Pilots and model year 2019 Passports.

The front frame left and right side upper members may not have been welded completely to the unibody.

Incomplete body welding may provide inadequate protection to occupants in a crash, increasing the risk of injury.

What to do

Honda will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the vehicle for missing welds free of charge. If the vehicle is missing welds, the dealer will offer to repurchase the vehicle or provide a similar replacement vehicle.

Owner notification will begin December 13, 2019.

Owners may contact Honda customer service at (888) 234-2138. Honda's number for this recall is X6J.

Whole Foods Market is recalling multiple vegetable products from its U.S. stores that may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.

No illnesses have been reported to date.

The list of products, sold between October 10 and November 4, 2019, can be found here.

The recalled products were available on salad and hot bars, chefs’ cases or packaged in plastic containers.

What to do

Customers who purchased the recalled product can bring a valid receipt into stores for a full refund.

Consumers with questions may call (844) 936-8255 fro 7:00 a.m. To 10:00 p.m. (CST) Monday through Friday, or 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

The Mouse is officially in the house. 

Say hello to Disney+, the new subscription video on-demand (SVOD) streaming service from the Walt DIsney Company. The service is making its debut Tuesday in the United States, Canada, and the Netherlands.

All in all, Disney+ will have at its fingertips close to 7,000 television episodes and 500 films. To kick-start the service, the company will lean heavily on five properties: 

• Star Wars: Included will be the first six films of the Star Wars franchise, plus The Force Awakens and Rogue One

• National Geographic: Since Disney owns 73 percent of National Geographic Partners, it’s a no-brainer to include all that National Geographic already has on the shelf and in current production. National Geographic will also be producing the documentary series Magic of the Animal Kingdom and The World According to Jeff Goldblum.

• Pixar: The animation studio is a motherlode of its own with 21 feature films, including all the Toy Story movies, Finding Dory, Coco, and The Incredibles.

• Marvel: Most of the Marvel Cinematic Universe films will all be available from day one; however, seven films -- Thor: Ragnarok, Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, Ant-Man and the Wasp, The Incredible Hulk, Spider-Man: Homecoming, and Spider-Man: Far From Home -- won’t be available for a while because the rights to many of those were previously licensed to Netflix. In other cases, the distribution rights for some films are shared with different studios (e.g., Sony Pictures for the Spider-Man films).

• Disney: As any video-consuming person knows, this is a goldmine of its own. The entire Disney film library, including films currently in the "Disney Vault" -- Pinocchio, Fantasia, Snow White, The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, etc. -- will eventually find their way into the channel. And for the D'oh!’ers among you, Disney+ also owns the rights to the first 30 seasons of The Simpsons, and those are expected to be part of the lineup at launch. 

To sweeten the deal for Disney-loving consumers, the service has also created a boatload of new original -- and exclusive -- series and movies. Those include High School Musical: The Musical: The Series; Forky Asks a Question (Forky, by the way, is a character in Toy Story); a new version of Lady and the Tramp; and the video version of the young adult novel Stargirl.

How do you get Disney+ and what does it cost?

Out of the chute, Disney+ will be available on the web, so consumers can use their computers to watch its content. Offerings can also be found on certain apps -- like its own Disney+ app, Android TV, and Apple TV -- and devices such as Roku, PlayStation 4, a variety of smart TVs, and both Amazon’s Fire HD and Fire TV.

The company deserves kudos for going the distance for consumers with disabilities so they can also enjoy the service. The app will offer support for closed captioning, descriptive audio, and navigation assistance.

Cost-wise, it appears to be a good deal -- or at least a competitive one. Sandwiched in between AppleTV+ at $4.99 a month and Netflix’s basic service at $8.99 a month, Disney+’s initial price will be $7 per month. And because Disney now owns Hulu and already had ESPN in its portfolio, consumers who add in services from either of those two channels will get an extra $5 off, creating a $13 a month bundle for Disney+, Hulu (with ads), and ESPN Plus.

Goodies galore -- and one little bump in the road

With all that will be taking place over the next year or so with NBC-Universal’s new streaming service, changes at Hulu, and the recent roll-out of AppleTV+, Disney+ is starting out gloves off and in full bravado, daring competitors to match its consumer offerings and allowing subscribers to:

• Get it for free -- or close to free, anyway. CNET reports that Verizon is giving away a whole year of Disney+ with its Unlimited plans;

• Watch commercial-free;

• Concurrently stream video content on up to four registered devices with no up-charges;

• Have access to unlimited downloads of shows and movies on the Disney+ app to watch offline later on up to 10 mobile or tablet devices, with no constraints on the number of times a title can be downloaded per year; and

• Share with up to seven other people. Interestingly, at least as far as ConsumerAffairs’ report on Netflix, HBO, and other SVODs going after consumers who allow others outside their household to use their subscription, Disney+ says that subscribers “can set up to seven different profiles.” There’s not one mention of “household,” “family,” or finger-wag warning that users better not let others ride on their subscription’s coattails. 

The bump in the road? CNN reported that as many as 8,415 site visitors experienced issues as soon as the service launched. Users were greeted by error pages starring Disney's own Wreck-It Ralph.

"Unable to connect to Disney+," said the error page, with Wreck-It Ralph holding a WiFi signal, reading, "There seems to be an issue connecting to the Disney+ service." 

However, the issue turned out to be temporary. EntertainmentWeekly reported that it was able to get the service going after a few restarts of the Disney+ app.

Around and around and around we go…

...and where this streaming service merry-go-round stops, nobody knows.

With all the buy-outs, shake-outs, and roll-outs in the streaming service game, the next couple of years will be interesting to say the least. 

“While competition is generally considered a positive thing for consumers, and rightly so, there can be too much of a good thing, as subscribers of video streaming services may soon come to learn,”  says Statista’s Felix Richter. “The industry that was once dominated by Netflix could become too fragmented for its own good.”

What Richter is essentially saying is that all the little pieces that Netflix had licensing deals for and could lose in the shake-out might force consumers to piecemeal their perfect world of shows together by subscribing to multiple services to get all they want. Cases-in-point are Friends, The Office, and the Disney and Marvel movies -- all of which consumers could find inside Netflix.

However, that smorgasbord is closing down: Disney is pulling its content out of Netflix; Friends will move to HBO Max in 2020; and shows like The Office and Parks and Recreation will eventually be exclusive to NBC-Universal’s new Peacock service.

“For consumers this means either limiting their content choices or subscribing to multiple streaming services rather than just one,” Richter says. “For existing streaming services, Netflix in particular, the situation is also highly dangerous. According to a survey conducted by Morning Consult and the Hollywood Reporter earlier this year, many Netflix subscribers would cancel their subscription in case the service loses some of the aforementioned content.”