Consumer Protection
Senator Brown currently is the ranking Republican on the Consumer Affairs & Professional Licensure Committee. He has co-sponsored over 30 bills that cover a wide variety of areas that face consumers today.
► Gift Certificate Redemption – Senator Brown co-sponsored legislation which would allow consumers to redeem gift certificates/cards valued at ten dollars or less for cash. According to a recent California study, $8.2 billion is wasted in the United States each year on unredeemed gift cards. This is an enormous unearned profit for retailers, and it only makes sense to allow consumers to redeem what's left of their cards for cash, rather than be forced to buy more goods out of their own pocket or throw the cards away.
► Wine Choice – Senator Brown is a strong advocate for allowing Massachusetts consumers to receive direct shipments of wine from vineyards across the country. In a heated debate for a bill that would protect wholesalers at the expense of consumers, Senator Brown spoke on the floor of the Senate about the importance of consumer choice
► Identity Theft Prevention and Privacy Protection - With the proliferation of identity theft, Senator Brown is working to protect consumers from fraud and an invasion of privacy. Sen. Brown cosponsored legislation in conjunction with the Attorney General’s Office, to address the growing problem of identity theft. The measure expands the definition of identity theft to protect a wide range of personal information, allows victims to sue in Massachusetts even if the person who stole their identity resides in another state or country and cracks down on scam artists who use the names of legitimate charities to bilk people out of their money. The bill also includes enhanced penalties for elderly identity theft, those who traffic in stolen IDs and those who are convicted of multiple offense.
Other bills include prohibiting the installation of “spyware” on a computer unless an individual authorizes a company to install the software. Another bill would help protect medical records privacy by requiring an agency to notify any individuals whose medical information is released to a third party.