After seeing the success that other consumer groups are having at enacting laws limiting medical debt collection practices in state legislatures, a consumer advocacy that claims to focus on a more traditional approach to life has begun lobbying state lawmakers to ban the use of the Internet in collecting debt altogether. The group wants to ban any and all forms of communication except for letters and would even require collectors to stop using any technology inside their office that connects to the Internet.
The group, the Foundation of Offline and Online Liberties, is based in Pennsylvania and has loose ties to the Amish communities there. The group has embarked on a number of initiatives through the years that aim to stem the influence that the Internet and technology have on the daily lives of consumers.
To date, the group has managed to get bills introduced in the state legislatures in California, Florida, Pennsylvania, and Virginia and they have plans to continue expanding. Their strategy is to find lawmakers who have introduced consumer protection bills against debt collectors and convince them that removing technology from the process is yet another way to make consumers safer.
When reached for a comment, the executive director of FOOL, April Phoul, said, “Collectors are using technology to further encroach on consumers and consumers don’t have a way of fighting back. While we are encouraged by the steps that many states have taken to rein in medical debt collections, we don’t think those measures go far enough.”
None of the bills have progressed very far yet, but FOOL does not appear to be deterred. “All it takes is one state to pass a bill and other states will follow,” Phoul said. “And any state that isn’t smart enough to see how this protects consumers is as gullible as an April Fool.”
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