In this episode of Innovation Storytellers Show, the first after our brand refresh, I sat down with two innovation leaders from one of America’s oldest and most trusted consumer brands, Consumer Reports. Leah Fischman Hunter, Director of the Innovation Lab, and Ginny Fahs, Director of Product R&D, join me to unpack how a 90-year-old nonprofit is building modern tools for an online world filled with AI hype, dark patterns, and data brokers.
I share a personal connection at the top. In 2004, I helped launch Consumer Reports WebWatch in the press, when most sites hid executive names, contact details, and return policies. That early effort to bring transparency to the Internet in the 1990s is why this episode matters so much to me.
Two decades later, the stakes are even higher, with scams in our inboxes, consent buried in legalese, and AI systems shaping what we see and buy. CR has always had our backs and I wanted you to hear how they are doing it again.
Leah and Ginny explain how Consumer Reports blends advocacy with product building. Their team translates privacy laws into something people can actually use. We dig into Permission Slip, a free app that lets you reclaim your data and tell companies to stop selling it. We discuss the reality of an opt-out culture in the United States, why people feel powerless regarding data, and how CR’s independence and mission enable it to prioritize the public interest. We also explore Ask CR, an advisor grounded in tested ratings and reporting, rather than ads or affiliate commissions.
We zoom out to the bigger shift happening with AI. I raise the worry that conversational agents often deliver a single definitive answer, while consumers still need choice and transparency. Leah and Ginny describe early work with academic partners on pro-consumer agentic systems and what duty of care and duty of loyalty could look like in software built for people, not just profits. We explore why online evidence needs clearer authorship, how to consider deleting data from platforms you rely on, and where education must catch up quickly.
If you care about your privacy, your wallet, and the truth behind the products you buy, this one is for you. You will walk away with a clearer picture of what rights you already have, how to exercise them without hiring a lawyer, and why organizations like Consumer Reports still matter when technology moves faster than the rules that govern it.
About Leah
Leah Fischman Hunter is an impact strategist working at the intersection of technology, media, and consumer empowerment. As Director of the Innovation Lab at Consumer Reports, she leads operations and forges strategic partnerships that accelerate the development and scaling of cutting-edge technologies in the consumers’ interest. Prior to CR, Leah served as Vice President at Time Warner’s Global Media Group and founded an impact consultancy advising clients on harnessing innovation for meaningful societal change. Leah serves on the Board of Directors of Reel Works, a nonprofit that empowers underserved youth through filmmaking and career pathways in media.
About Ginny
Ginny Fahs is a product leader and social entrepreneur advancing AI and consumer technology for the public good. As Director of Product R&D at Consumer Reports, she leads a team building AI-powered experiences that help people make informed product choices and take action in the market. She conceived and launched Permission Slip, a mobile app that helps people reclaim control of their personal data, and also led the development of AskCR, an expert-powered advisor grounded in CR’s trusted ratings and reviews. Previously, Ginny was a software engineer at Uber and a tech policy fellow at the Aspen Institute. She’s currently a Lecturer at Columbia University, teaching Tech for Good and Civic Tech.