We need an area where people can:

(1) Check to see if a product they are concerned about has been reported as having a problem.

(a) If it has been reported, they can report if they’ve had a problem - we would gather description of the problem, the suspicious product, the place that they got the item, do they still have the item - if yes, then we may need to get a sample for testing. We will also need contact information (which we will keep confidential but need so as to confirm rather than have unsubstantiated rumor)

(b) If it has not been reported and they think they have a problem product, then they can create an incident report. World Product Foundation points would be issued to people reporting problems. If the problem is confirmed, then even more points. Obviously all such incident reports will have the information blinded but certain information would be published.

Basically this would help create an ‘epidemiology’ for product problems. We’ll have to research if there isn’t already something like this on the web. There might be some federal reporting but it also could be by sector (eg. autos). A similar system as to something I’m thinking about is what the Center for Disease Control, CDC, maintains. All health care practitioners and area health directors (county health departments typically but also large city health departments) report the presence of certain communicable diseases or even certain rare diseases when they present themselves. Because there is a central clearinghouse within the CDC, the CDC can see if there is a pattern emerging or an increase in rate of infection - sort of an early warning system. Maybe that’s one feature for our site is to be the ‘early warning system’ for product safety.