Category Archives: Latest In Consumer News
Comcast Sued For Turning Home Wi-Fi Routers Into Public Hotspots
by Benny Evangelista, San Francisco Chronicle
The suit claims the company turns the service on without permission and places “the costs of its national Wi-Fi network onto its customers.” … Tests showed that under heavy use, the secondary channel adds 30 to 40 percent more costs to a customer’s electricity bill than the modem itself, the suit said. The suit also said “the data and information on a Comcast customer’s network is at greater risk” because the hotspot network “allows strangers to connect to the Internet through the same wireless router used by Comcast customers.” Read More ›
We Can’t Trust Uber
by Zeynep Tufekci and Brayden King, The New York Times (op-ed)
Uber argues that it’s doing only what other technology companies regularly do. That may be true but it only underlines why we need oversight mechanisms that cover all of them. … We need information fiduciaries: independent, external bodies that oversee how data is used, backed by laws that ensure that individuals can see, correct and opt out of data collection. The European Union has established strict controls on personal data that include provisions of privacy, limited and legitimate use and user access to their own data. That shows that accountability is possible. Read More ›
‘Tis The Season For Store Credit Cards, But Tread Carefully
by Herb Weisbaum, Today
There are several reasons why so many stores want you to have their card. Marshal Cohen, a nationally-respected retail analyst at The NDP Group, told TODAY these cards build customer loyalty and create a sizeable cash flow. “A retailer can actually make good money on the interest,” he said. “Remember, Americans aren’t great at paying off their credit card balances.” One new credit card will probably have a small negative impact on your credit score. That shouldn’t be a problem unless you plan to apply for a loan in the next few months. Read More ›
FTC Approves Final Order In Case About Google Billing For Kids’ In-App Charges Without Parental Consent
by Federal Trade Commission, press release
The settlement requires Google to provide full refunds of unauthorized in-app charges incurred by children and to modify its billing practices to obtain express, informed consent from consumers before billing them for in-app charges. Google is required to contact all consumers who had an in-app charge to inform them of the refund process for unauthorized in-app charges by children within 15 days of the order being finalized. Read More ›
Air Bag Recall Pressure Builds; Takata Remains Defiant
by David Shepardson, The Detroit News
Last week, NHTSA formally demanded Takata declare that millions of vehicles sold with driver-side air bags nationwide are defective, the first step toward forcing the company to recall the vehicles. … NHTSA is not empowered to order a recall. Because Takata refused, the next step will be for NHTSA to issue an initial decision demanding a recall and to schedule a public hearing, where it could hear graphic testimony from people who have been injured. If Takata refuses after the hearing, the agency would have to go to court to enforce the recall demand. Read More ›
Takata Heads Back to Congress over Faulty Airbags
by Aaron M. Kessler, The New York Times
Legislators and critics of auto safety regulators have questioned whether the entire structure of regional recalls, which allows automakers or suppliers to limit safety recalls to certain states, should be re-examined or eliminated. Takata’s refusal to comply with regulators’ order to make the recalls national could test the limits of the current structure’s ability to handle such safety issues, coming in a year of a string of recalls by General Motors over ignition switches, which prompted their own congressional hearings. Read More ›
Hacked vs. Hackers: Game On
by Nicole Perlroth, The New York Times
The impact on consumers has been vast. Last year, over 552 million people had their identities stolen, according to Symantec, and nearly 25,000 Americans had sensitive health information compromised — every day — according to the Department of Health and Human Services. Over half of Americans, including President Obama, had to have their credit cards replaced at least once because of a breach … . But if there is a silver lining to the current predicament … security experts say it is that computer security, long an afterthought, has been forced into the national consciousness. Read More ›
Concern Grows in Firefighters, Others After Cancer-causing Flame Retardants Found in Test Subjects
by Edward Ortiz, The Sacramento Bee
“Flame retardant may be the lead of the 21st century,” said Brian Rice, former deputy fire chief with the Sacramento Metro Fire District and president of Sacramento Area Firefighters Union Local 522. Rice started fighting fires in the 1980s. “I’m 55 and I feel like it is not a matter of if I will get cancer, but when.” … The new study should motivate consumers to ask for furniture without flame retardants when they buy new furniture and to wash their hands and keep dust levels at home low to reduce exposure. Read More ›
Protect Yourself While Shopping on Black Friday, and Beyond
by Ann Carrns, The New York Times
Over the past year, so many data breaches at retail chains and restaurants have come to light that it’s hard to keep track. So what does that mean for shoppers, as the holiday season gets underway? Although it’s unnerving to have any sort of card information stolen – whether by hackers or through an old-fashioned pilfered wallet – consumer and security experts say the fallout may be less damaging if shoppers avoid debit cards and use credit cards instead. Read More ›
Uber’s Android App Is Reportedly Collecting a Huge Amount of Data Without Your Knowledge
by Chris Smith, BGR
Uber has been recently hit by various controversies, and it looks like the company’s PR team will have one more thing to clean up: its Android application. According to a report from Joe’s Security Blog and a post on Y Combinato’r Hacker News further detailing the matter, the official Uber Android app might be spying on users, collecting various data that it shouldn’t have access to in the first place. Read More ›
Preventable Deaths and Other ‘Adverse Events’ in Hospitals: News Reports on the Problem Include Murky Official Data
“Hospitals in California have reported 6,282 adverse events to the state in the last four fiscal years. They range from ‘death associated with an error,’ to ‘stage 3 or 4 decubitus ulcer,’ or bedsores,” the NBC Bay Area Investigative Team reported. Sacramento ABC affiliate News10’s own investigation yielded similar findings. Read More ›
Uber and a Fraught New Era for Tech
by Christopher Mims, Wall Street Journal
So, really, why should Uber care about privacy? … I’d like to argue that a company doesn’t have to be like Uber to experience its success. But the evidence is that tech has changed. As more tech companies in name only emerge—think of all the food, infrastructure and other startups for which tech is merely an enabler—they are subject to the same savage market forces that shape every industry they attempt to disrupt. The days when we could just trust the geeks to have more or less our best interests in mind are gone. Read More ›
Leaked Transcript Shows Geico’s Stance Against Uber, Lyft
by Carolyn Said, San Francisco Chronicle
The largest insurer, State Farm, said it would not cover ride-service activities. “We do not insure livery use, therefore, customers should not depend on their personal auto insurance coverage to protect them while driving for a ride-sharing service like Uber or Lyft,” State Farm spokesman Sevag Sarkissian wrote in an e-mail. “A commercial auto insurance policy is needed to insure against livery use exposures.” Allstate, the third-largest, has a similar policy. Read More ›