FCC’s Net Neutrality Plan Alarms Critics, But It’s Nothing New
by David Lazarus, Los Angeles Times
“For more than 20 years, wireless phone companies have not only survived but thrived under similar FCC rules for voice communication,” said Emily Rusch, executive director of the California Public Interest Research Group. “The FCC’s new proposal on broadband protects an open Internet for all consumers.” … “The phone and cable companies want to dictate terms to content providers,” said Mark Toney, executive director of the Utility Reform Network, a San Francisco advocacy group. “They want to call all the shots.” Read More ›
ConsumerWatch: Geico Accused Of Discriminatory Insurance Quotes
When was the last time your car insurance company asked about your job or if you had a college degree? On the Consumer Watch, Julie Watts says some are questioning the legality of Geico’s practices.
Geico Accused Of Discriminating Against ‘Working Class’ Customers
by Kathleen Pender, San Francisco Chronicle
Under Proposition 103, insurance companies must offer good drivers a policy with minimum coverages of $15,000 for a single injury, $30,000 for injury to more than one person in an accident, and $5,000 for property damage, called a “15/30/5 policy.” When a “working-class” person applies online, Geico’s website shows the lowest limits are $100,000 for a single injury, $300,000 for injury to more than one person and $50,000 for property damage, the [Consumer Federation of California] said. Read More ›
GEICO Discriminates Against Unmarried Low-Income Drivers, Consumer Federation Charges
[CFC press release:] GEICO Insurance Co. illegally deceives and discriminates against unmarried, lower or moderate-income motorists by quoting them much higher minimum automobile coverage levels than permitted under state law, the Consumer Federation of California (CFC) alleges in a petition filed today with the California Department of Insurance. Having uncovered this scheme, CFC is calling on the Department of Insurance to enforce state insurance and civil rights laws by ordering GEICO to halt these practices and impose penalties. The targets of GEICO’s deceptive rate quotes are good drivers who have all of these characteristics: are unmarried, not employed in a professional or executive occupation, have not completed college, and are not currently insured. Read More ›
GEICO Rips Off Single, Lower-Income Drivers, CFC Alleges
Read CFC’s enforcement complaint here. If you’re an unmarried, uninsured good driver and have anything less than a bachelor’s degree or a professional job, GEICO quotes you coverages it claims are its “Lowest Limits” that are in fact as much as 1000% more than the minimum it … Read More ›
Wave Of Fake Federal And State Tax Returns Filed, Experts Say
by Herb Weisbaum, NBC News
Lisa Letchworth, who lives in Washington State, doesn’t know how it happened, but crooks got into her TurboTax account. Last Tuesday, when she logged on to start her federal return, she got a nasty surprise. A message on the screen said her return had already been filed and the IRS was issuing a refund of $5,013 to someone else on a prepaid card. … If you use online tax preparation software, especially the kind that stores your completed tax returns, change your login information right away. That’s really the only thing you can do. Read More ›
Report: Automakers Fail To Protect Connected Cars From Security, Privacy Hacks
by Ashlee Kieler, Consumerist
Last year, in a Defense Department-funded test on a 2012 model American-made car, hackers demonstrated they could create the electronic equivalent of a skeleton key to unlock the car’s networks. … [The] report found that nearly 100% of vehicles on the market include wireless technologies that could pose vulnerabilities to hacking or privacy intrusion. … Only two automakers were able to describe any capabilities to diagnose or meaningfully respond to an infiltration in real-time, and most said they rely on technologies that cannot be used for this purpose at all. Read More ›
Anthem Hack: Could The Insurer Have Prevented It?
by Matt O'Brien, San Jose Mercury News
[Critics] say encrypting personal data could have helped. “They claim it’s the expense. Really, there’s no excuse,” said Beth Givens, founder and director of San Diego-based Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. “They don’t want to take the time and effort to decode it.” … Anthem’s breach affected up to 80 million people, far more than the 37.5 million actually covered by the insurer as of December, according to the company’s most recent earnings report. Those hacked included not just Anthem employees but also many former Anthem subscribers, many of whom long ago dropped the insurer. Read More ›
Anthem Hacked; Health Insurance Data On Up To 80 Million Exposed
by Chad Terhune and Ryan Parker, Los Angeles Times
“If confirmed, we are dealing with one of the biggest data breaches in history and probably the biggest data breach in the healthcare industry,” said Jaime Blasco, vice president and chief scientist at AlienVault, a San Mateo, Calif., information security firm. “For individuals, in a few words, it is a nightmare,” he said. “If the attackers had access to names, birthdays, addresses and Social Security numbers, it means that information can be easily used to carry out identity theft schemes.” Read More ›
CPUC Boss Equated Safety Advocate With Mass Murderer
Days after the 2010 PG&E gas explosion that killed eight, hospitalized many more and leveled 38 San Bruno homes, the Executive Director of the California Public Utilities Commission emailed a vice president at the company, equating pipeline safety advocate Mark Toney with an infamous mass murder. Perhaps … Read More ›
PUC Emails Appear To Show Former Chief Michael Peevey Overstepping His Role
by Marc Lifsher, Los Angeles Times
Mark Toney, executive director of the Utility Reform Group, estimated that the email banter and “backroom deals” have cost PG&E ratepayers millions if not billions of dollars, because they may have prejudiced legal decisions, including rate setting. “A regulator is supposed to have an arms-length relationship with the utility,” the ratepayer advocate said, “not an embracing relationship.” Read More ›
Corinthian Students To Get $480 Million Relief From ‘Predatory’ Loans
by Chris Kirkham, Los Angeles Times
As many as 170,000 students who took out private loans offered by Corinthian will see an immediate 40% reduction in their balances — about $1,880 on average — with additional reductions likely in the future. All students will see a 20% tuition reduction. And those enrolled in poor-performing programs can seek a full refund or transfer into another program. … Corinthian has been on a downward spiral since last summer, when the U.S. Department of Education restricted its access to federal student aid amid concerns that the company had falsified student job placement data. Read More ›
Verizon’s Super-Cookies Are A Super Privacy Violation
by David Lazarus, Los Angeles Times
Verizon is informing customers that they can opt out of having their personal information shared by visiting the company’s MyVerizon website. But here’s something Verizon is neglecting to mention. Any visit to MyVerizon will result in — you guessed it — a cookie being generated for your computer or wireless device that will automatically enroll you in what Verizon calls its Relevant Mobile Advertising program, which oversees all online tracking. Think about that: Verizon will violate your privacy even as you go through the steps the company has set up to protect your privacy. Read More ›