Tag Archives: Advertising
Is Your Set-Top Box Telling Advertisers What You Watch?
by David Lazarus, Los Angeles Times
![Cable TV remote costume](https://consumercal.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Remote-control_cc_320x190.jpg)
“They’re hiding the ball,” said Dallas Harris, a policy fellow with the advocacy group Public Knowledge who co-wrote the complaints [to the FCC and FTC]. “They say in their privacy policies that they may collect data on you and they may use it for marketing. They know that’s what they’re doing. So there’s a big disconnect between what they say and what’s actually happening.” Read More ›
Key To Opting Out Of Personalized Ads, Hidden In Plain View
by Alina Tugend, New York Times
![](https://consumercal.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Do_Not_Track1.png)
Opting out does not necessarily stop companies from tracking users’ information, but it does stop them from targeting those users with what are known as interest-based ads. … If users want to get rid of these targeted ads, they can click on the triangle — its size is small so that it does not use up too much valuable ad real estate — and will then be taken to a page from the advertising network that [a business] paid to place the ad. This page explains what AdChoices does and how to opt out of targeted ads. There is also a page that tells users how many advertising networks are following them …. Read More ›
Why You Shouldn’t Get a Reverse Mortgage Just Because Fred Thompson Tells You to
by Ashlee Kieler, Consumerist
![](https://consumercal.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/reverse-mortgage_cc.jpg.jpg)
Reverse mortgages have been found to leave families with debts they can never repay, four-in-five payday loans are made to consumers already caught in the debt trap, and on average 54% of students who attend a for-profit college leave without a degree — with one-in-five of those students defaulting on their loans. … Consumers Union, along with California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform provided comments to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau regarding consumers’ use of reverse mortgages. Read More ›