News

2010

June

16

• Privacy groups send an open letter to Facebook (Social networking giant must give users more control over their data). Consumer and privacy advocates sent a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg outlining remaining privacy concerns on the site.

• Consumers need relief from debt settlement rip-offs (Consumer advocates support bills aimed at debt settlement abuses). Leading consumer advocates call on Congress to act quickly to enact S. 3264, the Debt Settlement Consumer Protection Act of 2010 sponsored by Senators Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Claire McCaskill (D-MO) and H.R. 5387, the companion bill sponsored by Representatives Louis Gutierrez (D-IL), Keith Ellison (D-MN) and Gwen Moore (D-WI).

14

• 4G wireless technology: A look at what's ahead. The first cellphone in the U.S. to use fourth-generation wireless technology — better known as 4G — debuted this month with the promise of super-fast download speeds, smooth video streams and even video chat. The…

13

• Vigilance is key to protecting your credit. If you're even slightly concerned about the privacy of your personal information, Jim Stickley is your worst nightmare. The chief technology officer of TraceSecurity, a risk management firm based in Louisiana, breaks into banks and…

• Scam artists are as slick as the oil spill. The magnitude of the BP spill really hit me once I starting seeing front-page photos of oil- soaked birds. One poor thing looked like a Hollywood- inspired alien or a prehistoric creature. How can you…

12

• Tech goes mobile and so do the hackers. Mobile devices are slick, powerful and convenient, but the news this week that AT&T suffered a data breach on thousands of iPads highlighted another quality: They're vulnerable. As more personal information migrates to mobile devices,…

• Tabnabbing: Like phishing within browser. Mozilla's Aza Raskin is warning about a new type of phishing attack called tabnabbing. Unlike traditional phishing attacks which trick people into clicking on links that take them to bogus sites that look legitimate, tabnabbing…

08

• Financial abuses of deadbeat parents. For parents who've wrecked their own credit rating, cashing in on junior's clean financial history is increasingly tempting. Children make easy targets for identity thieves because they don't use their own credit and likely wouldn't…

07

• 'Scareware' ads proliferate across Internet. Court records show to the penny how much software company Innovative Marketing banked by getting computer users to pay for fake anti-virus programs: $163,167,539.95. Before its demise, the Ukraine-based company employed hundreds of workers collaborating…

06

• Who's checking your credit report?. Dear Liz: As part of our mortgage refinance, my wife and I were provided copies of our credit reports and scores by the credit union making our loan. Our scores are great, ranging from 777…

03

• Frequent flier has rough landing on TSA watch list. Sean Kelly is no terrorist, but for years he was treated like one at airports. For unknown reasons, the Geneva resident landed several years ago on the federal government's "selectee list" — a secret database…

01

• Yahoo to turn to social networking. Yahoo plans to announce Tuesday that it is jumping into social networking by using its massive population of e-mail subscribers as a base for sharing information on the Web. Over the next few weeks, its…

May

31

• When online gripes are met with a lawsuit. After a towing company hauled Justin Kurtz’s car from his apartment complex parking lot, despite his permit to park there, Mr. Kurtz, 21, a college student in Kalamazoo, Mich., went to the Internet for revenge.…

• Web start-ups making deals for customer data. As concern increases in Washington about the amount of private data online, and as big sites like Facebook draw criticism that they collect consumers’ information in a stealthy manner, many Web start-ups are pursuing a…

30

• IRS wants a cut of online sales on eBay, Craigslist. Many people think of online auction sites, such as eBay and Craigslist, as virtual garage sales - a convenient way to clean out cluttered closets and attics stuffed with old clothes, books and knickknacks inherited…

27

• Google balks at turning over data to regulators. Google has balked at requests from regulators to surrender Internet data and e-mails it collected from unsecured home wireless networks, saying it needed time to resolve legal issues. In Germany, Google said it was not…

• Facebook revamps privacy settings. Facebook's founder presented new one-click options Wednesday to help subscribers protect their privacy, responding to a torrent of complaints that it had become far too hard to determine and control levels of protection. In a…

26

• Consumer Action responds to Facebook’s new privacy settings. Consumer Action responded to Facebook’s announced changes to its privacy settings, which the company says will make it simpler and easier for users to control exactly who sees their information and how they share posted…

• Facebook's very public privacy debate. Public responses to the recent debate about Facebook privacy.

25

• Facebook fixing privacy tools. Facebook facing a backlash among a growing faction of its users, plans to soon simplify its privacy tools. The disclosure, which came in an opinion piece by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is the company's first…