Headline News Archive

2010

August

08

• 'Debt tagging' by collection agencies a growing problem. Michael L. Hughes started getting the harassing phone calls several months ago. He figured they were from scammers and he tried to ignore them. Sometimes…

07

• How to live close to the neighbors. Melissa Danielson doesn't mind hearing the occasional dog barking on the other side of the wall. She enjoys the chance to bump into neighbors as…

04

• Score loyalty points for walking in a store. Stores generally do not know that a customer has visited until the customer buys something on the way out. A start-up, Shopkick, is betting that…

03

• Cybercriminals turn attention to smartphones. Hackers have begun adapting tried-and-true computer infections to work on Internet-enabled smartphones that are all the rage with consumers. Global smartphone shipments topped 54 million…

• Big bucks in online social games. The most-used function on Angela Shields's iPhone is not the phone. Or e-mail. Or the Web browser. It's a game called Words With Friends, and…

01

• Teen 'haulers' become a fashion force. When 14-year-old Bethany Mota gets back from the mall, she eagerly models her latest finds for friends and family. And for tens of thousands more…

• Arbitration quietly closes doors of protest. Lease a car, enroll in a cell phone plan or finance the purchase of a major appliance, and you're likely signing away your rights. Most…

• Where not to use your debit card. Add one more place to the growing list of locations where you should be wary about using your debit card: gas station pumps. According to…

July

31

• Old debts that won't die. Timothy McCollough freely admits that he stopped making payments on his Chase Manhattan credit card in 1999. He says he did not have the means…

29

• Proposal for FBI access to Internet activity. The Obama administration is seeking to make it easier for the FBI to compel companies to turn over records of an individual's Internet activity without…

28

• Sen. Kerry to introduce Internet privacy bill. Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.), chairman of the Communications Subcommittee, said Tuesday that he will introduce an online privacy bill that will create standards for how…

27

• Senate preps online privacy legislation. A Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee hearing on online privacy Tuesday will focus on technologies used to collect and use consumer information and could…

26

• 'Gray hat' hackers vex companies. The world of hackers can be roughly divided into three groups. “Black hats” break into corporate computer systems for fun and profit, taking credit card…

• Wal-Mart plan to use smart tags raises privacy concerns. Wal-Mart is putting electronic identification tags on men's clothing like jeans starting Aug. 1 as the world's largest retailer tries to gain more control of…

20

• Annoyances mount over the body scanner. YOU may think of this as the summer of the heat wave. I prefer to think of it as the summer of the body scanner.…

19

• As Facebook users die, ghosts reach out. Courtney Purvin got a shock when she visited Facebook last month. The site was suggesting that she get back in touch with an old family…

• A hidden world growing beyond control. The top-secret world the government created in response to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, has become so large, so unwieldy and so secretive…

18

• Want my data? Pay me for it. Life, as they say, imitates art. And the way things work commercially today across much of the Web recalls that chapter in “The Adventures of…

16

• Will digital medical records save your life?. As far as medical health records go, we're kind of trapped in a weird state of transition that can be confusing, frustrating, and even dangerous…

• Base de datos de Utah habría sido violada. La evidencia será entregada a la justicia local Los investigadores encontraron evidencia que sugiere que una base de datos estatal fue violada para crear una…

14

• Standards issued for electronic health records. The federal government issued new rules Tuesday that will reward doctors and hospitals for the “meaningful use” of electronic health records, a top goal of…

13

• Backlash grows against airport full-body scanners. Opposition to new full-body imaging machines to screen passengers and the government's deployment of them at most major airports is growing. Many frequent fliers complain…

12

• More Americans' credit scores sink to new lows. The credit scores of millions more Americans are sinking to new lows. Figures provided by FICO Inc. show that 25.5 percent of consumers — nearly…

• Despite privacy inquiries, Germans flock to Facebook, Google. Chenchao Liu has 446 friends on Facebook, loves his iPhone 3GS and is obsessed with Google searches and maps. In that respect, Mr. Liu, 21,…

09

• The problem with naked body scans exposed. I just walked through my first Rapiscan 1000 at Chicago’s O’Hare airport. It’s the new security machine that sees through your clothes and takes a…