Headline News Archive

2010

April

09

• MasterCard set to open an online shopping mall. MasterCard is getting into the predictive online marketing business. Through a new partnership with an Internet company that specializes in personalized shopping, MasterCard is set…

08

• Stealing your identity for liposuction. Sierra Morgan, a 31-year-old respiratory therapist from Modesto, Calif., was billed $12,000 on her health-care credit card in November for liposuction, a procedure she never…

• Lawbreakers foiled by Facebook. You might be surprised to learn who's following you on Twitter, or who your Facebook friends really are. As the popularity of social networking spreads,…

• Comcast ruling raises questions on Internet regulation. At first glance, Tuesday's federal court ruling on Comcast looked like a clean win for the cable giant and for competitors including Time Warner and…

07

• Free credit report no longer. The credit report you get from freecreditreport.com is no longer free, no matter what that Web address promises. In the face of a legislative and…

05

• FTC's 32nd annual fair debt collections report. The Federal Trade Commission has issued its annual report on the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) to Congress. At a time when many consumers…

March

31

• Technology coalition seeks stronger privacy laws. A broad coalition of technology companies, including AT&T, Google and Microsoft, and advocacy groups from across the political spectrum said Tuesday that it would push…

29

• Smart meters may have security holes. SAN FRANCISCO - Computer-security researchers say new "smart" meters that are designed to help deliver electricity more efficiently also have flaws that could let hackers…

25

• Retain documents no longer than you must. I’ve long been a pack rat when it comes to saving financial documents. I have a file cabinet full of old cellphone and credit card…

23

• Google to stop censoring search results in China. Google shut down its search engine in China Monday but isn't ready to leave the country yet. Google began redirecting visitors of its Chinese site,…

19

• What to do when debt collector calls. When a leading debt collections law firm that had been accused of breaking consumer protection laws collapsed in Maryland last week, debtors searched for answers…

• Census tracks mail, raising fears among some. Census Bureau officials are counting on an advanced postal tracking system to speed up responses and save the government millions of dollars in follow-up letters…

18

• Airport body scanners may not have thwarted bombing. President Obama's push to deploy body-imaging scanners at airports will cost U.S. taxpayers roughly $3 billion over eight years, congressional investigators report, but it is…

17

• More employers use tech to track workers. Almost every worker has done it: gotten in a little Facebook updating, personal e-mailing, YouTube watching and friend calling while on the clock. Such indiscretions…

• How privacy vanishes online. If a stranger came up to you on the street, would you give him your name, Social Security number and e-mail address? Probably not. Yet…

15

• Plan de banda ancha EEUU se centra en velocidad, uso inalámbrico. Reguladores de Estados Unidos divulgaron un anteproyecto para mejorar el acceso a internet en el país, con énfasis en un aumento en la velocidad de…

12

• Sending money electronically: Why it's hard. When I covered consumer banking at The Wall Street Journal five years ago, banks and their technology providers said the next big thing was online,…

• Instant ads set the pace on the web. Time is now on the side of online advertisers. Advertisers have been able to direct online messages based on demographics, income and even location, but…

10

• LifeLock settles amid allegations that it misled consumers. Its chief executive prominently displays his Social Security number in ads for his identity-theft protection company. But LifeLock Inc. couldn't protect customers from the company's…

09

• Target puts coupons on customers' cellphones. Using your cellphone during checkout at Target could soon earn you discounts. Starting Wednesday, the giant retailer will allow customers to take advantage of special…

08

• Working from home might be the new calling in sick. Jeremy Lesniak owns a small Web design firm in Randolph, Vt. He has 10 employees and hundreds of clients. Sick isn't an option. "I have…

• Prenuptial agreements: Unromantic, but important. Let's face it: The afterglow of that Valentine's Day proposal often begins to dim as discussions of wedding details get started. The happy couples face…

05

• Homeland Security seeks to thwart cyber-attacks. Cyber-security researchers in the private sector have lamented for many years that collaborations with government officials on addressing cyberthreats have been few and far between.…

• Smartphones have changed the way we travel. Business traveler Mike Monroe no longer rummages through his bag at the airline counter fishing for his flight ticket or confirmation number. The consultant from…

04

• How cybercriminals invade social networks. "Hey Alice, look at the pics I took of us last weekend at the picnic. Bob". That Facebook message, sent last fall between co-workers at…