NEW YORK, 7:17 AM, SAT JUL 19 | 18 POSTS IN THE LAST 24 HOURS | tips@consumerist.com | RSS
Posts Tagged “

databases

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identity theft

Employees Play With Your Private Data And There Is Nothing You Can Do About It

Why play solitaire when you work for the utility company and can look up the mayor's phone number? An Associated Press investigation reveals that casual snooping is widespread among employees who have access to large customer databases. According to one utility executive, it would be "difficult, if not impossible" to ferret out employees who use sensitive data for identity theft. More »

11:19 AM on Sun Feb 24 2008
By Carey
5,563 views, 50 comments

privacy

The TSA Has Your Reading List

According to the Washington Post, the TSA is compiling extensive traveler records that can track passenger reading preferences. The Automated Targeting System is ostensibly designed to help officials ferret out terrorists; citizens who recently asked the government for records of their travel found that the databases also contains: "a description of a book on marijuana that one of them carried and small flashlights bearing the symbol of a marijuana leaf." Our government's long maw even reaches abroad to gather information on flights that don't brush against U.S. airspace.
Ann Harrison, the communications director for a technology firm in Silicon Valley who was among those who obtained their personal files and provided them to The Post, said she was taken aback to see that her dossier contained data on her race and on a European flight that did not begin or end in the United States or connect to a U.S.-bound flight.
More »

10:58 AM on Sun Sep 23 2007
By Carey
3,819 views, 18 comments

Latest by magus_melchior: @Bay State Darren: "[15 months left...15 months till he's gone and this madness might just end!]" With the expanded powers that the executive has taken, I'm not sure that any of the candidates will agree to reduce them once in office. Oh, more »

tsa knows you're gay

US Gov To Compile And Share Database Of Flier Personal Information

According to the Washington Post, the United States and the European Union have agreed to compile and share a database of information on consumers who travel on aircrafts between the two continents. More »

8:22 PM on Fri Jul 27 2007
By Meg Marco
3,908 views, 20 comments

howto

HOWTO Buy a Laptop on Ebay

Solid article here on purchasing a notebook computer online. Much of the advice is common sense but are good reminders to review when salivating over the latest i-Thingy, like verifying the repair history, seeing if there are any dead pixels, and making sure the CD/DVD drive isn't filled with peanut butter. More »

8:20 AM on Wed Feb 22 2006
By popkin
888 views, Comment