Idaho Personal Finance [University of Idaho Extension via Idaho Business Review]

The sites give you access to a wide range of your personal information, with links to your free annual credit report, past insurance claims, health history, checking account info, background checks, previous purchase returns, and your rental history.

Because some of these were new to us, we decided to go through the whole list and try out all of the links Consumer Reports provided. (We didn't try the free credit reports from annualcreditreport.com, with which most readers should already be familiar.)

ChoiceTrust, which provides free reports on personal property and auto insurance claims, as well as bankruptcies, liens, and any licenses (e.g., firearms, admission to a state medical board, etc.) you have, gave us accurate information quickly.

Chex Systems, which offers free reports on checking and debit history, over drafts, unpaid charges, and so on, was accessible, but does not offer online reports; ours will be arriving in the mail next week. TeleCheck, which provides similar information, had a buggy website that kept clearing form values when we clicked Submit. Encouraging sign from a company that has access to your checking account.

The Retail Equation provides your return history, used by stores to spot potential refund/return scams, but you can only access a free report online if you've been denied a return and have a refusal code, otherwise you'll need to contact them by phone to get your report.

SafeRent and RentBureau both provide consumer information to landlords and property management companies when prospective renters apply for housing. Both sites offer free reports, however, you have to print out and mail in a form to receive your report.

The CR article also offers several phone numbers for companies that maintain your medical records, although when we tried, it was such a formidable labyrinth of phone trees and automated prompts that we up for going through it all.

Taking control of your finances and your personal information requires knowing what agencies are saying about you. Use these resources to spot any fraud, incomplete information, or legitimate red flags that will pop up when you apply for credit, a mortgage, or an apartment.

Big Brother Is Watching [Consumer Reports Money Adviser]
(Photo: frankieleon)

Jim writes:

On Sunday we had severe thunderstorms here in Philly. During that time Comcast switched and locked their boxes to their EAS system. But instead of important messages, here in Philly we were forced to watch QVC. Guess we should be buying things in an emergency.

The box isn't tuning itself to QVC so much as it's tuning itself to channel 3, which happens to broadcast QVC. Somewhere down the pipe someone is supposed to switch to the programming to emergency notifications, and that isn't happening. Asking Comcast to fix the problem will be as useful as shopping through QVC. Go straight over their head and instead file a complaint directly with the FCC.

FCC Consumer Complaints [FCC]

For years, American Express has flooded my inbox with emails intended for one of their customers (who gave them my address by mistake).

These emails contain sensitive data, including the customer's name *and last five digits of his account*.

Get this: American Express doesn't send out email verification letters!

I could tell you the whole sad, scary, hilarious story if you want me to, including the bit where the superior of a superior I finally talked to told me flat out that, "American Express does not email its customers the last five digits of their account," and then sat in awkward silence as I *quoted him back his own company's email*.

I just wanted you to know that customers of American Express may have their sensitive data compromised, and that AmEx makes this damn near impossible to report a case like this and then does absolutely nothing about it.

Seriously, I've seen better security on a video game forum.

(Photo: RobotSkirts)

Health advocates believe that when people see the amount of calories, fat and salt in meals before they order them, they will gravitate to more healthful selections.

"Consumers play an impossible guessing game trying to make healthier choices in restaurants," said Margo Wootan, nutrition policy director for the Center for Science in the Public Interest. "Who would guess that a large chocolate shake at McDonald's has more calories than two Big Macs or that a multigrain bagel at Dunkin' Donuts has 140 more calories than a jelly doughnut?"

The restaurant industry is pushing a competing bill. The Labeling Education and Nutrition Act, nicknamed the LEAN Act, would require chains with more than 20 units to post calorie counts. It also would nullify state and local measures now in effect and preempt future regional measures.

The bill, H.R. 2426, has already attracted 34 cosponsors in the House and is awaiting consideration by the Energy and Commerce Committee.

H.R. 2426—The Menu Education and Labeling Act [THOMAS]
Menu labeling bill introduced by U.S. lawmakers [The Los Angeles Times]
(Photo: menu calories)

As we noted yesterday, Metrolink technically did nothing wrong, but the way they described the monthly pass program was confusing enough that one of our readers earned himself a hefty $250 fine despite a good faith attempt to follow the rules. What do you think of Metrolink's suggested revision? Too much? Personally, we like their inclusion of examples.

Here is some proposed new language for our website that I hope will clear things up:

Valid for unlimited travel between the origin station and selected destination during a calendar month. PASSES CLEARLY STATE ON THE FRONT THE CALENDAR MONTH THEY ARE VALID FOR. Passes can be purchased in advance.

MONTHLY PASSES ARE VALID FOR THE CALENDAR MONTH FOR WHICH THEY ARE PURCHASED. THEY ARE NOT VALID FOR A 30 DAY PERIOD FROM THE DATE ON WHICH THEY ARE PURCHASED.

These passes are sold from the 15th of the current month to the 14th of the new month.

EXAMPLE I: If you purchase a monthly pass from March 1 through March 14, it will only be valid for the balance of the month of MARCH from the date of purchase. It will expire on March 31. THE PASS CANNOT BE USED IN APRIL.

EXAMPLE II: If you purchase a monthly pass on the 18th of March, the pass will only be valid for the month of APRIL. It CANNOT be used until APRIL 1 and will expire on APRIL 30.

RELATED
"SoCal's Metrolink Monthly Pass Doesn't Work The Way You Probably Think"

This is what Metrolink displays on their website under the Monthly Pass section:

Valid for unlimited travel between the station where purchased and selected destination during the calendar month printed on the pass. Monthly passes are sold from the 15th of the current month to the 14th of the new month.

There's no other info, or—what would really help—examples. After considering it, we think that means you can buy a monthly pass up to two weeks before the month in question begins, but it's not worded very clearly; the second sentence could mean something else entirely when taken on its own. That's what confused Dillon:

As a first-time pass purchaser, I couldn't understand exactly what was [meant by] the statement "Monthly passes are sold from the 15th of the current month to the 14th of the new month," and took it to mean that one purchased a monthly pass on the 15th of a month to last through the 14th of the next month.

It's also why he asked in person before buying the pass, hoping they'd clear it up. When they said he was good to go, he believed them.

Even the Metrolink security agent who cited him let him use the pass for 4 days before doing anything:

I asked Metrolink staff at Union Station for clarification and to double-check when I was purchasing the pass (which wasn't cheap for a college student - $203.50) and they nodded a "go-ahead." I began using the pass immediately on January 15, but it wasn't until January 20, that a Metrolink security staff representative - the same representative who had been checking my pass for the previous rides - pulled me aside and issued me a citation for fare evasion.

Dillon's court date is coming up and he's hoping the judge will agree with him that he acted in good faith (and was partially misled) and shouldn't have to pay the fine. In the meantime, hey Metrolink! Why don't you fix that section? Here's just one way you can rewrite it—take it, it's a free gift from us. Our version might not be perfect, but by splitting up the two middle-of-the month sections, you can avoid giving the impression that they're describing the duration of the pass.

Update: I left out a detail, which is that the OP deliberately bought his pass on the 15th of January in a mistaken attempt to get a full month of use out of it beginning on that date.

We'll let you read the story and critical response by our ex-stepbrother Gawker, but here's the first paragraph money shot:

But I fear that one element in Obama’s well-intentioned infrastructure plan—his goal of providing all Americans with broadband Internet access—might one day be seen as inadvertently laying the foundations for a return to fascism, the political catastrophe of the 1930’s [sic].

The article argues that letting crazy people use the internet will lead to other crazy people finding out crazy stuff. Also, Goebbels would be great at Facebook.

The Internet Is Bad For You [The Daily Beast]
Poor People Don't Deserve Broadband, Says Internet-Hating Madman [Gawker]
(Photo: Paxton Holley)

We'd love to see Netflix roll out a reminder service, but since that would directly impact their bottom line, we have a feeling it won't be showing up on the official site any time soon.

Here's what the typical data screen looks like, if you're curious:

Holy crap, I kept Michael Clayton for 58 days, and I only watched it once! Maybe I should just cancel Netflix and read more books.

FeedFlix.com

703-434-8200 x3

Here is some information you might find handy.

Call 401-765-1500 and press #

This will get you into the Company phone directory. All you have to do is say the name of the person you want to call...including the CEO (Tom Ryan). You wont get him, he has 2 dedicated secretaries, but it will get things moving along.

Also, if the people being "nasty" are pharmacists or in-training, the worst they will get is a slap on the hand. There is a lack of pharmacists in the country right now so no-one will get fired.

The most customer service can authorize is a $25 gift card. That is hard-coded into the system. The only person that can go over that limit is the District manager. You can usually find their name on the main store door (should list the manager and DM).

If you need a list of CVS executives to navigate the directory, check here.

Greyhound Lines, Inc.
Attn: David Leach, CEO
15110 Dallas Pkwy, Suite 600
Dallas, TX 75248-4635

Operator with Executive Office: 214-849-8219
Bryan: 214-849-8217
Ursala: 214-849-8215
Safety Dept: 214-849-8214
Claudette: 214-849-8213
Jennell: 214-849-8211

These are the numbers that I was able to reach people, however, you can try to reach other live people by dialing 214-849-82XX

Mail customer service complaints to:
Customer Service
Greyhound Lines, Inc.
P.O. Box 660689, MS 490
Dallas, TX 75266-0689

Greyhound's parent company:
Laidlaw Inc.
Kevin Benson, CEO
55 Shulman Boulevard, Suite 400
Naperville, IL 60563
U.S.A.

Laidlaw's parent company:
First Group PLC
Attn: Moir Lockhead, CEO
Carmuirs House
300 Stirling Road
Larbert
FK5 3NJ

Greyhound Bus Call To Action
(Photo: Omar Omar)

The answer of course, is "false." If you managed to guess correctly, you're smarter than the average Californian. Two researchers at Berkeley conducted a scientific poll in an effort to determine how much Californians knew about their state's privacy laws. It turns out that large amounts of consumers have no idea that it's perfectly legal for lots of different kinds of companies to sell their information without their consent, including pizza delivery places.

From the research paper:

Pizza delivery companies, since they are called so frequently by consumers, are a hub for collecting personal information. A delivery company can collect and aggregate caller identification information (typically name and phone number), ask the customer for their phone number (which may be different than what is displayed by caller identification), and in order to process the order, acquire the delivery address. Pizza delivery information is used by private investigators and by governments to track individuals. In the marketing context, pizza delivery databases have been discussed as source for phone numbers for wireless 411 databases.

When we asked Californians whether they thought pizza delivery companies could not sell personal information without their consent, 54.7% incorrectly answered true and 5.8% said they didnʼt know.

Other scenarios in which consumers assumed they were protected from sale of their personal information: donating to a charity, registering a product warranty, giving a phone number to a cashier at checkout, registering a product rebate, and ordering from a catalog.

Research Report: What Californians Understand About Privacy Offline [via CL&P Blog]
(Photo: Tyler Durden's Imaginary Friend )

Basically, the company tracks your spending habits by collecting data directly from your credit card statement. But rest assured, they say, that the data is in good hands:

Registering these accounts simply authorizes secure collection of monthly information from those accounts for research purposes only. Your specific credit card information will be collected through an infrastructure that ensures the highest level of security with a world-class network, data, and physical security system.

Password and statement data are stored and transmitted in encrypted format at all times. All data is securely housed in the Exodus© Vault™, a revolutionary Internet server hosting space that provides enhanced physical security, fire protection and electronic shielding.

My credit card information. My online financial statements. What the hell?! Even if this is legit, there's no way.
 
Thought you'd like to know. If this is a scam, I'd like to know, and I'm sure so would some other people. I'm sure the survey site won't like me sending this, but it's not like I make anything of value from watching pre-production commercials or telling people how often I buy shampoo.

You see, each Build-A-Bear critter is issued a "birth certificate," which is generated after the kids — and hopefully their parents, though that didn't seem to be making a bit of difference on the common sense front — visit a bank of computers. These are big orangey-purple affairs, sort of Dr. Seussian in presentation. The keyboard buttons include stars and other colored shapes to make data input all the easier and more intuitive for youngsters. In fact, the computer-plus-keyboard experience is very close (no doubt intentionally so) to something children and their parents might have experienced in a kids' museum, library, or school. Before their new friend can get its birth certificate, the kids are prompted to enter a host of very personal personal information: birth date, home address, gender, phone, and email among them. Along the way is the option to "skip" some of this input, but unlike what we're used to in the world of online retail forms, there's no effort to communicate what data is "required" for the transaction to proceed, and what's "optional." The overall effect is to sideline the privacy-savviness that might otherwise accompany the parent and/or child. I sat there and watched parent after parent prompt their kids to flex their memory muscles and practice their computer skills: "Ok Timmy, now, what's our address? What's your birthday? Do you remember our phone number? Good typing!!"

What do you think?

Harvesting data from children with cuddly creatures and cutesy keyboards [ZDNet via BoingBoing]
(Photo:freddthompson)

That seems lame. Is it time for more accurate and easy to find labels on food? From the WSJ:

The National Institutes of Health has called food allergies an emerging public health problem in the U.S. due to a rising incidence of serious allergic reactions to food products. The agency says about 30,000 individuals require emergency-room treatment each year as a result of food allergies, and in 2004, Congress passed a law that requires food labels to identify the food source of all major food allergens.

Serious Food Allergies Indicate Need for Greater Precautions [Wall Street Journal]
(Photo:Maulleigh)

ALABAMA none
ALASKA $7.15
ARIZONA $6.75
ARKANSAS $6.25
CALIFORNIA $7.50
COLORADO $6.85
CONNECTICUT $7.65
DELAWARE $6.65
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA $7.00
FLORIDA $6.67
GEORGIA $5.15
HAWAII $7.25
IDAHO $5.85
ILLINOIS $7.50
INDIANA $5.85
IOWA $6.20
KANSAS $2.65
KENTUCKY $5.85
LOUISIANA none
MAINE $6.75
MARYLAND $6.15
MASSACHUSETTS $7.50
MICHIGAN $7.15
MINNESOTA $6.15
MISSISSIPPI none
MISSOURI $6.50
MONTANA $6.15
NEBRASKA $5.85
NEVADA $6.33
NEW HAMPSHIRE $5.85
NEW JERSEY $7.15
NEW MEXICO $5.15
NEW YORK $7.15
NORTH CAROLINA $6.15
NORTH DAKOTA $5.85
OHIO $6.85
OKLAHOMA $5.85
OREGON $7.80
PENNSYLVANIA $6.25
RHODE ISLAND $7.40
SOUTH CAROLINA none
SOUTH DAKOTA $5.85
TENNESSEE none
TEXAS $5.85
UTAH $5.15
VERMONT $7.53
VIRGINIA $5.85
WASHINGTON $7.93
WEST VIRGINIA $6.55
WISCONSIN $6.50
WYOMING $5.15

The moral of this story is that if you're going to work a McJob, do it in Washington where you'll be paid $7.93. Say, what's the cost of living like in Washington?

Department of Labor