Consumerist
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privacy
Marketers Announce They Will Bring More Transparency To Personal Data Collection By 2010
Several major advertising trade groups announced yesterday that starting in 2010, they will implement a new set of self-imposed guidelines on how they collect and use your personal info, in an attempt to prevent the government from handing down federal regulations. More » -
surprises
Psht, Bank Of America Doesn't Need Your Consent To Give You A Credit Card
Hector didn't know whether or not he was going to accept Bank of America's offer of a new credit card with a $3,500 limit, so the bank made his decision easy by issuing the card without his permission. When Hector discovered the surprise credit line, he called Bank of America with two requests: explain how they could open a new account without his consent, and keep the account open until he could figure out the new line's impact on his credit score. Of course, without a peep, Bank of America immediately canceled the new credit card, leaving Hector wondering what might happen to his credit score... More » -
online security
Yahoo! Still Exists, Says Internets Are Safer Than They Used To Be
A Congressional panel is looking into drafting new online privacy laws, but Yahoo says such legislation isn't necessary because the e-industry has done such a bang-up job of regulating itself. More » -
privacy concerns
Facebook, Where Are You Getting These Crazy Friend Suggestions From?
This morning, I woke up to find an inbox full of readers freaked out about Facebook friend suggestions. What's the big deal about that? Privacy-minded Facebook users can't figure out where these suggestions are coming from, and aren't happy with the possibilities. More » -
The New York Times takes a look at "contact scraping," which is when a website tricks you into providing access to your address book and then spams all of your friends by saying you asked them to join. Some of the offenders include Tagged.com, MyLife.com (formerly Reunion.com), and desktopdating.net. [New York Times]
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privacy
Applying For A Job? Great, Give Us Your Google And Facebook Passwords
ReadWriteWeb has a scary article about the city of Bozeman, Montana. It doesn't sound like a scary place, but if you want to say, work for the City, you'll need to give them all your social networking usernames and passwords. More » -
e-mail harvesting
Tagged.com Will Spam Your Friends And Family
Tagged.com has been around for a few years now, but it's spread across the Internet with a vengeance in the last few weeks. The service promotes itself by getting inside the address book or e-mail contacts of people who sign up and e-mailing everyone they know. It's disingenuous, since the e-mail looks like an invitation from your friend or family member...but they didn't initiate it at all.
Let this serve as a warning: don't sign up with tagged.com, and warn anyone in your life who you think may be susceptible to this kind of scam. More »
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wedding registry
Is Pottery Barn Stalking Me Through Facebook?
Jacob got engaged last weekend. Yay! Mysteriously, before the wedding plans could even begin, his fiancĂ©e received an e-mail from Pottery Barn inviting her to start a wedding registry. Except she never signed up with them, or told any other retailer that she was engaged. What she did do was...change her Facebook status. More » -
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tos
TOSBack Keeps Track Of Changes To Terms Of Service Policies Around The Web
It's difficult enough to parse a lengthy TOS for one web-based service, let alone for dozens, or to keep track of when and how they update them. It would be nice if some public-service website out there would keep track of this stuff for all of us, wouldn't it? Last week, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) did just that with the launch of TOSBAck.org, "the terms-of-service tracker." It tracks TOS agreements for 44 different services, including Facebook, YouTube, Amazon, Twitter, and eBay. More » -
security gaps
American Express Keeps Emailing Sensitive Customer Info To A Random Stranger
We're starting to think Amex doesn't take this whole "data security" thing very seriously. First they confused a customer, and us, a few months ago with their random confirmation phone call, where they demanded a customer turn over bank account information over the phone without giving him a way to verify they were really Amex. Now a reader says the company has "for years" been sending him someone else's account info via email, including the customer's name and the last 5 digits of his account number. J.R. writes, "Seriously, I've seen better security on a video game forum." More » -
scary
Hey, Don't Freak Out Or Anything But Your Cellphone Might Be Spying On You
Newsweek has an article that you should not read if you're especially paranoid. Why? Because it says that according to a security consultant — the percentage of US cellphones that have been tapped with spyware could be as high as 3%. More » -
aol
AOL User 927 Gets Staged Reading In New York
Back in Aug '06, a researcher ended up releasing 500,000+ AOL user search histories online and all sort of heck broke loose. One of the pieces of fallout was the search queries of User 927, who displayed a fondness for mold, mange, orchids, beauty and the beast disney porn and testicle festivals. The only sensible thing to do, of course, was to make it into a play. More » -
spyware
Sears Settles With FTC Over Spyware Charge
In 2007 and 2008, Sears invited select customers to join the exclusive "My SHC Community," which involved installing an app that would monitor online browsing in exchange for $10. The app was called spyware by researchers and the FTC, because the data it collected on customers included "details from their online shopping, bank statements, drug-prescription records, video rentals, library-borrowing histories, even the names and addresses of their e-mail correspondents," as well as "data about the users' computers, printers, and other devices." More » -
trade secrets
Woman Sprayed With Pesticide Can't Get List Of Chemicals Because They're A Trade Secret
A North Carolina woman out walking her dog last month was sprayed in the face with a gypsy moth pesticide, and subsequently developed "a severe rash and other flu-like symptoms, breathing complications, and nausea for several days." Unfortunately, her doctor can't treat her properly because the company that makes the spray won't tell him what's in it. More » -
smuggling
Movie Theater Pays $10,000 Damages In Snack Search Lawsuit
What ruins your movie-going experience more than being searched for surreptitious snacks? Having your mom discover that you're taking birth control pills when movie theater employees go through your purse. More » -
id theft
New Jersey: Sorry, We Mailed Your SSN To Some Random Companies
Oh, human error. New Jersey has announced that an unknown number of unemployed residents had their personal information shared with companies they never worked for. More » -
coupons
Sears Pays $10 In Coupons For Your Email Address
Max wants to know why he hasn't received the $10 gift certificate that the cashier at Sears promised him for turning over an email address to receive marketing messages. We contacted Sears and found out what's actually going on. More » -
credit cards
Debt Collectors Mess With Your Head To Get You To Pay More
NYTM intros an article on credit cards by watching a debt collector ply his trade:
Santana had actually already sought permission from the bank to settle for as little as $10,000. It's an open secret that if a debtor is willing to wait long enough, he can probably get away with paying almost nothing, as long as he doesn't mind hurting his credit score. So Santana knew he should jump at the offer. But as an amateur psychologist, Santana was eager to make his own diagnosis - and presumably boost his own commission.
More »"I don't think that's going to work," Santana told the man...
privacy
New York, 2:52 AM
Mon Jul 6
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