After a few months of testing on a handful of unlucky souls, that hated scourge of Internet browsing — the dreaded video ad — will soon be making its debut in the news feeds of all Facebook users, the company announced today. [More]
Data & Privacy
Surprise! Here’s Your New US Bank Debit Card
By 3.13.14
A blank envelope arrived on Amanda’s doorstep. She almost tossed it aside, since it didn’t say “HEY! I’M IMPORTANT!” on it. She happened to feel a plastic card inside, though, so she opened it up. Inside was her new debit card. That’s good, isn’t it? Amanda doesn’t think so. [More]
MasterCard, Visa Form Industry Group To Address Payment Security Issues
By 3.7.14
In the wake of numerous high-profile data breaches and growing concerns about identity theft, credit card competitors Visa and MasterCard are teaming up to launch a cross-industry effort aimed at improving payment security for consumers. [More]
Facebook, WhatsApp Acquisition Face Privacy Hurdle After EPIC Files FTC Complaint
By 3.7.14
Mergers and acquisitions routinely face opposition and complaints. Facebook’s $19 billion deal to buy messaging system WhatsApp has been able to stay rather unopposed, until now. [More]
Daughter’s Facebook Brag Costs Dad $80,000
By 3.3.14
You know all those times you read about lawsuit settlements where the financial terms are undisclosed? That silence isn’t a sign that no one wants to talk about how much they won or lost; it means that agreement will likely be nullified if people start blabbing about the money changing hands. And that includes a plaintiff’s teen daughter. [More]
Secret Service Reportedly Investigating Possible Data Breach At Sears
By 2.28.14
The retail world is still feeling the aftershocks that rumbled through the industry after Target revealed it was hit in a hack attack that exposed credit card info and personal data of up to 110 million customers. As such, inside sources are whispering that Sears is the focus of a new probe from the U.S. Secret Service to see whether it was the victim of a possible security breach. [More]
Facebook Quietly Retires That Email Service You Probably Forgot Even Existed
By 2.25.14
After years of trying to get its users to hop on the “@Facebook.com” email address chain, the social network has stuck a fork in its email service, because it’s pretty much done. Once users switched their email addresses away from @facebook.com as the default back in 2012 though, it’s likely that many people won’t even remember that such a thing existed. [More]
More Than 30 Consumer Groups Urge President To Put Privacy Bill of Rights Into Law
By 2.24.14
Americans cherish their privacy, but as headline after headline brings alarming news of data breaches, governmental snooping, and data mining, it becomes evident that something needs to be done. That’s why more than 30 civil liberties and consumer advocacy organizations have written President Obama urging him to push for legislation that would make new consumer privacy protections law. [More]
WhatsApp Adding Voice Communications In First Big Move Since Facebook Buyout
By 2.24.14
Oh, hello there, traditional telecommunications company relying a lot on voice and SMS services for revenue, is that a new little thorn in your side, courtesy of WhatsApp? The app already offered free text messages for a year (and only $1 per year after that) via a Wi-Fi or mobile network connection, and now in a move that could serve to take a bigger slice of the pie, it says it’ll start offering voice calls this spring. [More]
Millions Of Credit Cards Stolen From Target Being Sold At Closeout Prices
By 2.20.14
Like scalpers who drop their asking prices as game time approaches, black market sellers of credit card numbers stolen during last December’s massive data breach at Target are now offering this ill-gotten information at rock-bottom prices. [More]
Facebook Buys Popular Messaging Service WhatsApp In $19 Billion Deal
By 2.19.14
In an end-of-the workday surprise, Facebook just announced that it bought messaging service WhatsApp in a $19 billion deal. Yes, $19 billion. For those of you WhatsApp users already freaking out that you’ll be forced to use Facebook messenger, shhh, now. It sounds like everything could be just fine. [More]
Child Protection Advocacy Group Rejects Facebook Privacy Lawsuit Settlement, Asks Court To Reconsider
By 2.13.14
Facebook is notorious at this stage for playing fast and loose with users’ privacy. In 2013, the social sharing behemoth faced and settled a class-action lawsuit regarding its privacy practices. Today, one of the advocacy groups awarded a share of the settlement has reversed their stance, refused the payment, and is asking the court to reconsider the deal. [More]
Facebook Now Allows Users To Customize Gender Description
By 2.13.14
In a response to requests from users whose gender identity may not fall within the traditional male/female mold, Facebook announced this afternoon that users will now have the ability to list a customized gender on their Facebook profiles. [More]
Snapchat Hack Attack Hitting Users With Spam Photos Of Delicious, Frothy Smoothies
By 2.12.14
While there’s no ideal way to get spammed, and being hacked is an unpleasant experience overall, the latest attack on Snapchat looks kind of delicious. Users are reporting receiving photos of tasty smoothies with a spammy link from their friends, who are definitely not sending said drinkalicious photos. [More]
Google, Rest of Internet Urge Congress To Change NSA Surveillance Laws
By 2.11.14
A large coalition of internet companies and advocacy groups has declared today “The Day We Fight Back” against mass surveillance. The coalition is urging US citizens to contact their legislators to ask for Congressional intervention on mass surveillance programs. [More]
Knowing Your Facebook Number Might Be Pointless, But Here’s How To Find It Anyway
By 2.6.14
In a world where people will post anything from “What Weather Phenomenon Are You?” (I’m a cirrus cloud!) to “Which Journey Song (From The Steve Perry Years, Of Course) Are You?” on Facebook, there’s no doubt that you’ve seen posts touting your so-called “Facebook Number,” ostensibly, the number that designates when you became a user. But what’s the point? [More]
Great, Now Yahoo E-mail Addresses & Passwords Have Been Stolen
By 1.30.14
In news that makes you long for the days of handwritten correspondence, Yahoo has announced that usernames and passwords for an unspecified number of users have been compromised. [More]
Feds To Allow Tech Companies To Provide More Transparent Info On Data Requests
By 1.27.14
While a number of the largest websites and telecom companies have recently published transparency data detailing the number of data requests made about consumers, these companies have been very limited with regard to what they could say about federal requests that fall under the header of national security. In response to a call for more transparency from several major Internet businesses, the government is changing its restrictions. [More]
