When you check into a hotel and provide a photo ID, your expectation is that the hotel will be holding this info for its records in case you mess up the room or try to skip out on your bill. What you don’t expect is that the hotel management is taking its daily guest logs and turning them over to federal immigration officials. [More]
Government Policy
Motel 6 Admits Some Locations Were Sharing Lists Of Guests With Immigration Officers On Daily Basis
By 9.15.17
Disgraced College Accreditor Asks Betsy DeVos For Second Chance
By 9.15.17
Last year, the Department of Education revoked federal recognition for the accrediting body that ignored red flags at failed for-profit educator Corinthian Colleges and allowed billions in federal aid dollars to schools under investigation. Now, Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools is back, asking new Education Secretary Betsy DeVos for another chance. [More]
Why You Should Care About South Dakota’s Controversial Online Sales Tax Law
By 9.14.17
There aren’t even a million people living in South Dakota, but the state’s efforts to collect sales tax from online retailers could eventually have an impact on the hundreds of millions of Americans in other states who shop online. [More]
Proposed Law Could Let Businesses Off The Hook For Complying With Disabilities Act
By 9.14.17
A new piece of federal legislation would delay consumers’ ability to hold businesses legally accountable for failing to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) — a move that some critics say could allow companies to never comply with the ADA in the first place. [More]
If Someone Calls You From Equifax To Verify Your Account, It’s A Scam
By 9.14.17
Now that Equifax is part of the mass public consciousness for failing to secure sensitive financial and personal information for about half of the adult U.S. population, soulless scammers are trying to prey on this heightened awareness by blasting out fake calls to people, asking them to verify their account information. [More]
Homeland Security Officially Bans All Federal Use Of Kaspersky Products
By 9.13.17
The federal government needs antivirus and malware protection at least as much as any other large organization, if not more. But now, after first stopping new purchases, and then asking private business to cut ties, the feds are officially blocking any government use of Kaspersky Lab products, citing security concerns over the company’s reported ties to the Kremlin. [More]
Department Of Homeland Security Sued Over Warrantless Searches Of Electronic Devices At The U.S. Border
By 9.13.17
Although it’s illegal for a police officer to search your electronic devices without a warrant — even after you’re arrested — the Department of Homeland Security says warrantless searches of digital content are allowed at any U.S. border. Privacy advocates and civil rights organizations are now suing the agency, claiming that border protection officers should also have a warrant before they’re allowed to search through residents’ laptops and phones. [More]
What The Heck Is Single-Payer Healthcare, Anyway?
By 9.13.17
Health coverage has been in the news in a big way this year, thanks to Republican-led efforts in Congress to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) throughout the spring and summer. That plan ultimately failed, but both sides of the political aisle do agree on one thing: There’s a lot of room to go on improving health care access and containing medical costs. A new rallying cry has risen up among Democrats: Time for single-payer! But what does that actually mean — and what could it look like? [More]
Only One Bank Was Indicted For Mortgage Fraud Tied To The 2008 Collapse — And It Was Innocent
By 9.12.17
If you’ve walked Canal St. in lower Manhattan’s Chinatown, you’ve probably passed by the modest headquarters of Abacus Federal Savings, a family run community bank that has served New York City’s Chinese immigrant population for more than three decades. It’s more than a mile away — and a world apart — from the more famous banks on Wall Street whose reckless behaviors during the housing bubble led to trillions of dollars in economic loss, the failure of financial institutions nationwide, an unprecedented federal bailout of the banking and auto industries, and continued fraud by big banks in a rush to foreclose on large numbers of homes as quickly as possible. [More]
The ‘Monkey Selfie’ Lawsuit May Finally Be Over
By 9.11.17
Bad news for any artistic monkeys, apes, elephants, or dolphins who had dreams of selling their creations at a gallery someday: A federal lawsuit over a famous 2011 photo taken by a macaque has come to an end without any real decision on whether or not non-humans can hold a copyright. [More]
Feds Break Up $20M Shoplifting Ring That Stole Clothing From Coast To Coast
By 9.7.17
Federal authorities say they’ve arrested more than a dozen people and broken up a massive shoplifting network that trafficked in some $20 million in apparel and other items stolen from stores all over the country and then sold in Mexico. [More]
Lenovo Will Pay $3.5 Million To States For Privacy-Invading Ad Software
By 9.5.17
Only hours after Lenovo got off with what amounted to a warning and a promise to not do illegal stuff going forward, the tech company has agreed to pay a total of $3.5 million to a coalition of 32 states to settle allegations that Lenovo knowingly sold laptops that came with ad-injection software that put all of their online data at risk. [More]
Betsy DeVos Refuses To Work With Consumer Protection Agency On Student Loans
By 9.5.17
The Department of Education will no longer work with the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to root out bad players in the student loan servicing arena. That’s according to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who recently notified the CFPB that her department is ending years of formal cooperation combating student loan fraud. [More]
Lenovo Gets Slap On Wrist From Feds Over Pre-Installed Ad Software With Gaping Security Hole
By 9.5.17
Remember that time that Lenovo sold all those laptops with crappy ad-injection software built in, leaving users at risk for both bottom-of-the-barrel advertising and cyber attacks? Today, the tech company settled a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, promising not to do this all again and not paying a penalty for its alleged transgressions. [More]
Federal Disaster Loans Could Be Difficult To Obtain After Harvey
By 8.31.17
Around 80% of homeowners in areas devastated by flooding from Hurricane Harvey don’t have insurance policies that will cover much of the damage done to their properties. Federal disaster loans offer victims one pathway toward recovery, but obtaining that financing could be a difficult, drawn-out endeavor. [More]
Trump Administration Won’t Commit To Putting Harriet Tubman On $20 Bill
By 8.31.17
Anyone expecting to someday see Harriet Tubman’s image grace the front of the $20 bill may be in for a long wait. In a new interview, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin hinted that the Trump administration may back off the planned change that would have had Tubman take Andrew Jackson’s place on the bill. [More]
If You’re Getting Robocalls About Flood Insurance, They’re Scams
By 8.31.17
The world is full of really horrible, lazy people looking to steal your money while putting in the least amount of effort. Take, for example, the scammers who are blasting out automated, pre-recorded robocalls that try to scare people into believing they have to pay up or lose their flood insurance. [More]
A Reminder: Cable Companies Are Lying When They Say They Support Net Neutrality
August 30, 2017
As the FCC winds down its lip-service commenting period on Chairman Ajit Pai’s plan to roll back net neutrality rules that stop internet service providers from interfering with the things you do and see online, we wanted to remind you of that time we challenged more than a dozen cable companies — all of whom publicly claimed to love the core ideas of neutrality — if they would put those rules into a legally binding contract; not one of them said yes. [More]
