A Target store in Virginia is missing more than $40,000 worth of iPhones after police say a woman masquerading as an employee simply walked out of the store with the devices. [More]
cellphones
Should Police Need A Warrant To Obtain Your Cellphone Location Data?
By 10.28.16 — Updated: 10.31.16
On TV and in the movies, when the police want location information on a suspect’s cellphone, the world-weary detectives just mosey into the office of a wireless company and bully/sweet-talk the receptionist into handing over this information by saying things like “You don’t want us to have to wait here while we get a warrant, do you?” In the real world, it’s not that simple, and the question of whether or not an actual warrant is needed has yet to be resolved. [More]
Reminder: Your iPhone’s WiFi Assist May Get You Data Overage Charges Galore
By 9.2.16
If you need a reminder to turn off the WiFi assist feature included in iOS 9, now’s the time, after yet another report of folks getting hit with data overages because they weren’t aware of what their phones were doing without their knowledge. [More]
Police: Phone Repair Tech Sent Female Customer’s Personal Photos To Himself
By 8.30.16
Sometimes, we have no choice but to leave our smart devices in the hands of another. But after she left her phone for repair, a woman in the Atlanta area was shocked to find out that someone had been text messaging an unknown number from her phone. [More]
FCC Moves To Make All Wireless Devices Compatible With Hearing Aids, Cochlear Implants
By 11.19.15
While current FCC rules require cellphone makers to offer devices that won’t interfere with hearing aids and cochlear implants, not all wireless devices are included. Today, the Commission made two moves intended to include this compatibility on all wireless phones. [More]
Police: Man Stole $50,000 In Cellphones From Two Target Stores By Impersonating Employee
By 10.28.15
Here at Consumerist, we’re no strangers to reporting on stories of employees behaving badly, but sometimes it’s not an actual worker doing the greedy deed. To that end, police say a man in Georgia allegedly impersonated a Target employee in order to steal more than $50,000 in cellphones. [More]
Another 130,000 Consumers Tell FCC: Don’t Allow Robocalling To Our Cellphones
By 3.25.15
Federal law currently bars companies from making automated, pre-recorded calls to your cellphone without obtaining explicit prior consent, but banks want to kick down that legal barrier so they can robocall without fear of penalties. In February, 60,000 consumers asked the FCC to just say no to opening this loophole, and today another 130,000 Americans are adding their voices in opposition to robocalls. [More]
DOT Firming Up Rules To Ban In-Flight Cellphone Use
By 8.4.14
It’s been more than eight months since the FCC first announced that it was considering lifting its ban on inflight cellphone use, which was followed almost immediately by the Dept. of Transportation saying it would think about enacting its own ban. Now comes news that the DOT is putting together new rules that would keep airplanes from being chatter-infested flying tubes of anger. [More]
5 Reasons Why People Still Buy Stuff From Companies They Hate
By 8.1.14
In an ideal world, there would be ample, healthy competition in every industry and consumers everywhere would have access to these numerous options. Additionally, every company would behave ethically and efficiently, respecting consumers and the law. But from what I’ve been told from people familiar with the situation, our world is slightly imperfect and sometimes we end up doing business with companies we’d rather avoid. [More]
41% Of U.S. Homes Are Now Wireless-Only
By 7.8.14
Ten years ago, only about 1-in-20 American homes were cellphone-only. By 2010, that rate had soared to 1-in-5. And according to the newest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the percentage of U.S. homes that have ditched landlines completely has doubled since 2010, and now stands at 41%. [More]
Police Must Now Have A Warrant To Search Your Phone
By 6.25.14
The Supreme Court today put an end to years of contentious debate over whether or not police can search the phones of people they arrest without first getting a warrant, ruling unanimously that law enforcement must always have a warrant before they can do the search. [More]
Even Business Travelers Don’t Want Anyone Yakking Away On The Phone In Mid-Air
By 3.31.14
Who do you think of when you imagine the chatty kind of person who might want to make phone calls in the middle of a crowded airplane, mid-flight? While your mental picture might land on a businessperson in a suit yelling something about mergers and Hong Kong markets and getting that deal done before they close, a trade group representing business travelers has come out against the idea. [More]
One Way To Stop Obnoxious Cellphone Conversations In Public? Have Your Own
By 3.27.14
You know what’s more annoying than having to listen to an obnoxiously loud phone conversation in a public place? Trying to take part in an obnoxiously loud phone conversation while someone else is doing the same thing next to you, a lesson served on yappers at Disneyland by a comedian who of course, filmed the whole thing. [More]
Thanks To A Man’s $165 Ticket, California Drivers Can Now Use Phone Maps Behind The Wheel
By 2.28.14
In a ruling that reverses the case of man who was ticketed in January 2012 for looking at his iPhone 4 to check a map while stuck in traffic, a state appeals court in California says it’s okay for drivers to read maps on their phones while behind the wheel. He’d been challenging a $165 ticket. [More]
Bill To Ban In-Flight Wireless Voice Calls Moves Forward
By 2.11.14
The battle for a maintaining relative amount peace and quiet on commercial airlines moved on to the next stage this afternoon after a Congressional committee voted to advance a piece of legislation that would ban the in-flight use of the “phone” part of your cellphones. [More]
Cellphone Lost Underwater Had To Hold Its Breath For 3 Months, But It Still Works
By 10.30.13
There’s dropping your phone in a glass of water, dumping it into a toilet and that time you fell into the town water fountain while reaching for a particularly shiny quarter, and then there’s losing your phone underwater for three months. Forget that trick with bag of instant rice — that phone’s gotta be well and duly drowned, no good, right? Actually… [More]
Consumers Union Calls On FCC, Lawmakers To Relax Rules On Cellphone Unlocking
By 4.16.13
As many of you know, the Librarian of Congress, who has the authority to interpret (and reinterpret) the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, recently heeded the siren song of the wireless industry and decided that after the DMCA no longer allowed consumers to unlock their cellphones — i.e., unleash them from their current provider to be used on a competing but compatible network — without getting permission from that current provider. It’s move the public doesn’t like. Neither does the White House, the FCC, or members of Congress, but what’s being done to remedy the issue? [More]
ACLU Files Suit To Stop Police From Searching Cell Phones Without Warrant
By 3.20.13 — Updated: 1.17.14
A decade ago, searching someone’s cell phone would give you a list of names and numbers, maybe some recent texts. But now, the average smartphone could contain as much personal and sensitive information as a desktop computer, yet many law enforcement agencies argue they don’t need a warrant to search these devices. That’s why the American Civil Liberties Union has filed suit against the city of San Francisco and its chief of police. [More]
