Let’s kick off the holiday shopping season with news of a data breach that may involve some toys you’ll be wrapping in the coming weeks. Popular children’s electric toy maker VTech has announced that customer information fell into the wrong hands earlier this month. [More]
privacy
Dell Helpfully Installs Yet Another Gaping Security Hole On Some Laptops
By 11.25.15
That big fat “Superfish”-style security hole in Dell laptops that we told you about yesterday? Turns out, it’s not alone. There’s another basically just like it on Dell laptops, too. ZDNet has instructions for how to remove these troublesome certificates from your laptop if it has them. [ZDNet] [More]
New Hire At FCC May Indicate More Protection For Consumers’ Privacy Down The Road
By 11.25.15
Government agencies are basically giant businesses: they hire new people all the time, and it’s very rarely news when they do. Occasionally, though, the match of person and position may hint at big news for consumers, as one recent hire at the FCC just did. [More]
Walmart Used Defense Contractor Lockheed Martin To Monitor Employees
By 11.25.15
As a growing number of Walmart employees began demanding higher wages, with some also calling for workers to unionize, the nation’s largest retailer hired one of the world’s largest defense contractors to follow the online activities of critical employees. [More]
Some Dell Laptops Shipping With Big Security Flaw Pre-Installed
By 11.24.15
There are millions of Dell laptops out there in the world; businesses buy them by the tens of thousands and plenty of home consumers use them too. And unfortunately, that means there are millions of laptops out there with a big fat security hole that could allow mischief-makers and would-be-thieves a way to access users’ private, theoretically secure data. [More]
Man Uses LifeLock To Track Ex-Wife; Company Didn’t Care
By 11.23.15
Imagine you found out that your former spouse had opened a fake LifeLock credit monitoring account in your name, and then used it to follow your every financial move for two years? Then imagine that no one at LifeLock will take your query seriously, even after the police get involved. [More]
Amazon Enables Two-Step Authentication To Give Users More Account Protection
By 11.18.15
Amazon joined a growing number of tech, social media and retail companies aiming to ensure your personal information is as secure as possible today, by enabling two-factor authentication for user accounts. [More]
Medical Data Privacy Laws Don’t Actually Cover Apps, Wearables, And Other Consumer Stuff
By 11.18.15
The future’s really cool sometimes: We get to use all sorts of new technology tools and cloud-based services to help us manage our health. That constellation of apps, trackers, tests, and gadgets gives huge insight into our health and bodies, which is useful to millions… but it also lets a stunning amount of the most personal data out into the wild, unregulated and uncontrolled. [More]
FCC Declines To Force Internet Companies To Listen When You Ask Them Not To Track You
By 11.9.15
It’s no secret that the internet, well, follows you around. Browse one product on Monday and you’re seeing ads for it everywhere all week long. Modern browsers have an option that lets users ask businesses nicely not to follow them. One consumer group tried to ask the FCC to make businesses listen but it appears that is not to be. [More]
Walmart Tried, Gave Up On Using Facial Recognition Software To ID Shoplifters
By 11.9.15
If you’ve ever known a shoplifter, you’ve probably noticed that he or she has a tendency to hit up the same stores over and over until those victimized retailers either nab the shoplifter or do something to make theft more difficult. It would make seem to make sense then for Walmart to deploy a facial recognition program to identify known or suspected offenders. So why did the company recently give up on this sort of system? [More]
Firefox’s Private Browsing Mode Can Now Block Invasive Online Ads
By 11.3.15
Any decent web browser has some sort of incognito browsing mode that adds at least the appearance of a more private user experience. Now the folks behind the Firefox browser say their latest update includes an enhanced Private Browsing mode that limits tracking to the point of actually blocking some ads. [More]
Former Ashley Madison Customer Sues Site Over “Army Of Fembots” With Fake Profiles
By 11.2.15
After hackers dumped a plethora of personal information about Ashley Madison’s 37 million subscribers online in August, the public has learned a lot about the dating site aimed at cheaters. Among the reported revelations: only about 15% of its users are women, contrary to the site’s marketing claims, a new lawsuit says. Adding insult to injury? The army of fembots scattered through the sites with fake profiles written by employees. [More]
Privacy Advocates Concerned As Senate Approves Controversial Cybersecurity Bill
By 10.28.15
Despite previous failures, Congress just keeps on churning through bills that propose to enhance digital security at the cost of digital privacy. The latest in the series sailed through the Senate with wide approval this week, kicking off another wave of privacy concerns. [More]
Facebook Wins Dismissal Of $15 Billion Privacy Lawsuit
By 10.26.15
It’s been more than three years since a federal judge in California heard arguments in a large class-action lawsuit filed against Facebook over its questionable privacy practices. Finally, on Friday that judge sided with the social network and threw out the case — while leaving open the option for plaintiffs to revise and re-file their case. [More]
A&P Brand Names And Customer Data Are Up For Auction
By 10.23.15
If you’ve always wanted to own the brand name of a venerable but defunct supermarket company, now is your opportunity. After A&P filed for bankruptcy for the second time in five years and the last time ever, the company is getting rid of the last of its assets. The leases and locations of individual stores were sold off to rival grocery chains, and now what’s left are brands, customer names, and e-mail addresses. [More]
Conflicts In Patient Privacy Laws Often Leave Student Health Records Vulnerable
By 10.23.15
When a college student seeks medical treatment at a campus healthcare facility, they probably expect they will be afforded the same discretion as all consumer are under HIPAA (the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act). But thanks to a separate, often conflicting federal law, that isn’t always the case. [More]
Facebook Updates Search Function; Now Is A Great Time To Run And Check All Your Privacy Settings
By 10.22.15
Facebook search is… well, kind of a joke. It can tell you which 400 people in your area have similar names to that one person you want to connect to but aren’t quite them, but it’s not great for finding that post you really, really wanted to dig up from last year with that article you half-remember. Until now. [More]
Facebook Will Now Alert You If You’re The Victim Of A Government-Sponsored Cyber Attack
By 10.19.15
Are you sick of those boring old Facebook notices for birthdays, group updates, event invites, and even the occasional “poke” from someone who still thinks it’s 2007? Maybe you need some international intrigue to liven up your day. Thankfully, Facebook will be there to let you know if your profile has been targeted by a government-sponsored cyber attack. [More]
