For all the scuttlebutt about full-body scanners and pat downs at the airport, at least we have a choice between the TSA seeing our privates or grazing their fingers across them. In the UK, if you decline the backscatter, you don’t get to fly. [More]
privacy
Delete All Facebook Apps You're Not Using
By 11.5.10
Here’s a fun lil’ project to protect your privacy in just a few minutes. Go through Facebook and delete all the apps you’re no longer using. That way they’ll no longer have access your data so they can’t mine it or sell it. Here’s how to do it. [More]
The Password Is Dead
By 11.4.10
It’s not going to be too long before you’ll have to have your face scanned before you can open your email, at the rate the password cracking arms race is going. [More]
Thanks, Napster, But You Don't Need To Send Me My Password
By 11.3.10
Stephen says Napster sent him an email with his username and password because his subscription was about to expire. Upset by what he saw as an unsolicited violation of his privacy, he complained to the music service and got a response that assured him his “private information is safe.” [More]
Facebook Suspends Data-Sharing Developers For 6 Months
By 11.2.10
Cracking down on Facebook app developers who were caught sharing user IDs to advertisers, the social networking site revealed a zero tolerance policy for data brokers, going so far as to ban offenders for half a year. [More]
Your Facebook Login Can Get Jacked By A Monkey With A Mouse
By 10.27.10
The guy sitting next to you in the coffee shop might actually be logging into your Facebook account, using the info beaming out your computer. It’s called “session hijacking” or “sidejacking” and despite it being a well-known vulnerability, most websites aren’t protecting their users from it. After a developer recently unveiled a user-friendly bit of code that makes “sidejacking” as easy a few mouse clicks, the problem is getting fresh attention. [More]
I Do Not Appreciate Your Drug-Pushing Calls, CVS
By 10.27.10
Josh used to get his prescriptions at CVS. He stopped when the company kept calling him, pushing more drugs, and refused to stop calling no matter who he asked. CVS seems to believe that they can annoy customers into purchasing more drugs. [More]
The New GameStop Rewards Card Isn't Worth Your Time Or Privacy
By 10.27.10
Last week, we learned that at least one Gamestop employee won’t even sell to you unless you sign up for a rewards card. Why might that be? Reader Dragonfire81 has mysterious inside knowledge, and warns all good Consumerists to stay far, far away from the new rewards program that Gamestop is pushing. [More]
To Sell You A Used Game, This GameStop Requires Your Phone Number
By 10.20.10
Did you know that GameStop is a membership-only establishment, like a warehouse club? You’re only allowed to shop there if you have their rewards card. I didn’t know that, and neither did Jeff. He tells Consumerist that he foolishly tried to purchase a game, but refused to join the rewards program or give the cashier his phone number. The cashier, in turn, refused to sell anything to him. [More]
Congressmen Demand Answers On Facebook Privacy Issues
By 10.19.10
It’s always nice when a Democrat from Massachusetts and a Republican from Texas can work together, though Facebook bigwig Mark Zuckerberg might disagree. The website’s CEO finds himself being asked to answer some tough questions from a pair of Congressmen from those two states. [More]
Report: All Top 10 Facebook Apps Leaking Personal Information
By 10.18.10
According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, a large number of the most popular applications on Facebook — including all of the 10 most popular apps — have been improperly transmitting user info, including names and possibly names of friends to advertising and internet tracking companies. [More]
Bureaucrats Abuse Gov Databases, Snoop On Neighbors And Lindsay Lohan
By 10.15.10
Low-ranking government apparatchiks are wasting taxpayer dollars and violating our trust by exploiting their access to massive government databases to look up private information on their neighbors and ex-spouses, and “doc gawk” on celebrities like Lindsay Lohan, Matt Damon, James Taylor, and Tom Brady. [More]
Help! My Gmail Account Was Hacked! How Do I Clean This Up?
By 10.12.10
Reader Lisa would like to ask the Consumerist hive mind for advice on cleaning up her recently hacked Gmail account. Here’s her story: [More]
Nielsen Partners With Facebook, Other Websites To Measure Ad Views Online
By 9.28.10
If you don’t like the concept of having your online actions tracked for marketing purposes, you can add Nielsen to you list of sworn enemies. The audience measurement company is better known for its TV viewer ratings, but yesterday it announced a new partnership with websites like Facebook where it will access user info (age and gender only, it says) to collect aggregate data on ad views around the web. [More]
Best Buy Field Agent Scopes Me In Parking Lot
By 9.28.10
Shannon said Best Buy, apparently suspecting her of shoplifting without wanting to confront her, sent out an employee to hide in the trees and report her actions into his headset as she entered her car. [More]
NY Bar Rules It's Ethical For Lawyers To Scour Facebook For Damaging Info
By 9.27.10
The New York Bar Association has decreed that it’s okay for lawyers to troll through Facebook and other social media sites for damaging info on their opposition. There is an important caveat, though. It’s only ethical if the info is publicly available. “Friending” someone for the purpose of accessing data the person only makes available to their “friends” is not kosher, nor is it cool to ask someone else to do it for you. [More]
Colleges Reap Big Bucks Selling Student Addresses To Credit Card Companies
By 9.24.10
Colleges are making bucket-loads of cash selling their alumni mailing lists to credit card companies. In some cases, they’re even getting a cut on every credit-card purchase or debit-card transaction a student makes. [More]
Diesel Website Wants Color Scan Of Your Credit Card Via Email
By 9.21.10
I know credit card fraud is rampant, but I’m not sure sending full scans of your card through email is the proper way to fix things. [More]
