For a Google engineer who was fired in July, it apparently wasn’t enough just to Google people in order to stalk them. Instead, he allegedly abused his access and violated the company’s privacy policies to snoop on users. [More]
privacy
Would You Let A Station Attendant Hold On To Your License While You Pump Gas?
By 9.16.10
Larry tells Consumerist that when he tried to pay for gasoline with his credit card recently, the station attendant didn’t just ask to see his driver’s license. She asked to keep it while he pumped gas. Have you run across this in your own travels? What would you do? [More]
Hyatt Charges Asthmatic Woman $250 For Smoking, Says It Has Secret Photos
By 9.8.10
A woman who stayed at a Hyatt in Milwaukee last month was hit with an extra $250 charge for smoking in her room. The problem, she says, is that she has severe asthma–she offered to show Hyatt her prescriptions–and is not a smoker. When she complained to Hyatt, the hotel’s director of operations told her “the Hyatt had photographic evidence of smoking in the room and would absolutely not refund her money.” [More]
Airport Body Scanners May Replace Your Naked Body With A Generic Avatar, Eventually
By 9.8.10
Bloomberg reports that one of the big companies behind airport full-body scanners has released a software update that replaces your misshapen nakedness with a generically proportioned, nondescript avatar. The software then indicates on the avatar where you should be searched. [More]
Google Settles Buzz Lawsuit For $8.5 Million; You Don't Get Any Of It
By 9.6.10
Hey, remember when Google signed everyone up for Buzz without asking and revealed their private contact lists? The company has now settled a class action lawsuit brought by seven Gmail users. The BBC says that 30% will go to the legal team, while each of those seven users will get $2,500. The rest will not be turned into Google stickers or free AdSense ads for you, but instead will be “shared among organisations that promote online privacy.” [More]
Consumer Group Launches Anti-Google Ad In Times Square, Keeps Google Analytics On Its Own Website
By 9.6.10
The group Consumer Watchdog is pushing hard for Congress to establish a “do not track” list for online consumers, which I’m all for. I’m not sure whether releasing a ridiculously unpleasant cartoon in Times Square is the right strategy, though–especially when you use the very service you’re warning people about. [More]
GPS And ID Card Tracks When Your Kid Gets On And Off Schoolbus
By 9.1.10
Before the kid gets on the bus, he has to swipe his electronic ID card. When he gets off, swipe again. The $16,000 kid-tracking system rolled out in a southwest Illinois suburban school district this week lets the school know where every bus and child is at all times. Parents and school administrators say it’s a welcome relief, but is it too Orwellian? [More]
Erase Yourself From The Internet
By 8.31.10
Need to escape from a stalker or clean up your online identity before a potential or current employer finds out that you have a personality? Here’s instructions on how to delete yourself from the internet, everything from erasing your profile from Facebook to “unGoogling” yourself. [More]
Bank Of America Quizzes Me About Sister's Real Estate Holdings For Account Verification
By 8.25.10
Seth tells Consumerist that when he tried to open an additional savings account with Bank of America, recently, the überbank put up some privacy roadblocks that he found intrusive and problematic. He’s already a customer, but the bank insisted on verifying his identity when he applied for a new savings account online. One of the questions was about his sister’s financial transactions, not his, which made him uncomfortable. [More]
Disable Facebook Places From Letting Others Tag Your Location
By 8.19.10
“Facebook Places” is a new Facebook feature with Foursquare check-in-like functionality, but by default it lets other people tag you as being at a location without requiring your consent even if you’re not there. This could lead to friends tagging you as being inside a peepshow, or an ex-girlfriend tagging you as being with another girl so your new girlfriend gets pissed off. The sitcom storyline possibilities are endless! Here’s how to turn it off: [More]
Can I Make Companies Give Me A Copy Of My Customer Service Call?
By 8.17.10
“This call may be recorded for quality assurance and training purposes.” Yes, but can I get a copy of it? Not unless you made one yourself. [More]
This Hobby Lobby Reserves The Right To Search Your Car
By 8.16.10 — Updated: 5.3.13
A tipster in Louisville, Kentucky snapped this photo of a small warning sign taped to the window of his local Hobby Lobby. According to the sign, the store reserves the right to go through pretty much anything you happen to be carrying with you, plus your car. But shoppers shouldn’t feel too bad, because the sign says you can refuse and be escorted from the premises. [More]
24 Hour Fitness Rolling Out Fingerprint-Based ID Entry System
By 8.13.10
Gym chain 24 Hour Fitness is getting some attention for a new program that uses members’ fingerprints to replace the gym’s existing photo ID system. [More]
Verizon Sent My Billing Info To Some Other Guy
By 8.12.10
When Matt ordered his phone from Verizon, he expected a confirmation email. What he got instead was a phone call from a stranger who got his email by accident. The message contained loads of personal information. Matt, freaked out about the privacy violation, is going to use the free month of service Verizon offered to make up for the lapse to reduce his early termination fee. [More]
Illinois Sort Of Ends Pre-Employment Credit Checks, But Not Really
By 8.12.10
Some experts claim that there’s no connection between poor credit history and poor job performance. That doesn’t stop employers from evaluating applicants based on their credit reports. The governor of Illinois signed a law this week prohibiting employers from hiring on the basis of credit checks…but there are some pretty big exceptions. [More]
Woman Arrested Over Wet T-Shirt Complaints At Florida Children's Water Park
By 8.9.10
A 36-year-old woman says she’s planning on suing the city of Tavares, Florida, because its police force demanded her name for a “database” as she was leaving a children’s water park last spring. She’d taken her 7-year-old son there for the third time that season, and on each visit, other parents complained that her wet t-shirt and bra look was offensive. As she was leaving, a police officer demanded her name, and arrested her when she refused. [More]
iPhones Help Cops Solve Crimes By Capturing Everything You Type, Do
By 8.7.10
Cops love finding iPhones at crime scenes because the phones carry so much priceless data about your usage habits, or as the cops call it, evidence. That email you typed months back about feeling stabby when you drink? It’s still there because there because the iPhone captures everything you type to help fuel its spellcheck abilities—even emails you thought you deleted. And that’s not all. [More]
Guess What? Your Roommate Called Us About A Potentially Embarrassing Product!
By 8.5.10
Dawn tells Consumerist that she had a potentially embarrassing experience recently involving a phone call, a celebrity-endorsed beauty product, and a shared phone line. She called to ask some questions about Joan Rivers’ Great Hair Day, a special hair powder marketed to women with thinning hair. Much to her horror, even though she didn’t provide the company with her phone number, they called back within minutes to talk about the product, without even checking to see whether it was Dawn who answered the phone. Nice. [More]
