Like it or not, advanced imaging technology (AIT)–capable of producing highly detailed pics of your naked body–is expanding rapidly throughout U.S. airports. Last month, there were at least 142 AIT units deployed in eleven airports, but by the end of the year that will jump to more than 450 nationwide, spread across at least forty airports (see full list below). The TSA has tried to downplay privacy issues by saying that the units won’t save images, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t. In fact, the U.S. Marshals Service in Florida says they’ve got over 35,000 AIT scans of people saved. They also say that an AIT unit tested in the Washington, D.C. federal courthouse was sent back to the manufacturer with images still stored on it. [More]
privacy
Bank Closes Hacked Account Without Telling Me, Goes For Upsell
By 8.3.10
Virginia discovered her Netflix DVDs stopped flowing because Wells Fargo disabled her credit card, apparently without notifying her. When she called to see what was up, she got an opportunistic upsell. The bank rep told her the account was closed because it had been “compromised” then offered her a $12-a-month protection plan to quell future compromising. [More]
Town Catches Pool Permit Dodgers With Google Earth
By 8.2.10
New technology often has unintended consequences. In the case of Google Earth, a popular program that combines various satellite and aerial images to create a navigable 3D globe, it’s being used by one town to catch unpermitted pool owners. [More]
Amazon Offers To Connect With Your Facebook Account
By 8.2.10
Remember Beacon? This is not Beacon, Amazon wants you to know. The retailer has launched a new program where you can connect your Amazon account to your Facebook account, but it promises it won’t broadcast your purchases or bug your friends. Instead, the connection seems designed to funnel all the likes and favorites on your Facebook account (and those of your friends as well) into Amazon’s giant brain, so it can refine its shopping recommendations. Oh, and it will remind you of upcoming birthdays. [More]
Fry's Makes Me Log On To Bank Account To Prove I've Got Enough Money To Write Check
By 7.30.10
Melissa wanted to pay for a hard drive at Fry’s Electronics with a check, but management discouraged her from doing so by making her jump through what she feels was an unreasonable hoop. She was told she’d have to use one of the store’s computers to log on to her account in front of a worker and prove she had enough money to make the purchase. [More]
Personal Info For 100 Million Facebook Users Harvested Into One File
By 7.28.10
Do you share your personal info with everyone on Facebook? If so, there’s a decent chance that data is now part of a file — containing information for around 100 million users of the social networking site — that’s now making its way around the Web. [More]
NY Town Considering 'Do Not Knock' List
By 7.28.10
The people in Rye, NY, are so fed-up with unsolicited visitors banging on their doors to sell them something or ask for their support in an election that they’re considering creating a “Do Not Knock” registry that would forbid door-to-door types from interrupting their peace and quiet. [More]
Five Things To Do Before Losing Your Wallet
By 7.24.10
Look, it’s going to happen eventually. Whether it’s pickpockets or carelessness, you’re going to lose your wallet. When you do, you’ll be glad you took these five steps to make recovery simple and painless. [More]
New Company Aims To Reward Consumers For Their Personal Info
By 7.18.10
Truth is, there are advertisers and marketers out there just slavering over our personal information on the Internet, trying to get their hands on as much as they can so they can better pitch their products to us. From our Facebook profiles to our Internet searches, that info is like gold. And now there’s a company attempting to give consumers some reward, instead of just advertisers. [More]
ESRB Apologizes For Leaking A Thousand Emails
By 7.14.10
After accidentally sharing the email addresses of gamers who complained about having to use their real names on World of Warcraft-maker Blizzard’s forums, the Entertainment Software Rating Board offered this mea culpa: [More]
Gamers Who Complained About Blizzard's Forum Privacy See Email Addresses Leaked
By 7.13.10
Let’s go ahead and assume that people who complain about having to use their true identities in forums care about their privacy. From there it’s no small leap to imagine that the 1,000 or so folks who sent angry emails about World of Warcraft-maker Blizzard’s policy were nonplussed that the Entertainment Software Rating Board has gone and leaked their addresses. [More]
How Do I Stop My Facebook Doppelganger?
By 7.12.10
Katie says he friend has been attacked on Facebook. Someone has copied her profile, befriended her contacts and sent them terrible messages in a frame job. She says Facebook has been unresponsive and wants your advice on how to handle the situation. [More]
Chili's Fires Employee Accused Of Placing Camera In Restroom
By 7.10.10
A former Chili’s employee is set to answer charges that he stashed a cellphone camera aimed at the women’s toilets in the Arroyo Grande restaurant. The camera was discovered after a 41-year-old patron noticed something suspicious concealed in a bucket of cleaning supplies. [More]
You Want Your Real Name Publicly Associated With Your World Of Warcraft Account, Right?
By 7.6.10
If you want to use certain official World of Warcraft forums, you’re going to have to come out. That is, you’re going to have to make your real full name visible on forums. No, not your character name: your real name. No, it’s not a severely delayed April Fool’s joke. And no, Blizzard, the company behind the game, doesn’t seem to care that their players like to post on forums but also might have problems with stalkers or identity theft, and also occasionally seek gainful employment. [More]
HSBC Helping Out Mail Thieves By Sending Out Pre-Activated Debit Cards
By 7.6.10
Legitimate businessmen aren’t the only ones who need stimulus packages to get their games rolling again. Dudes who dig through peoples’ mail and steal debit cards can also use a little loving. HSBC understands this fact and is helping out by sending out pre-activated debit cards, Knowzy reports. [More]
Foursquare Was Leaking Your Data, Too Busy With Funding To Tell You
By 7.1.10
Wired says that a few days ago, a white hat hacker found a way to capture the location data of all of Foursquare (which we can only describe, for those who remain unaware of it, as a location-based, social media experiment in solipsism that distinguishes itself by offering Starbucks coupons) — even if users had opted-out through privacy settings. [More]
Domino's Drivers Can Ask To See ID On Credit Card Purchases, But You Don't Have To Show It
By 6.28.10
A Domino’s PR rep says drivers aren’t allowed to ask you for your Social Security Number to verify credit card purchases. Drivers can ask to see your ID, but you can refuse and the driver can’t deny the transaction. [More]
Delta Randomly Sent Me My Personal Identification Number
By 6.25.10
Delta promptly emailed Aaron the PIN from his SkyMiles account. Which is nice and all, except for the fact that Aaron never lost his number and didn’t request the email. The announcement showed up with no prompt whatsoever. [More]
