Archives: News
Archive of News from WirelessEd, in reverse chronological order.
- Headlines | Your apps know where you are (and aren’t keeping it secret). {/exp:ce_str:ing}
Many consumers know that apps can track people’s movements. But as smartphones have become ubiquitous and technology more accurate, an industry of snooping on people’s…
- Headlines | Is Netflix’s ‘Friends’ deal the end of an online entertainment era?. {/exp:ce_str:ing}
Netflix has renegotiated a deal with production outfit Warner Bros. and its parent company AT&T/WarnerMedia for domestic rights to the show "Friends." The New York…
- Headlines | Digital divide is wider than we think. {/exp:ce_str:ing}
According to the Federal Communications Commission, everyone in sprawling Ferry County has access to broadband internet. But that is not the reality experienced by the…
- Headlines | How Trump appointees curbed a consumer protection agency. {/exp:ce_str:ing}
One year after Mick Mulvaney’s arrival, he and his political aides have constrained the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau from within, achieving what conservatives on Capitol…
- Headlines | This watchdog agency is smaller, quieter and less active under Trump. {/exp:ce_str:ing}
Under the Trump administration, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has seen its role diminished.
“People wondered when I got — when I took the…
- Press Releases | Paper or digital? Consumer Action joins new campaign to protect consumers’ right to choose (Keep Me Posted North America launches today). Consumer Action joins new global advocacy campaign working for the right of every consumer to choose, free of charge, how they receive important information from their service providers—on paper or electronically.{/exp:ce_str:ing}
- Headlines | Is your holiday gift spying on you?. {/exp:ce_str:ing}
From baby monitors to drones, a new guide invites consumers to score products on a privacy scale that slides from "Not Creepy!" to "Super Creepy!"
… - Headlines | 2018’s Best credit cards for bad credit. {/exp:ce_str:ing}
By and large, secured cards are the best available option thanks to their low fees and easy approvals. While you should try to avoid paying…
- Headlines | The FCC’s controversial plan for unwanted robocalls, texts. {/exp:ce_str:ing}
The U.S. government said Tuesday that it plans to take aim at the scourge of unwelcome phone calls and spam text messages plaguing millions of…
- Headlines | How to buy a used phone without getting fleeced. {/exp:ce_str:ing}
Apple, Samsung and Google have all launched their new phones. Everyone in the world is itching to upgrade to the latest and greatest, but not…
- Headlines | A dark consensus about screens and kids. {/exp:ce_str:ing}
The people who are closest to a thing are often the most wary of it. Technologists know how phones really work, and many have decided…
- Headlines | Facebook fined $644,000 in Cambridge Analytica data scandal. {/exp:ce_str:ing}
Britain's information commissioner has slapped Facebook with a fine of $644,000 — the maximum possible — for its behavior in the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
The…
- Headlines | An A.I. (artificial intelligence) glossary. {/exp:ce_str:ing}
The last six years have witnessed breakthroughs in everything from self-driving cars to algorithms that can detect diseases, and social networks like Twitter that rely…
- Headlines | FCC says Hurricane Michael victims deserve a month of free cell service. {/exp:ce_str:ing}
The Federal Communications Commission slammed the nation’s wireless carriers Tuesday for failing to quickly restore service to Hurricane Michael victims — and demanded that the…
- Press Releases | Consumer groups applaud expanded resources for LEP borrowers. {/exp:ce_str:ing}
WASHINGTON, D.C.- Today, consumer advocacy and civil rights groups, including Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund, the Center for Responsible Lending, Connecticut Fair Housing Center,…
- Headlines | Cybersecurity experts support data beach disclosure law. {/exp:ce_str:ing}
A slight majority of digital security experts surveyed by the Washington Post's cybersecurity team say the United States should follow in the European Union's footsteps and pass…
- Headlines | Financial companies rack up complaints, but good luck finding them. {/exp:ce_str:ing}
A NerdWallet analysis of previously undisclosed Consumer Financial Protection Bureau data shows that Green Dot, a dominant prepaid card company, and Credit One, a leading…
- Headlines | Children’s allowances: Debit cards linked to parents’ phones. {/exp:ce_str:ing}
Parents can now choose from a rapidly expanding menu of prepaid debit cards, aimed at giving them digital oversight of their children’s spending and saving…
- Headlines | Experian credit freeze flaw may have revealed your PIN to fraudsters. {/exp:ce_str:ing}
The credit bureau’s process to retrieve a PIN that safeguards a frozen Experian credit report had a security defect, making it easier for a fraudster…
- Headlines | It’s better for companies to be transparent about privacy bugs. {/exp:ce_str:ing}
Consumers and regulators have shown they will judge companies far more harshly for covering up data security issues than for openly discussing them. Google just…
- Headlines | The future is creepy when everything becomes a computer. {/exp:ce_str:ing}
In recent years, the tech industry’s largest powers set their sights on a new target for digital conquest. They promised wild conveniences and unimaginable benefits…
- Headlines | 3 out of 4 Americans share Netflix, Amazon, Uber accounts. {/exp:ce_str:ing}
Altogether, 74 percent of Americans are sharing streaming, shopping and mobile accounts such as Netflix, Hulu, Uber, Spotify and Amazon Prime with their family, friends…
- Headlines | Worried your Facebook account has been cloned?. {/exp:ce_str:ing}
Facebook users are being duped into thinking that their accounts have been cloned thanks to a viral message that made the rounds of the social…
- Headlines | New tool for FAFSA completion. {/exp:ce_str:ing}
Advocates hope new myStudentAid mobile app will mean more applicants finish the FAFSA.
{/exp:ce_str:ing} - Headlines | Facebook hack puts thousands of other sites at risk. {/exp:ce_str:ing}
When Mark Zuckerberg introduced an online tool called Facebook Connect in 2008, he hailed it as a kind of digital passport to the rest of…
- Headlines | Trump administration suing California over new net neutrality law. {/exp:ce_str:ing}
The Trump administration said Sunday it will sue California in an effort to block what some experts have described as the toughest net neutrality law…
- Headlines | Consumer bureau official blasts colleague over blog dismissing racism. {/exp:ce_str:ing}
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) official in charge of fair lending is pulling her support for a top agency aide over blog posts he wrote…
- Headlines | California probes links between high-cost lenders and consumer sites. {/exp:ce_str:ing}
California's Department of Business Oversight sent letters to 20 high-interest lenders, asking about their use of so-called lead generators — companies that operate websites connecting…
- Headlines | Telemarketer made 21 million robocalls in 3 months. {/exp:ce_str:ing}
The Federal Communications Commission imposed an $82 million fine against a telemarketer who made more than 21 million unsolicited calls to consumers to try to…
- Headlines | US attorneys general discuss social media privacy concerns. {/exp:ce_str:ing}
A meeting between top state law enforcement officials and Attorney General Jeff Sessions about how the government can safeguard the privacy of social media users…
- Headlines | Future of 5G mobile data could hinge on a battle over utility pole fees. {/exp:ce_str:ing}
Mobile carriers such as AT&T and Verizon are in a race to build brand-new data networks that can deliver ultrafast downloads and support a fresh…
- Headlines | This company is helping parents track their children. {/exp:ce_str:ing}
Designed for family members, a new app called “Mom I Am Ok” will launch this month and allow parents to set agreed-upon “check-ins” with their…
- Headlines | Nearly half of cellphone calls will be scams by 2019. {/exp:ce_str:ing}
Nearly half of all cellphone calls next year will come from scammers, according to First Orion, a company that provides phone carriers and their customers…
- Headlines | How (and when) to limit kids’ tech use. {/exp:ce_str:ing}
No one cares more about your child's well-being and success than you do. In today's digitally-fueled times, that means guiding him or her not just…
- Headlines | New iPhones are coming. Here’s how to save on an upgrade.. {/exp:ce_str:ing}
It’s the time of year when smartphone makers introduce their newest wares to tempt you to spend your hard-earned dollars on the latest, priciest devices.
… - Headlines | Google’s location privacy practices are under investigation. {/exp:ce_str:ing}
Google's alleged practice of recording location data about Android device owners even when they believe they have opted out of such tracking has sparked an…
- Headlines | What to do when your phone or tablet won’t charge. {/exp:ce_str:ing}
Check the Charging Port for Lint or Bent Contacts
It sounds silly, but charging problems can often be something as simple as a dirty charging…
- Headlines | What Jack Dorsey and Sheryl Sandberg taught Congress. {/exp:ce_str:ing}
Contrary to much of what is happening in Washington these days, Wednesday’s tech hearings showed a political system earnestly wrestling with issues for which there…
- Headlines | Your credit score may have gone up, but don’t rest easy. {/exp:ce_str:ing}
Your credit score may have just gone up. That’s because the big credit agencies have cleaned house a bit, removing outdated info that may have…
- Headlines | Trump says Google is rigged. What do we know about how it works?. {/exp:ce_str:ing}
As the web has grown in size and complexity, the importance of Google Search has grown. A minor tweak to its algorithm can redirect huge…
- Headlines | Google will now help you get a bank loan in India. {/exp:ce_str:ing}
Google has partnered with four Indian banks to allow users to get loans via Google Pay.
Customers of those banks who use the Google payment…
- Headlines | Facebook and Twitter to testify to Congress next week. {/exp:ce_str:ing}
Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg and Twitter’s Jack Dorsey are set to face a fresh grilling on Capitol Hill next week as lawmakers probe Silicon Valley’s efforts…
- Headlines | Verizon throttled firefighters’ data as mendocino wildfire raged. {/exp:ce_str:ing}
Just days after the massive Mendocino Complex Fire ignited in Northern California, fire officials were getting desperate in their emails to Verizon Wireless. As Santa…
- Headlines | Trump’s pick for consumer agency ‘has no qualifications for this job’. {/exp:ce_str:ing}
Now that White House aide Kathy Kraninger has received the blessing of the Senate Banking Committee’s Republican majority to become the nation’s top consumer financial…
- Headlines | Don’t want Google tracking you? You have almost no choice. {/exp:ce_str:ing}
Google’s sweeping capability to collect data makes it nearly impossible to escape the tech giant in the course of normal online activity, according to a…
- Headlines | How to block and report spam calls, texts. {/exp:ce_str:ing}
Unwanted calls and spam texts are annoying, but you can do something about them. Here’s how to block and report them so they won’t bother…
- Headlines | Want better customer service? Don’t call. Text.. {/exp:ce_str:ing}
The biggest shift in customer service since the 1-800 number is underway. Some 20 million businesses now use Facebook Messenger each month to talk with…
- Headlines | How Android Pie could change the way you use your phone. {/exp:ce_str:ing}
Google is rolling out Android Pie, the latest version of its operating system, to phones across the globe—starting with its own Pixel devices. As the…
- Headlines | The ‘Mulvaney discount’: Shrinking fines for law-breaking companies. {/exp:ce_str:ing}
There’s a hot new trend in Donald Trump’s Washington: the “Mulvaney discount.”
After pausing enforcement work when Acting Director Mick Mulvaney took over, the Consumer…
- Headlines | The top 10 things consumers complained about in 2017. {/exp:ce_str:ing}
False advertising of new and used cars, shoddy home improvement work, and deceptive retail sales tactics lead the towering list of complaints that consumers submitted…
2018
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