bobsullivan.net

Consumer and cybercrime news

THE RED TAPE CHRONICLES

Technology has hidden side effects -- we reveal them here

  • About Bob
  • Gotchas / Consumer
  • Cybercrime / Privacy
  • Podcasts
  • Bob Sullivan music
Home2014February

Month: February 2014

Privacy

WhatsApp is a product, not a trick, and that’s why it’s worth $19 billion. Will this deal change advertising forever?

February 19, 2014 Bob Sullivan 0

If you aren’t paying for the product, you are the product.  WhatsApp just managed to score $19 billion by making a product that users actually want to pay for, rather than tricking them into being a product others paid for.  Maybe….just maybe…this signals a shift in the way technology companies [Keep reading]

Privacy

Pew: Spouses partners share passwords, email, social media accounts

February 19, 2014 Bob Sullivan 0

Roughly two-thirds of partners in a committed relationship share passwords, a practice that makes most security professionals shudder. Older, retired couples are also very likely to share an e-mail account, social media account, or online calendar, according to a new study from the Pew Research Center. That makes sense: plenty [Keep reading]

Credit cards

Capital One should be ashamed of its fine print bullying tactics

February 18, 2014 Bob Sullivan 2

Let’s be absolutely clear about this: No credit card company can barge into your home uninvited and demand payment for a debt. In fact, a company can’t even call you, once you tell it to stop. The vile, reprehensible contract that Capital One is apparently sending out to consumers is [Keep reading]

No Picture
Uncategorized

This vs that, or why we’re fat: One pepper costs the same as a family-size carton of juice

February 17, 2014 Bob Sullivan 1

One of the simplest reasons that Americans are unhealthy is because bad food is often much cheaper and easier to get than good food. I am often enraged when I stop at rest areas and other public facilities around the country and discover that bottles of water are more expensive [Keep reading]

Identity Theft

Kickstarter picks Saturday to tell users they’ve been hacked

February 16, 2014 Bob Sullivan 0

If you want to share bad news, send it along on the Saturday of a long weekend.  Kickstarter has been hacked, and its 5.6 million user-investors put at risk for identity theft, the firm told customers in an email sent on Saturday. Hackers may have stolen usernames, email addresses, mailing [Keep reading]

Identity Theft

What can you do to stop ID theft? Nothing, really. But you can contain the damage

February 14, 2014 Bob Sullivan 0

The question is as old as the first case of credit card fraud. “What can I do to protect myself?” I’ve been hearing that question a lot lately, as tales of leaked credit card data and other personal information mount. Target, Neiman Marcus…you know the list now. These high-profile hacks [Keep reading]

No Picture
Gotchas / Consumer

Time Warner and Comcast? That’s like letting the Joker and the Riddler merge

February 13, 2014 Bob Sullivan 2

Raise your hand if you look forward to the nation’s two largest cable companies getting married.  Me too. Sounds about as much fun as the Joker and the Riddler teaming up to attack Metropolis. Comcast announced plans to buy Time Warner cable on Thursday, and consumers everywhere felt a chill [Keep reading]

No Picture
The Restless Project

More Americans fighting over smartphones (they sext and make up, too)

February 12, 2014 Bob Sullivan 0

Technology has become a source of tension in relationships for millions of American couples, according to study released this week by the Pew Research Center.  One in four adults — and nearly one in two young adults aged 18-29 — say they feel their spouse or partner has been distracted [Keep reading]

The Restless Project

Sure I’m working to death, but at least I have a Cadillac!

February 11, 2014 Bob Sullivan 3

“Look at the Cadillac in my driveway!” the advertisement, which debuted during the Olympics, suggests.  “It proves I don’t know how to take vacations! In fact, I’m hostile to vacations. Heck, you think the astronauts who went to the moon, or….Les Paul or… Muhammad Ali ever took a vacation?” As [Keep reading]

No Picture
Cybercrime / Privacy

Congress Looks for Answers on Big Data Breaches

February 10, 2014 Bob Sullivan 0

Americans worried about their credit card security heard for the first time Tuesday from executives at hacked retailers, and their message was two-fold. First, they’re sorry. And second, the attacks on computers at Target, Neiman Marcus, and many other retailers are different than any other they’ve faced. Target Chief Financial Officer [Keep reading]

Posts navigation

« 1 2 3 »

Sign up for my Substack

Search

About me

BOB SULLIVAN is a veteran journalist and the author of four books, including the 2008 New York Times Best-Seller, Gotcha Capitalism, and the 2010 New York Times Best Seller, Stop Getting Ripped Off! His latest, The Plateau Effect, was published in 2013, and as a paperback, called Getting Unstuck in 2014. He has won the Society of Professional Journalists prestigious Public Service award, a Peabody award, and The Consumer Federation of America Betty Furness award, and been given Consumer Action’s Consumer Excellence Award.

Bob Sullivan

bobsullivan.net
Privacy Policy / Proudly powered by WordPress Theme: MH Magazine.