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
Home2014March

Month: March 2014

No Picture
Privacy

Would you borrow money from your boss? The privacy impact of ‘Big Data’ loans

March 31, 2014 Bob Sullivan 0

Would you take out a loan from the company you work for? Plenty of new lenders are betting that you might. But even if you wouldn’t, a new crop of lending products is bound to impact your privacy. The National Consumer Law Center released a report recently called “Big Data: [Keep reading]

Privacy

Three things Facebook users can do right now for better privacy

March 26, 2014 Bob Sullivan 0

If you are really concerned about privacy, then you probably shouldn’t use Facebook. But if you are like a billion people on the planet, you’ve decided that Facebook’s tradeoff between sharing and privacy is worth it. That’s certainly reasonable.  Plenty of non-Facebookers today complain that they miss out on a lot [Keep reading]

Kids and Tech

Screens OK for babies after all? Doc says so, but I’m worried

March 21, 2014 Bob Sullivan 1

It’s the first nice Friday in about five months on the East Coast, and I just walked across a busy street and passed a mom pushing her 2 or 3 year old in a stroller, the child playing with the mom’s iPhone all the way. At least they were crossing [Keep reading]

Credit cards

When will Americans get chip & pin credit cards? Visa’s chief risk officer tells me

March 21, 2014 Bob Sullivan 0

If and when consumers begin receiving credit cards with embedded chips en masse from their banks, it’ll mark a significant change in the way Americans pay for things. Visa’s Chief Risk Officer, Ellen Richey, told me in an exclusive interview recently that for many consumers, the only change will be [Keep reading]

Gotchas / Consumer

Roughly 30 million Americans chased by debt collectors, and they misbehave often, feds say

March 20, 2014 Bob Sullivan 1

I talked to a friend recently who was surprised how popular get-out-of-debt stories are. He pays all his bills every month on time and can’t imagine not doing that.  Lucky is he.  And perhaps a bit naive.  Not only do roughly half of credit card carry a balance, but plenty [Keep reading]

Sports features

In my new NCAA bracket over-rated index, Duke is clear champion

March 19, 2014 Bob Sullivan 1

As you are racing to fill out your tournament brackets today (and remember, don’t fall for the Quicken/Buffett ploy!), I have one piece of iron-clad, scientific advice to give you: Pick Duke to under-perform its tournament seeding. Duke is much more likely to bow out of the tournament early than [Keep reading]

No Picture
Money and Life

Don’t like whiskey? It’s probably the people you drink with (a Paddy’s Day ode to ‘water of life’)

March 17, 2014 Bob Sullivan 1

(Kevin Hurley, Global Brand Ambassador for Teeling Whiskey, stopped by Peter Dillon’s in NYC last night to help me explain why the history of whiskey is the history of Ireland.  Teeling, a new entrant, is meant to be sipped, not gulped, like Jameson.  But it’s not quite as expensive as [Keep reading]

Gotchas / Consumer

Stadium beer cup outrage: Small ($4) and large ($7) are the same size!

March 13, 2014 Bob Sullivan 0

How often do I get to combine my favorite topics — consumer behavior, beer, hockey, and ripoffs — in the same story!  Hockey fans (of course, hockey fans) in Idaho have sued a minor league team for using differently-shaped but equal volume plastic cups for their small ($4) and large [Keep reading]

Don't Get Ripped Off Series

Now at $99, should you quit Amazon Prime? It’s more expensive than you think

March 13, 2014 Bob Sullivan 0

Amazon Prime can be a pretty good deal for users. Heck, if all you do is stream a Ken Burns documentary series rather than buy it, you’ll come out ahead, even at the new $99 price point. So the usual consumer reporter “how dare they” response to Amazon’s price hike [Keep reading]

The Restless Project

Expansion of overtime rules overdue; the important history of eight hour work days

March 12, 2014 Bob Sullivan 0

The single best thing that could happen for American families, waistlines, sanity, and even worker productivity would be an update to American overtime pay rules.  President Obama is planning to expand the number of workers entitled to overtime pay by several million, perhaps through administrative order.  The step is sure [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.