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The FCC rule that would have prohibited your ISP from collecting and selling your personal data without your permission is pretty much dead , leaving consumers to fend for themselves . Members of the House and Senate didn’t all spontaneously come up with the same talking points about why the FCC rule was unfair, though; they had help from lobbyists and telecom corporations along the way. And now some of the biggest of those corporations are pinky-swearing that just because they can abuse the heck out of your data now doesn’t mean they will. That’s the gist of a post on Comcast’s corporate blog today from the company’s chief privacy officer, Gerard Lewis. Comcast is committed to privacy principles that are “in line with the FTC’s regime,” Lewis writes. “We have committed not to share our customers’ sensitive information unless we first obtain their affirmative, opt-in consent.” “We want to make sure that our customers understand how strong our privacy protections really are,” Lewis...

When you ask for a buttered bagel, what do you mean? Do you want a spread made from the milk of cows, or would you be fine with any spreadable facsimile thereof? A man who wanted the former sued Dunkin’ Donuts last year after getting a bagel that was slathered in butter substitute, and will now receive a settlement in the case. A man from the Worcester, MA, area filed two lawsuits last year in county court, accusing more than 20 Dunkin’ Donuts locations in the state of serving people butter substitute as butter, reports The Boston Globe . The suits sought class-action status to represent any Dunkin’ customer who “ordered a baked product, such as a bagel, with butter, but instead received margarine or butter substitute between June 24, 2012, and June 24, 2016.” His lawyer admits that the legal fight may seem like a small thing to fight about in the grand scheme of things, but hey, some people really like their butter, he told the Globe. “The main point of the lawsuit is to stop the ...

Last fall, 911 emergency-response service centers in a dozen states were the victims of a massive cyberattack that resulted in hundreds, if not thousands, of iPhones repeatedly calling 911 without the knowledge or direction of owners. Nearly five months later, Apple say it has fixed the apparent flaw that made the attack possible.  The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple’s latest iOS update — iOS 10.3 — is aimed at preventing similar cyberattacks from happening in the future. The October incident, which lasted for nearly 12 hours and affected call centers across the country, was allegedly caused when an 18-year-old wrote code that exploited a feature in iOS devices that allowed users to click on a phone number and immediately make a call. While the total number of calls received isn’t known, many of the centers reported receiving hundreds more than they would on a normal day. For example, the Journal has previously reported  that a center in Surprise, AZ, fielded 174 c...

Every time I get an email from a Nigerian official bearing the news that deceased royalty has inexplicably left me a huge sum of money, I can’t help but wish it really were true. So when a man in South Carolina got a phone call informing him he was due $763,000 in unclaimed cash, it’s not surprising he thought the whole thing was a scam. Except this time, it wasn’t. It all started when the recipient’s son got a phone call from state treasurer Curtis Loftis , who had been trying to reach his father to let him know there was a quarter of a million dollars in unclaimed funds that had been waiting for him for more than a decade. Loftis is also the president of the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators, and as such, makes it his mission to return unclaimed money to its rightful owners. It wasn’t easy in this case: The money was from the man’s father, who had passed away more than 15 years ago. Loftis had to use Facebook to track down the heir, ultimately finding the s...

Panera announced plans today to extend its “clean” food philosophy to its self-serve beverages… sort of. The chain will post calorie and added sugars information on all of its drinks, including soda fountains, perhaps encouraging customers to try a new line of iced teas and lemonades that will launch next week instead. This announcement comes after the chain’s war of words over whose food is the “cleanest” of them all with quick-serve rival Chipotle . Both chains emphasize the absence of artificial food additives and genetically modified ingredients in their food, but have standard soda fountains that dispense fizzy beverages loaded with artificial colors and flavors and high fructose corn syrup made from conventionally grown corn. Both chains also offer iced tea and water as an alternative to HFCS-sweetened soft drinks. Today, though, Panera announced that its new line of “clean” beverages will start to launch next week, reaching all stores nationwide by September. It features bever...

Nearly a decade has passed since travelers sued Delta Air Lines and AirTran, alleging that the carriers colluded in creating their fees for checked bags. In that time, the AirTran has vanished and Delta had to pay millions of dollars in sanctions for being a stubborn defendant. Now, less than a year after the court finally granted class-action status in the case, it has been dismissed. Back in 2008, American Airlines became the first major U.S. carrier to charge baggage fees for checked luggage. At the time, the CEO of Atlanta-based AirTran publicly stated that his airline could follow suit, but that it would wait to see what Atlanta’s other big airline, Delta, did first. Delta was the last of the major national airlines to jump on the baggage-fee bandwagon, but when it did, AirTran followed. In fact, both carriers began charging these fees on the same day: Dec. 5, 2008. A slew of class actions ensued from all over the country. They were eventually consolidated into one multi-dis...

A number of companies have turned to facial recognition as a way to offer customers another level of security: from MasterCard’s “selfie” verification to British Airways’ face-scanning boarding process . Now, Samsung is using the technology as a way to unlock its new Galaxy S8 smartphone, but it turns out the process may not be as secure as one would hope.  Just days after Samsung debuted the new smartphone, and its facial recognition software, a researcher says he was able to trick the face-scanning program with a photo. The flaw was uncovered in a live Periscope video by bloggers at Marcianophone and posted by iDeviceHelp on YouTube. In the demo, the researcher registered his face to the phone to lock it. He then took a photo of himself on another device, placed it above the Galaxy S8 and unlocked the device. While the video from iDeviceHelp notes that it is unclear if the Galaxy S8 used was a demo version or the final product, The Verge reports that Samsung has previous...

Amazon can now deliver many things in one or two days, so Walmart has to have lower prices for the many customers who can wait. Similarly, Amazon has to undercut Walmart’s grocery prices if it’s going to stake out any significant portion of that $800 billion market. For shoppers at either of these two retail giants, this can mean lower prices, but it’s also forcing manufacturers and suppliers to rethink how they do business. Consumer brands have been increasingly dedicated to figuring out ways to deal with this pricing war, one executive told Re/code , noting that “it’s dominating the conversation every week.” Though Amazon made headlines this week for gathering some of the biggest packaged food brands together to pitch them on the idea of frustration-free packaging , as part of a push to attract more customers to online shopping instead of buying in physical stores, Walmart has also been meeting with its suppliers in an effort to ramp up the battle for shoppers. Last week, Walmart ...

One way to erase federal student loan debt is to work for the government or at a non-profit for 10 years. However, thousands of people who received notices from the Department of Education that their federal student loans were going to be forgiven through this program may still be on the hook for this debt, as the Department now says these notices are not binding. The revelation was made in a filing [ PDF ] by the Dept. of Education last week in response to a lawsuit that accused the agency of failing to keep its promise to forgive the education debts of public servants after 10 years. For those unfamiliar, in 2007 the government began offering a public service loan-forgiveness program that will forgive certain federal student loans for borrowers who work for government organizations and non-profit groups for 10 years and make 120 on-time monthly payments on their loans. While it’s fairly simple to determine what a government agency is, finding a qualified non-profit is more diffic...

It’s been two years since Verizon launched its Go90 streaming video service, and it often feels like the only people who talk about it are tech journalists who occasionally mention that it’s not doing well. Yet Verizon apparently believes that the work it put into Go90 can soon be used to build the latest entry into the streaming TV market. The ever popular “people familiar with the matter” tell Bloomberg that Verizon is planning to launch a proper competitor in the online TV space sometime this summer. The as-yet-unnamed streaming live-TV service would be independent of any other service Verizon currently offers, in the vein of Dish’s Sling, AT&T’s DirecTV Now, and Sony’s PlayStation Vue. The package will reportedly include “dozens of channels,” and work on computers and mobile devices as well aso on TV-connected platforms like Roku. Sources tell Bloomberg that it will probably be similarly priced to the competition as well, with offering tiers in the $20 to $65 range. As you ...

Digital music has come a long way: Once feared as the poison arrow that would take down the recording industry, streaming music is now making more money for recording companies than any other format. Subscription music services generated the majority of revenue for recording companies last year, in a first for the industry: They accounted for more than 51% of the industry’s revenue, in comparison to 34% in 2015, according to a report [ PDF ] from the Recording Industry Association of America. Overall music revenues went up by more than 11% in the U.S. in 2106 RIAA says, after growing by barely 1% in 2015. Though $7.7 billion in total sales sounds like a hefty number, it’s only about half what the industry pulled in during its pre-Napster heyday in 1999, points out The Wall Street Journal . Of course, subscription services are a lot different than simply swiping an mp3 off the Internet — we call that piracy — because they have more than 22 million subscribers in the U.S. who are pay...

You might think think of frequent flier miles as a giveaway for airlines; carriers rewarding loyal customers with free or discounted travel. However, these programs are now a bigger money-maker than airfare for U.S. airlines. A good chunk of loyalty revenue comes from airlines selling miles to the banks that run co-branded credit cards. According to Bloomberg , these deals now account for nearly 50% of revenue for many airlines. For every mile an airline sells to a credit card partner — like Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase, and others —  it’s making $0.015 to $0.025. While a fraction of a cent might not seem like a lot, Bloomberg notes that the big banks buy miles by the billions each month, and that translates to big bucks. For example, Bloomberg reports that Delta Air Lines’ American Express partnership is expected to bring in $4 billion in revenue per year by 2021. Alaska Air Group says its partnership with Bank of America will bring in $900 million annually. While having a slew...

Despite increased consumer awareness of safety and a growing number of cars on the road with crash-avoidance technology, pedestrian deaths in the U.S. are at their highest level in 20 years. One reason for the increase: Smartphones. According to data [ PDF ] compiled by the Governors Highway Safety Association, a nonprofit that represents the highway safety offices of the states and territories, the total number of traffic fatalities in the U.S. increased 6% between 2010 and 2015, but pedestrian deaths increased by 25% during that same time period. Preliminary figures for 2016 put the number of pedestrian deaths at 5,997 — an 11% increase over just the year before and the highest number of pedestrian fatalities in two decades. So what has happened in recent years that could explain this tragic increase? There are several factors that contribute to the number of cars and people on the road, like the economy, and fuel prices. The healthier the economy, the more people drive — both f...

With the average recent college graduate leaving campus with a diploma and $30,000 in debt , it’s no surprise that would-be-students are looking for ways to get an education without taking on such a financial burden. While they could opt to live in certain cities or states , or go to work for any of a  number of the companies offering free schooling , many are moving… to Europe. CNN Money reports that the lure of free or deeply discounted tuition is enough for thousands of students to cross the pond each year to make their dreams of a higher education a reality. While tuition in the U.S. can range from $9,000 to $32,000 each, the price tag in Europe is much less, with many programs charging under $2,500 or no more than $9,000 each year, according to college advising service Beyond the States. But that cost might even be on the high side, CNN reports, as there are at least 44 schools in Europe that don’t charge anything for students to obtain a bachelor’s degree. I...

As the old saying goes, crime doesn’t pay. But in some cases, being honest — and patient — can certainly reap financial rewards, as one man now gets to keep $15,200 he turned in after finding it on the street. More than a year ago, the Pennsylvania man was on his way home from work close to midnight on a state road when he spotted a package in the middle of the street, reports the Delaware County Daily Times . He turned around to check it out and found what appeared to be a banker’s bag filled with stacks of cash, along with some drug paraphernalia. He called the police and handed the cash over to the officer who arrived on the scene, and the cops have had the money ever since. He filed a civil suit in September to retain ownership of the cash, claiming in his petition that a few days after he turned in the money, he was told it’d be turned over to him in 90 days if the owner didn’t claim it. “As such, because plaintiff found the money, he can claim superior title to the money ove...

New FCC Chair Ajit Pai has made no effort to hide his intention to roll back many of the rules and policies put in place by his predecessor, Tom Wheeler. Now that Congress has effectively undone Wheeler’s internet privacy rules, Pai has set his sights on low-cost internet access. The Lifeline program dates to the Reagan administration and provides low-income Americans with a small monthly subsidy to use for phone service. Some years back, the program expanded to include not only landlines but also mobile phones. Then in 2016, the FCC expanded it so that low-income families can buy broadband service with it if they want. Chairman Pai announced this week that the FCC will no longer be directly authorizing Lifeline providers to sell subsidized broadband services to consumers, instead deferring the program to the states to manage. “As we implement the Lifeline program – as with any program we administer – we must follow the law,” Pai said in a statement. “And the law here is clear: Con...

Cable TV operators like Comcast and Charter have rarely, if ever, had to compete directly with each other. But that truce — kept in place thanks to local franchise agreements that limit competition — may soon end if the pay-TV companies decide to start offering service outside of their footprint. Bloomberg reports that in order to stay relevant with consumers, companies like Comcast and Charter might just have to start encroaching on each other’s turf with their own streaming services. At least that’s the belief for Discovery Communications chief executive David Zaslav, who told reporters this week that increased competition from streaming services will eventually take a toll on cable providers. For as long as we can remember, cable providers like Comcast and Charter have stayed away from each other’s largest service areas — an issue that was constantly discussed during the merger approval process in recent years . Zaslav contends that the companies will eventually have to disrup...

Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries are ubiquitous in our gadget-filled lives. You probably have multiple devices containing one within reach right now. It’s easy to forget how dangerous they can be , as a New Jersey family did when a speaker sitting on a bed began to give off smoke. According to NBC New York , the mother and daughter panicked, grabbing the smoking speaker with an oven mitt and placing it in a paper bag. They recounted that the bag burst into flames after they got it out of the apartment. This is why you shouldn’t put a smoldering gadget in a paper bag. The fire was put out with water and the fire department summoned, and the mother took to Twitter to warn others. Omg @JBLaudio this just happened! Pull this product now!!! My daughter's bed caught fire… So glad we weren't sleeping! http://pic.twitter.com/HQlIQn4fDd — Nichole Tatem (@TheRealEmpress) March 30, 2017 If anyone has this speaker cut it off now and get it out of your house! @Bestbuy @Targ...

Although Crayola was originally set to announce which shade it would be dropping from its crayon collection on Friday, the company decided to speed up the news and let the world know today that it is yanking Dandelion yellow from the box. In an announcement on Twitter, the company anthropomorphizes the hue, calling it an “adventurous spirit” who had a case of wanderlust and decided to announce his retirement early. Our beloved Dandelion decided to announce his retirement early! There’s no taming an adventurous spirit! #NationalCrayonDay http://pic.twitter.com/RMk6pw3jR2 — Crayola (@Crayola) March 30, 2017 You’ll still have to wait to find out which shade will be replacing Dandelion — as a box of 24 crayons should contain 24 different colors, after all — as the company says it’s announcing the “color family” of the new crayon tomorrow at an event in Times Square. This moves means Dandelion will never be available again — in any box — so if you’re in love with it, you’ll hav...

Imagine you’re selling your own line of clothing, and a major retailer asks to buy a few thousand of your designs and sell them in stores. You might be tempted to sign on the dotted line for your shot at the big time with the help of an established chain, but for the social media savvy among us, that’s just not a priority. To the contrary, some young designers have found a more direct path to success by harnessing the power of Instagram to gain social influence and create an air of exclusivity around their products, Bloomberg noted recently, driving customers to their online stores instead of to chains like Urban Outfitters. Going for direct sales is a pretty sophisticated strategy given the supply chain issues and speed necessary to compete these days . Take the example of a teen hat designer living in Paris who goes by the nickname Millinsky: He hired a contractor when he was 17 to help him with the manufacturing side of his business, while he focused on working his connections un...

Twitter’s long-standing 140-character limit for messages isn’t going anywhere, but the social media giant is once again revamping the way it counts the characters: Usernames will no longer count toward that limit, but only for reply messages. Twitter announced the change today, rolling out its third update to the way in which it allows user to express their inner-most thoughts for the entire world to see. Under the revamp, Twitter won’t delete the “@username” handle, but it will rearrange it. Now, users are replying to will appear above the Tweet text rather than within the Tweet text itself. When viewing a conversation, Twitter says users will actually see what people are saying, rather than seeing lots of @usernames at the start of a Tweet. Additionally, users can tap on the “replying to…” button to easily see and control who is part of a conversation. The change, Twitter says, will make communication and following conversations easier to read. That was an issue many user...

If Facebook wants anything, it’s to keep you on the Facebook site for as long as possible. That’s why perhaps it’s not surprising that given the popularity of personal online fundraisers, Facebook is now entering that business, letting people raise money for medical expenses, funerals, education, or any other cause. In its announcement of the new feature , Facebook explains that there will be six broad categories of personal fundraisers that users can hold. Those are education, medical, pet medical, crisis relief, personal emergencies, and funeral and loss (including living expenses after a loved one’s death.) Hoping to avoid the fraud accusations that have popped up against other crowdfunding sites designed for personal fundraisers, Facebook will limit fundraisers to those categories for now, and each will be reviewed within 24 hours by a staff member. “As we learn more, we hope to expand our categories and automate more of the review process,” the social network’s vice president fo...

While the Trump Administration has hinted at a coming crackdown on non-medical use of marijuana , federal legislators continue to introduce new bills — some with bipartisan support — intended to further legitimize the cannabis industry. This morning, members of both the House and Senate introduced legislation that — if passed — would extend federal tax benefits to locally legalized marijuana businesses, take away the threat of criminal prosecution and property loss for those businesses, and make sure the industry is contributing to the country’s bottom line by imposing a tax on marijuana sales. While a number of states legalized marijuana, the companies that produce and sell cannabis products are not currently able to claim deductions or tax credits in the way that most businesses can. The Small Business Tax Equity Act [ PDF ] would tweak the Internal Revenue Code to make sure that marijuana businesses would be able to enjoy these benefits — so long as they are operating legally acc...

Volkswagen is inching closer to putting its “ Dieselgate ” scandal in the rearview mirror. The automaker has agreed to a $157 million settlement that will end lawsuits in 10 states, and it has been cleared to start selling diesels in the U.S. again. Volkswagen announced Thursday that it had reached an agreement [ PDF ] with the attorneys general of 10 states to resolve additional environmental and consumer claims over its use of so-called “defeat devices” to skirt federal emissions standards. The $157 million settlement will be split between Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Maine, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington and used to offset the environmental impact of the excess emissions. Each of the states in the settlement are what is referred to as “ Section 177 States .” This means they have all incorporated into their state law more stringent auto emissions standards established by California under the Clean Air Act. By reaching the agreement,...

As we’ve been reporting for some time now, it’s hard out there for retailers trying to compete for customers. H&M has had a particularly tough time competing in “fast fashion,” what with its late entry into e-commerce and stiff competition from brands like Zara. But what’s bad for H&M could be good for shoppers looking for hefty discounts. The problem for H&M is that it has a lot of inventory it’s trying to offload, partly due to its relatively slow supply chain: In January, the company said its net income sank by 11%, largely due to increased markdowns . To that end, one analyst notes a 30% increase in inventory in March compared to a year earlier, warning that the company is at risk for increased markdowns that could hurt the company’s bottom line if it can’t sell off that extra product, reports Reuters For example, right now H&M is hosting a “mid-season sale” with discounts of up to 80% off , while rival Zara’s seasonal sale is only discounting items up to 50% . ...

Packaged food companies spend gobs of cash designing boxes and bags to catch supermarket shoppers’ eyes, but what’s the point of that flashy design when you’re shopping online? Amazon is hoping that companies like Mondelez and General Mills will agree to optimize packaging for shipping instead of shelf appeal. Amazon has been offering “frustration-free” packaging for a wide array of electronics since 2008 — doing away with many of the packaging features that are primarily intended to prevent shoplifting and tampering. Those often-annoying safeguards are pointless for most things purchased online. Amazon, which is so anxious to expand its grocery sales that it’s even opening brick-and-mortar stores , has invited big companies that sell consumer packaged goods to rethink their packaging in similar ways. Instead of investing in packaging that makes products stand out on a shelf, companies could instead invest in making their packaging sturdier and better able to survive shipment. The ...

The Department of Education recently advised companies that collect debt on billions of dollars in outstanding federal student loans that they can once again charge a large penalty fee to defaulted borrowers. However, the collectors — even one that is currently suing the government for the right to charge this fee — now say they will not  automatically add thousands of dollars in additional debt to loans in default.  Bloomberg reports that all 26 loan companies that collect for the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) program have said they will not automatically charge borrowers a higher default fee, even though they totally could. Last week, the Department of Education advised [ PDF ] federal student loan debt collectors that they were now allowed to automatically charge borrowers a default fee that is equivalent to 16% of the loan balance. The guarantors were told to ignore a July 2015 Obama administration guidance [ PDF ] that restricted fees on the public-privat...

In pockets of stores throughout Texas and Oklahoma, McDonald’s has been replacing its frozen beef patties with fresh meat for about a year. Now the fast food goliath says a majority of its stores nationwide will be serving up the non-frozen patties by mid-2018. McDonald’s has faced increasing competition not just from its fellow national burger chains, but from smaller regional operators like Five Guys, Whataburger, and others, who offer fresher ingredients. Despite McDonald’s being arguably the most famous name in burgers, its reputation with consumers is also sagging. The chain has repeatedly come in last on the American Customer Satisfaction Index of limited service restaurants, and its burgers have previously been named the least tasty of all fast food chains. McDonald’s began testing the fresh beef patties last spring at 75 stores in the Dallas area, before expanding a few months later to some markets in Oklahoma. The company recently added more than 300 locations in North...

For Carl’s Jr., selling food has long meant selling sex, with ads featuring women in skimpy bikinis and cutoff shorts chowing down on juicy burgers. The chain has decided to go with a more direct approach, and will now focus on using actual burgers to sell burgers. What a novel idea. In a new tongue-in-cheek commercial, the fictional Carl Hardee Sr. is sick of his son Carl Jr. running the place like a millennial frat boy on eternal spring break and using sex appeal to get customers interested in their food. Carl the elder promptly gets down to business at company headquarters, literally tearing down his son’s legacy by pulling pictures of busty women holding burgers off the wall — actual real-life advertising the chain used in the past — and replacing them with framed beauty shots of burgers. He goes on to wax poetic about the ways the company pioneered the “great American burger” while his son insists that his focus has always been “on food not boobs.” AdWeek reports that Carl Sr...

The co-pilot of an America Airlines flight from Dallas-Fort Worth to Albuquerque experienced a medical issue during landing and died shortly after reaching the gate. CNN reports that the co-pilot of American flight 1353 became incapacitated just miles before the plane was to begin its final descent to Albuquerque’s Sunport Airport around 3:30 p.m. A spokesperson for the Federal Aviation Administration said the captain of the plane declared an emergency and completed landing safely. Once the plane landed, it taxied to the gate and was met by paramedics, who performed CPR for 35 to 40 minutes, sources close to the matter tell CNN, adding that the co-pilot was pronounced dead a short time later. American said in a statement that it was “deeply saddened” by the co-pilot’s death, and asked for “thoughts and prayers” for his family and colleagues. The FAA spokesperson notes that the agency will work with the airline to learn more about the incident. by Ashlee Kieler via Consumeri...

The Federal Communication Commission’s internet privacy regulations would have prevented your internet provider from using and selling some potentially sensitive information about you, but the Senate and the House of Representatives voted to roll back the regulations. As the bill awaits the President’s signature, we’ve learned that some of the community groups that contacted the FCC to oppose privacy regulations are recipients of donations from Comcast. The Intercept put this information together , and it goes back to last year, when the FCC was still working on the privacy rules. In a letter put together by the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council and co-signed by the League of United Latin American Citizens and OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates, the groups contend that considering all browsing data private by default means that poor people might miss out on some coupons or other discounts they might learn about through targeted advertising. “Many consumers, espec...

Bank of America must pay $46 million for improperly foreclosing on a California couple’s home in 2010.  U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Christopher Klein levied [ PDF ] the judgement against the bank this week, calling Bank of America’s actions in foreclosing on the couple’s home “heartless” and “brazen.” In all, Klein ordered the bank to pay $46 million, most of which will be divvied up by law schools and consumer advocate agencies, with the couple receiving about $1 million. Klein noted in the 107-page ruling that the fine should be enough to spur change with the bank’s mortgage practices, and not be seen as “petty cash or chump change.” “It is apparent that the engine of Bank of America’s problem in this case is one of corporate culture… not rogue employees betraying an upstanding employer,” Klein added. The California couple’s problems began in 2008 when they bought a less expensive house in Sacramento than they currently owned. The couple’s mortgage — $590,000 — was borrowed...