Consumers lack protection at register
January 2015
Bob recently provided a Guest Commentary column at The Times of Northwest Indiana.
As a middle-class consumer, a week does not go by without at least one credit card offer in my mail. Even my father, who passed away a decade ago, still gets offers. The fight to win customers is furious as credit card providers push consumers toward a cashless economy with gimmicks and givebacks.
So I was surprised to learn that the fight to protect my data — and your data too — is far less intense...
AirlineA
December 2014
“Please step up and use the self-service check-in screen,” the airline Customer Service Representative told the man in front of me on a recent busy Monday morning as I boarded a flight to Indianapolis.
“No,” was the quick and somewhat startling response. “I don’t want to. I prefer to deal with a human being,” the man shot back.
It was the CSR’s response that stopped me in my tracks. “Then, sir, deal with another airline,” said the CSR as she turned to deal with a luggage issue.
Fight for My Privacy
November 2014
As a middle-class consumer, a week does not go by without at least one credit card offer in my mail. You likely know the feeling when the box is opened. Easy credit, preapproval, points, miles, cash back—the banks and credit card companies are clamoring for our business. Even my father, who passed away a decade ago, still gets offers. The fight to win customers is furious as credit card providers push consumers toward a cashless economy with gimmicks and givebacks.
So I was surprised to learn that the fight to protect my data—and your data too—is far less intense. While credit card companies battle to put cards in our wallets, they are much less committed to protecting those cards with the best technology. That is not just disappointing; it is wrong.
Patently Absurd
November 2014
In a California courtroom this week, some of Apple and Samsung’s best and brightest minds will gather just as they have 40 times or more in the past few years.
Their goal is not to produce the kind of renowned technology that their companies have pioneered. Far from it.
This is about protecting the most minute aspects of what is already produced. That slide-to-unlock feature? Apple invented it and wants to make sure no one can use it without paying them. Sending data over a 4G network? Samsung says the process to do that is all theirs.