Current Events in July 2019

Ford Motor Company is recalling about 58,000 model year 2012 and 2017 Focus vehicles with 2.0-liter GDI engines, and model year 2013-14 Focus STs with 2.0-liter GTDI engines.

The powertrain control module software used to service these vehicles in accordance an earlier recall was incomplete.

The recalled vehicles did not receive the intended calibration software that will detect a malfunctioning canister purge valve.

When the canister purge valve is stuck open in these vehicles, an excessive vacuum can develop in the fuel vapor management system, potentially deforming the fuel tank. If this occurs, an occupant customer may observe a malfunction indicator light, inaccurate or erratic fuel gauge indication, drivability concerns or loss of motive power.

The automaker says it is not aware of any reports of accident or injury related to this condition.

Vehicles that have not yet had service performed in the earlier recall are not affected by this action, and will receive updated software when the service is performed by the earlier recall program

What to do

Owners are advised to maintain at least a half tank of fuel until their vehicle is serviced for this issue

Dealers will reprogram the powertrain control module with the appropriate software calibration and replace the canister purge valve, as necessary.

If the canister purge valve is replaced, dealers will inspect and replace the carbon canister, fuel tank and fuel delivery module, as necessary.

Owners may contact Ford Customer service at (866) 436-7332. The Ford reference number for this recall is 19S22.

Marriott International, which disclosed in November 2018 that its Starwood hotel reservation system had suffered a massive data breach, could be forced to pay a fine of $123.7 million for its role in the incident. 

In a statement, the UK's Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) alleged that the hotel chain violated Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) by not taking action for several years as the breach unfolded. 

It’s estimated that about 339 million guests had their information exposed in the incident. The ICO says Marriott should have taken additional measures to bolster security and that it should have done so sooner. 

Years to address the vulnerability

The ICO noted that the Starwood vulnerability is believed to have originated in 2014, but Marriott didn’t disclose the breach until 2018 -- a full two years after it acquired Starwood. 

“The GDPR makes it clear that organisations must be accountable for the personal data they hold,” said Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham. “This can include carrying out proper due diligence when making a corporate acquisition, and putting in place proper accountability measures to assess not only what personal data has been acquired, but also how it is protected.”

The regulator added that organizations have a “legal duty” to ensure the security of customers’ personal data. 

“If that doesn’t happen, we will not hesitate to take strong action when necessary to protect the rights of the public,” Denham said. 

Marriott responds

The ICO noted in its announcement that Marriott has cooperated with the investigation and improved its security since the incident. 

In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the hotel chain said it is “disappointed with this notice of intent from the ICO” and plans to contest the proposed fine. 

Earlier this week, the ICO issued another intent to fine over an incident related to the GDPR. The organization said a separate investigation it conducted recently showed British Airways had “poor security arrangements” in place prior to the 2018 data breach it suffered. British Airways could be hit with a $229 million penalty for its allegedly insufficient security measures.

Waymo, a subsidiary of Google’s Alphabet which is developing self-driving cars, is testing several new amenities in its autonomous taxis in an effort to set itself apart from competitors, Reuters reports.

The company is currently testing free Wi-Fi and music streaming in its driverless Chrysler Pacifica minivans, which have been operating on public roads in the Phoenix area for the past six months. 

Waymo is hoping that providing complimentary Wi-Fi connectivity will enable riders to get work done on their tablet or computer during their commute. Charging cables will also be available for users who need to power up their devices on-the-go. 

Meanwhile, ad-free music will be provided through Google Play Music. Riders can choose from one of eight playlists or listen to their own playlists by linking their Waymo and Google Play Music accounts. 

Consistent experience 

“Whether you want to catch up on emails or jam out to some of your favorite tunes using our music integration, we encourage riders to make this space their own,” Waymo spokeswoman Julianne McGoldrick told Reuters.

Additionally, Waymo passengers in Phoenix will find that the cars are already cooled to 72 degrees. Passengers also have the option of bringing their child, as each vehicle will come with a car seat already installed. 

Ultimately, Waymo is aiming to set itself apart from others in the ride-hailing industry by giving riders the same, familiar experience each time they request a car. Waymo’s vehicles do include safety drivers who can take over in the event of an emergency, but they do not speak to passengers like traditional taxi operators might.  

Waymo’s free music and Wi-Fi offering is currently being offered to a small number of riders participating in the company’s self-driving taxi trial. Participating passengers haven’t yet been permitted to talk publicly about what they thought of the in-route perks.  

Another week, another major personal data breach? Well, it’s certainly starting to look like that.

A new report reveals that on top of billions of consumer’s private identification data being exposed, scammers are now using the stolen information as part of a new scam game plan called enterprise spoofing.

In its just released Scam Call Trends and Projections Report, First Orion -- a call management and transparency solutions provider -- analyzed 40 billion calls made to consumers and found that some robocall scammers are revamping their game to a “quality over quantity” tactic. 

The essence of the gambit is that scammers go straight to the consumer using previously thieved personal information, pretending to be legitimate companies, and then fleecing the consumer for all the money they can get. And the hit rate is pretty good -- First Orion reports that 75 percent of the victims reveal that the scammers used their personal information as part of the ploy. 

The new boss is not the same as the old boss

So, why the change in tactics? Scott Hambuchen, Chief Information Officer at First Orion, says it that scammers are simply adapting to how consumers react to phone calls. “As consumers stop answering their phones, fraudsters are recalibrating their strategies to maximize their effectiveness,” he said.

The change is paying off handsomely for the scammers. Hambuchen says that among the consumers who lost over $1,000 to one of these scam calls, 32 percent report that the caller ID represented a familiar business. One of those “familiar” businesses is Apple, which was reportedly spoofed earlier this year. ConsumerAffairs recently reported that the U.S. government is also being used as part of the new spoofing strategy.

While finding a way around the enterprise spoofing masquerade is not a project most companies want to take on, Hambuchen lays the task squarely at the business world’s feet.  

“As fraudsters are changing tactics, tapping into stolen data from the massive breaches, we are seeing enterprise spoofing on known business numbers drive call volume increases of over 100X in a matter of hours,” Hambuchen said. “To address this ongoing issue, mobile carriers and enterprises alike need to identify and adapt to scammers’ evolving practices to protect and enhance the business-to-consumer calling experience.”

Be on your guard

If the scam world is upping its game, that means the consumer will have to up theirs, as well.

First Orion’s report lays out the kinds of information the enterprise spoofers have a proven knack in getting. That information includes the following:

• Home address

• Mother's maiden name

• Usernames and passwords

• Social Security number details

• Products and services purchased

“Over a quarter of victims reported that scam callers could identify specific products and services they had purchased,” the report found, “while a staggering 17 percent of scam victims reported that the scam callers were able to verify all or part of their social security number.”

And help if you can

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is wise to what’s going on, and it recently filed lawsuits against companies responsible for making more than a billion illegal robocalls to consumers nationwide. 

The FTC knows that dealing with scammers is grating on consumers, but it’s asking those who experience these calls to act accordingly to stop them from spreading. As part of “Operation Call It Quits,” the agency is asking consumers to read up on the new wrinkles in robo scams, report any suspicious calls, and share articles and videos on the subject with friends.

Over 1,000 Android apps collect personal data from those who download them without ever having received permission to do so, according to a report presented at the Federal Trade Commission’s PrivacyCon 2019. 

Researchers from the International Computer Science Institute found that the apps were able to gather data without obtaining user consent by using a workaround hidden in their code. The apps were then able to keep tabs on the device’s unique identifier, which enabled them to harvest personal data from sources like Wi-Fi connections.

"Fundamentally, consumers have very few tools and cues that they can use to reasonably control their privacy and make decisions about it," Serge Egelman, director of usable security and privacy research at ICSI, said at the conference. "If app developers can just circumvent the system, then asking consumers for permission is relatively meaningless."

The Shutterfly app was found to have collected location data without user permission, and the app for Hong Kong Disneyland accessed phone identifications that other apps had stored unprotected on a device’s SD card.

"The number of potential users impacted by these findings is in the hundreds of millions," the researchers said. "These deceptive practices allow developers to access users' private data without consent, undermining user privacy and giving rise to both legal and ethical concerns."

The researchers are set to share more details about the study at a Usenix Security conference in August. The team added that fixes for the security vulnerabilities are expected in the soon-to-be-released Android Q.

More than 1,100 Kohl’s stores in the U.S. are now accepting returns of Amazon purchases, a move that began Monday and was announced back in April.

The arrangement is seen as mutually beneficial for the retailers. For Amazon, it’s an easy and fairly hassle-free way to return items to Amazon. Customers just take an eligible returned item to a Kohl’s store and Kohl’s will get it back to Amazon. There’s no need to put the item in a box or make out a label.

What’s in it for Kohl’s? The possibility of a lot more foot traffic. Chances are good that many of these Amazon customers aren’t Kohl’s customers, so bringing them to the latter’s brick and mortar locations may help increase sales.

‘Biggest initiative of the year’

There’s evidence to suggest this just might work. After a pilot program of the partnership was launched in the Chicago market, revenue and sales transactions increased for Kohl’s stores in the area. As the partnership rolls out further, Kohl’s has high expectations.

“The nationwide rollout of the Amazon Returns program is our single biggest initiative of the year,” said Michelle Gass, Kohl’s CEO. “Our top strategic priority is driving traffic, and this transformational program does just that. It drives customers into our stores, and we are expecting millions to benefit from this service.”

Other brick and mortar retailers have tried various ways to compete with Amazon. Both Walmart and Target have beefed up their online marketplaces while improving customer experiences in stores. Kohl’s is taking a “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” approach.

Under the terms of the partnership, eligible items will be returned free of charge regardless of return reason and regardless of whether the items are packaged or unpackaged for shipping.

In addition to driving traffic, becoming a return center increases Kohl’s relationship with Amazon. Kohl’s has already agreed to carry some of the e-commerce giant’s products in more than 200 of its stores.

In a new study, researchers have discovered that teens are more likely to turn to heroin when they use prescription painkillers to get high. 

“Prescription opioids and heroin activate the brain’s pleasure circuit in similar ways,” said researcher Adam Leventhal. “Teens who enjoy the ‘high’ from prescription opioids could be more inclined to seek out other drugs that produce euphoria, including heroin.” 

Tracking drug use

The researchers’ primary focus with the study was to see how prescription painkiller use during teenage years impacted potential drug use in later years. To get a gauge of teens’ drug habits over time, the researchers had nearly 3,300 high school freshman complete surveys, which were retaken twice a year through their senior years.

The biggest takeaway from the study was that students who were currently using, or had previously used, prescription painkillers were more likely to turn to heroin by the time they graduated high school. 

“Adolescents are sometimes overlooked in the opioid epidemic discussion,” said researcher Lorraine Kelley-Quinn. “The association between nonmedical opioid use and later heroin use in youth is concerning and warrants further research and health policy interventions.” 

Prescription painkillers were popular in nearly 600 of the students surveyed throughout their high school experience, and this led to a large portion of students later turning to harder drugs.

Nearly 11 percent of students who reported formerly using prescription opioids and over 17 percent who were currently using the drugs were found to use heroin by the end of high school.

“While we can’t definitively conclude that there is a cause-and-effect relation, there may be something unique about opioid drugs that makes youths vulnerable to trying heroin,” said Leventhal. “The results do not appear to be driven by the tendency of some teens to act out, rebel, or experiment with many types of drugs.” 

Protecting young people

A recent study revealed that parents are choosing opioids for their kids when it comes to pain relief, despite knowing other options exist.  

Now knowing how prescription opioids can affect teens into early adulthood, these findings shed new light on how future treatment options could be affected. 

Moreover, researchers have discovered that today’s children and teens are three times more likely to experience opioid poisoning than they were two decades ago. 

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is stepping up its war against caller ID spoofing, a common tactic used by scammers.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has proposed new rules that would ban spoofing of both text messages and telephone calls originating from outside the U.S.

Spoofing refers to a technology that allows someone sending a message or making a phone call to disguise their actual number. Scammers often spoof numbers that are in the same area code or even exchange as their intended victims to make the call appear to be local.

Pai said he is submitting the proposal after hearing from more than 40 state attorneys general -- both Republican and Democrat -- who say firm action is needed to reduce the number of robocalls targeting consumers. Pai said the full FCC will vote on the rule in August.

“Scammers often robocall us from overseas, and when they do, they typically spoof their numbers to try and trick consumers,” Pai said. “Call center fraudsters often pretend to be calling from trusted organizations and use pressure tactics to steal from Americans. We must attack this problem with every tool we have.”

Close loopholes

Pai said the proposed rules would close the loopholes that he said prevent law enforcement from bringing most robocalling fraudsters to justice.

The “Truth in Caller ID Act” makes it unlawful for anyone to transmit misleading or inaccurate caller ID information with the “intent to defraud, cause harm, or wrongly obtain anything of value.” However, the FCC says weaknesses in the law have allowed fraudsters to continue to spoof international calls and texts.

If the full commission votes to approve at its August 1 meeting, the proposed new rules would extend the coverage of the law to all voice and text calls.

There is no doubt that cracking down on robocalls is a bipartisan crowdpleaser. The FCC says it received more than 35,000 complaints about caller ID spoofing in the first six months of 2019.

Pai says the new rules would make sure the agency is able to bring enforcement actions against bad actors who spoof text messages and those who seek out victims in this country from overseas. 

The telecom industry is already under FCC pressure to develop a way to block spoofed robocalls. Pai has said he wants a solution in place by the end of this year and reiterated his demand in May.

British Airways could be hit with a $229 million penalty related to a data breach that occurred last year as a result of insufficient security precautions. 

In a statement, the U.K. Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said the results of its investigation showed “poor security arrangements” were to blame for the incident, which enabled hackers to obtain credit card information, names, addresses, travel booking details, and logins for about half a million of the airline’s customers. 

“People’s personal data is just that—personal. When an organisation fails to protect it from loss, damage or theft it is more than an inconvenience,” said Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham. “That’s why the law is clear—when you are entrusted with personal data you must look after it.”

“Those that don’t will face scrutiny from my office to check they have taken appropriate steps to protect fundamental privacy rights,” Denham added. 

British Airways responds

Since the breach, which began in June 2018 and was disclosed by the airline in September, the company has improved its web security. In response to the ICO’s announcement, chairman and chief executive of British Airways, Alex Cruz, said the company was “surprised and disappointed” by the group’s decision.

“British Airways responded quickly to a criminal act to steal customers’ data. We have found no evidence of fraud/fraudulent activity on accounts linked to the theft. We apologise to our customers for any inconvenience this event caused,” Cruz said.

The company now has 28 days to appeal the ICO’s initial finding, as well as the size of the fine, before the ICO makes its final call.

BBC News notes that the proposed penalty would be the largest to result from Europe’s General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), which went into effect last year and state that companies must report data breaches to authorities within 72 hours. 

“Until now, the biggest penalty was £500,000 [$644,000], imposed on Facebook for its role in the Cambridge Analytica data scandal,” according to BBC News. “That was the maximum allowed under the old data protection rules that applied before GDPR.” 

The latest version of Microsoft Windows continues to be one big fat mess.

In a good news, bad news scenario, the latest Windows update for version 1903 features more than 20 improvements and fixes, but the tech titan has also issued a warning that the update can literally break the platform’s RASAM (Remote Access Connection Manager), a system process that works hand-in-hand with a computer’s virtual private network (VPN), enabling users to send and receive data across shared or public networks. 

“The Remote Access Connection Manager (RASMAN) service may stop working and you may receive the error “0xc0000005” on devices where the diagnostic data level is manually configured to the non-default setting of 0,” Microsoft’s tech support team warned. 

“This issue only occurs when a VPN profile is configured as an Always On VPN (AOVPN) connection with or without device tunnel. This does not affect manual only VPN profiles or connections.”

Who’s affected?

An estimated 6.3 percent of Windows users -- about 50 million -- may be affected by the issue. Users who have Windows 10 versions 1809, 1803, or older are out of the woods -- at least for the time being -- reports WindowsLatest.

For the technically brave consumer, Microsoft has offered a workaround, but the smart money might be on sitting still until the company has its act together on a completely safe-for-everyone version of its operating system.

As expected, some consumers are up in arms. “This wonderful Microsoft update completely destroyed my computer 2 weeks ago. Microsoft should have to buy me a new computer. What an incompetent company!,” fumed one Windows user.

However, another Windows user fired back, contending that if “you don't implement a competent image backup strategy for recovering from situations such as what you're going thru right now you have nobody to blame but yourself.”

And Microsoft’s say on the subject? 

“Windows 10 is a service, which means it gets better through periodic software updates,” is how the company smilingly postured its Windows updates. “The great news is you usually don’t have to do anything! If you have enabled automatic updates, new updates will automatically download and install whenever they’re available, so you don’t have to think about it.”

MoviePass, a movie subscription service that has struggled to stay afloat amid profitability hurdles, has announced that its app and website have been temporarily shut down while it makes “improvements.” 

“For the past several months, MoviePass has been working hard to improve our groundbreaking subscription service to ensure it meets the vision that we have for it,” the company wrote on its website. “We are temporarily not accepting new subscribers as we work on these improvements.”

MoviePass said it estimates the process will take several weeks.

Financial issues

MoviePass sought to win consumers over with its initial $10 a month all-you-can-watch deal. But in 2018, its subscriber numbers plunged as the company faced repercussions from its unsustainable business model. 

In an effort to turn its troubles paying vendors and theatres around, the company changed its subscription plans and limited the number of movies subscribers could see. But customers who had become frustrated with the changes and quit the service drove MoviePass’ subscriber count down to 225,000 by April 2019 from more than 3 million last year, according to Variety. 

MoviePass said it plans to spend the next several weeks trying to “recapitalize in order to facilitate a seamless transition and improved subscriber experience once the service continues.”

The temporary shut down is necessary for the company to work on a revamped version of its app, MoviePass CEO Mitch Lowe said in a statement.

“There’s never a good time to have to do this,” Lowe said. “But to complete the improved version of our app, one that we believe will provide a much better experience for our subscribers, it has to be done.”

The costs that come with cancer, both medical and otherwise, have long been documented, and a new study broke down just how much time and money the disease costs consumers in the U.S. 

Researchers from the American Cancer Society determined how much cancer patients lost in each state in terms of salary and years of life. In 2015 alone, cancer claimed over $95 billion in lost earnings and nearly nine million years of life. 

“Our findings indicate large state variation in the economic burden of cancer and suggest the potential for substantial financial benefit through delivery of effective cancer prevention, screening, and treatment to minimize premature cancer mortality in all states,” the researchers wrote. 

By the numbers and the states

The researchers undertook this project in the hopes of emphasizing how important it is to find preventative measures for cancer. They began by zeroing in on cancer-related deaths in 2015 and exploring how all cancer-related costs came into play in each state. 

The study revealed that where you live plays a large role in how much money you lose due to a cancer diagnosis, as those in the South were hit considerably harder than those in the Northeast and West.

Kentucky residents took the biggest hit to their earnings, with cancer patients in the state losing over $35 million per 100,000 residents, while those in Utah came out on top in this category, losing under $20 million per 100,000 residents. 

The researchers also discovered that different types of cancers affected patients’ bottom lines differently. 

Pancreatic cancer and female breast cancer were at the bottom of the list, costing patients $6.1 billion and $6.2 billion in earnings, respectively, while lung cancer was the most expensive condition to manage, costing cancer patients over $21 billion. 

Though the researchers examined just one year’s worth of data, the results proved just how costly cancer can be to consumers’ overall quality of life and their bank accounts.

“Years of life lost and lost earnings were high for many cancers for where there are modifiable risk factors and effective screening and treatment, which suggests that a substantial proportion of our current national mortality burden is potentially avoidable,” said researcher Dr. Farhad Islami. “Applying comprehensive cancer prevention interventions and ensuring equitable access to high-quality care across all states could reduce the burden of cancer and associated geographic and other differences in the country.” 

Struggling with money

Though the cancer death rate is on the decline as of late, a recent study found that the disease often leaves young people struggling with debt and job prospects.  

The researchers found that not only do cancer patients struggle with specific tasks at work upon returning after treatment, but the financial burden can send some patients into bankruptcy and leave others with large loans. 

"The results of this study are important because they describe the challenges faced by adolescent and young adults during and after cancer treatment that could uniquely impact both educational and work-related opportunities," said researcher Betsy Risendal, PhD.

While most wireless carriers are focused on deploying 5G technology, Amazon has taken a different path. It’s asking the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for permission to launch 3,236 internet satellites.

In a filing with the agency, Amazon said its collection of earth-orbiting satellites would connect tens of millions of people around the world. One area it wouldn’t cover, the company admitted, would be parts of Alaska.

It would be yet another enterprise for the company that began its life as an online book store in the 1990s. The filing didn’t say when it expected to begin launching the satellites or when the network would be operational.

It’s been known for quite some time that Amazon was planning this move into broadband internet service that analysts say could become a substantial revenue source while opening up new markets for Amazon’s retail services.

“Project Kuiper is a new initiative to launch a constellation of low Earth orbit satellites that will provide low-latency, high-speed broadband connectivity to unserved and underserved communities around the world,” an Amazon spokesperson told GeekWire back in April. “This is a long-term project that envisions serving tens of millions of people who lack basic access to broadband internet. We look forward to partnering on this initiative with companies that share this common vision.”

Similar to U.S. satellite providers

The service would be similar to that offered by U.S. providers ViaSat and Hughes Network, that currently provide service to mostly rural areas in the U.S. that lack service through fiber optic cable. Some analysts suggest the system Amazon envisions would take advantage of a lower earth orbit and provide service with less latency.

Meanwhile, the FCC continues to focus its attention on the evolution of 5G wireless technology. In a speech in Argentina last week, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai compared the development of the next generation of wireless technology to the Apollo moon landing 50 years ago.

“In my view, 5G could be one of the great moonshots of this generation,” Pai said at an international telecom conference. “Think about a world in which speed, capacity, and lag times are effectively no longer constraints on wireless innovation. This could enable new services and applications that could revolutionize healthcare, transportation, agriculture, education, and many other facets of our economy and society.”

The FCC will vote next week on opening up spectrum in the 2.5 GHz band for 5G, Pai said. He notes the spectrum was originally set aside for educational television but has been “dramatically underused.”