Current Events in August 2019

Tyson Foods of Pine Bluff, Ark., is recalling approximately 39,078 pounds of Weaver brand frozen chicken patties that may be contaminated with extraneous materials.

The following frozen, fully cooked chicken items, produced on January 31, 2019, are being recalled:

• 26-oz. resealable plastic bags containing “Weaver CHICKEN BREAST PATTIES BREADED CHICKEN BREAST PATTIES WITH RIB MEAT” with a best if used by date of “Jan312020” and lot code 0319PBF0617, 0319PBF0618, 0319PBF0619, 0319PBF0620, 0319PBF0621, 0319PBF0622, 0319PBF0623, or 0319PBF0600 represented on the label.

The recalled products, bearing establishment number “P-13456” printed on the back of the resealable plastic bag, were shipped to retail locations nationwide.

What to do

Customers who purchased the recalled products should not consume them, but discard or return them to the place of purchase.

Consumers with questions about the recall may call or text the firm's hotline at (855) 382-3101.

A bug has been detected in British Airways e-ticketing system which could expose a passenger’s personal data.

Researchers at Wandera, a mobile security firm, uncovered the bug below the surface of emailed check-in links sent by British Airways to passengers. Wandera’s team told Threatpost that they calculate 2.5 million connections were made to affected British Airways domains over the past six months, calling the potential impact “significant.”

British Airways’ intentions were good; the company hoped to streamline the user experience. But the researchers say the company left links in its emails unencrypted, which means that passengers’ booking reference numbers, phone numbers, and email addresses could be looted by a cyber criminal. 

“Someone snooping on the same public Wi-Fi network can easily intercept the link request, which includes the booking reference and surname and use these details to gain access to the passenger’s online itinerary in order to steal even more information or manipulate the booking information,” wrote Wandera’s Liarna La Porta in her analysis of the issue.

In total, La Porta claims there were 11 pieces of personal data potentially exposed:

• Email Address

• Telephone Number

• British Airways Membership Numbers

• First Name

• Last Name

• Booking Reference

• Itinerary

• Flight Number

• Flight Times

• Seat Number

• Baggage Allowance

Wandera claims that it discovered a similar check-in link vulnerability earlier this year with eight other major airlines: Southwest, KLM, Air France, Jetstar, Thomas Cook, Vueling, Air Europa, and Transavia. The firm says it notified each airline and urged them to “take action to secure the check-in links.”

British Airways responds

In a statement to ConsumerAffairs, British Airways said that Wandera's finding could be driven by business interests.

“Wandera sells security solutions to corporate clients. Their research is created to drive revenue,” a company representative said.

The company reiterated that no passport or payment information was accessed as part of the breach, and that it has multiple systems in place to protect its customers.

Anything a consumer can do?

There’s not much an airline passenger can do in scenarios like this. Most of the burden is really on the airlines since the issues are technical.

The one thing Wandera says a consumer should consider is installing an active mobile security app to monitor and block data leaks and phishing attacks.

Amazon has announced that it will soon launch a program that will send unsold products from third-party sellers to charities instead of the dump. 

Under the new Fulfilled by Amazon Donations program, hundreds of thousands of unwanted products in Amazon’s warehouses in the U.S. and U.K. will go to nonprofits and charities, CNBC reported.

“We know getting products into the hands of those who need them transforms lives and strengthens local communities,” said Alice Shobe, director of Amazon’s charitable donations branch, Amazon in the Community, in a statement. “We are delighted to extend this program to sellers who use our fulfillment services.”

Starts next month

The program is set to begin September 1. At that time, it will become the default method of handling unsold inventory. Sellers will have the option of opting out of the program. 

Items in the U.S. will be funneled through Good360, which will distribute them to a network of nonprofits. In the U.K., charities like Barnardo’s, Newlife, and the Salvation Army will receive the unsold products. 

Amazon says the new program is intended to reduce waste and ensure that products go directly to reputable nonprofits and charities. 

“This program will reduce the number of products sent to landfills and instead help those in need,” the company said.

Amazon has set out to mitigate its environmental impact in other ways as well, such as by introducing new fines for sellers who ship products in oversized boxes and pledging to make half its shipments carbon neutral by 2030. 

The Vapor Technology Association, an industry group representing 800 vaping companies, has filed a lawsuit seeking to delay the FDA’s upcoming review of e-cigarettes.

The FDA originally set a 2022 deadline for submitting applications for e-cigarette approval, but it advanced it to May 2020 in response to a dramatic rise in teen vaping and pressure from anti-tobacco groups. In June, a judge ruled in favor of the new 2020 deadline, which prompted the vaping group to sue.

The lawsuit filed Wednesday claims the FDA’s new deadline will put many smaller vaping companies out of business. 

“It is time for FDA to stop moving the goalposts and changing the rules in the middle of the game to the detriment of our manufacturers and small businesses,” VTA executive director Tony Abboud said in a statement.

Health concerns

E-cigarette manufacturers have stressed that their products are intended to help adult smokers quit, but teens have gravitated toward them at a rate that has generated concern among health officials. 

Last month, the CEO of Juul -- which is among the members of the vaping association seeking to delay the government’s review of e-cigarettes -- issued a public apology to parents of children addicted to vaping products. 

“It’s not intended for them,” said Juul CEO Kevin Burns. “I hope there was nothing that we did that made it appealing to them. As a parent of a 16-year-old, I’m sorry for them, and I have empathy for them, in terms of what the challenges they’re going through.”

Researchers are still trying to get a clear picture of the health effects associated with e-cigarettes. The FDA is currently investigating nearly 130 reports of seizures in e-cigarette users, and regulators have expressed concern that the rise in e-cigarette threatens undo progress in reducing rates of tobacco use among minors.

Wall Street appears convinced the sky is falling. Consumers are singing “Happy Days Are Here Again.” The two groups have very different outlooks on the U.S. economy.

Even as the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 800 points in Wednesday’s trading in reaction to an inverted yield curve, consumers have kept on spending money. The Commerce Department reports retail sales rose 0.7 percent in July, building on a 0.3 percent gain in June.

A swooning stock market and escalating concerns about a trade war with China appear to have had little effect on consumers’ appetite for spending. Sales rose last month at online retailers, grocery stores, clothing retailers, and electronics and appliance stores.

Also on Thursday, Walmart added to the evidence of a confident consumer. The nation’s largest retailer reported second quarter earnings of $1.27 a share, significantly more than analysts expected. Same-store sales rose 2.8 percent instead of the 2.1 percent that was predicted.

Growing optimism

More importantly, Walmart raised guidance for the full year, suggesting that it does not anticipate a drop in sales that a recession would surely bring. Walmart continued to gain e-commerce market share in the second quarter, with that segment of its business growing 37 percent.

A confident consumer has been a prevailing trend so far in 2019. While business confidence has slipped amid international trade tensions The Conference Board’s monthly Consumer Confidence Index rose sharply in July.

Lynn Franco, senior director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board, said consumer confidence is at its highest level of 2019.

“Consumers are once again optimistic about current and prospective business and labor market conditions,” Franco said “These high levels of confidence should continue to support robust spending in the near-term despite slower growth in GDP.”

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reports that home mortgage applications surged 21.7 percent last week from the week before. Refinancing made up a large portion of the increase.

MBA’s Refinance Index increased 37 percent from the previous week to its highest level in three years as existing homeowners rushed to take advantage of falling interest rates.

"The 2019 refinance wave continued, as homeowners last week responded to extraordinarily low mortgage rates,” said Joel Kan, MBA's associate vice president of Economic and Industry Forecasting.

Trade war fears have pushed yields on U.S. Treasury bonds to below 2 percent, and it’s those yields that influence mortgage rates. When yields fall, so do interest rates on mortgages.

Lowest since November 2016

MBA reports that the 30-year fixed rate mortgage rate fell eight basis points last week to 3.93 percent -- the lowest level since November 2016 -- and has now dropped more than 80 basis points this year.

"In just the last two weeks, rates have decreased 15 basis points and the refinance index has increased more than 50 percent, reaching its highest level since July 2016,” Kan said. “The government refinance index, driven by a 25 percent increase in VA refinance applications, is now at its highest level since May 2013."

Lucky and smart

Holden Lewis, NerdWallet’s home expert, says refinancing almost tripled compared to a year ago, and consumers who grasp the opportunity are both lucky and smart.

“Lucky because the recent Fed rate cut reminded homeowners to check current mortgage rates — which happened to be at three-year lows last week. Smart because those homeowners didn't wait for rates to fall further; they pounced and applied to refinance instead of timing the market,” Lewis said in an email to ConsumerAffairs. 

“Mortgage rates have rebounded a bit in the last week, but even so, millions of homeowners could save money by refinancing. That includes most people who bought homes in 2018. Seriously, even if you bought your home last year, you could save money by refinancing right now.”

In addition to reducing their monthly mortgage payment, many consumers took out equity in their homes to use for other purposes, something that could have a stimulative effect on the economy as an inverted yield curve this week flashed a recession warning.

The MBA weekly report shows the refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 61.4 percent of total applications from 53.9 percent the previous week.

Associated Grocers is recalling Celebrate brand frozen profiteroles and eclairs that may be contaminated with Salmonella.

Canada's Public Health Agency investigated an outbreak of Salmonella infections associated with these products.

The outbreak appears to be over, and the investigation has been closed.

The following products, sold in the provinces of Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan, are being recalled:

• Celebrate Mini Chocolate Eclairs -- UPC 8 858762 720047
• Celebrate Classical Profiteroles / Classic Profiteroles -- UPC 8 858762 720009
• Celebrate Egg Nog Profiteroles -- UPC 8 858762 720016

What to do

Customers who purchased the recalled products should not consume them, but discard or return them to the store where purchased.

Consumers with questions may call (800) 442-2342 (Canada and U.S.)

Facebook has paid hundreds of its contractors to transcribe users’ messages, according to a Bloomberg report. 

Sources familiar with the matter, who opted to remain anonymous, told the publication that Facebook’s contractors were unaware where the audio recordings were coming from and weren’t given a reason for why they had to transcribe them. 

“The work has rattled the contract employees, who are not told where the audio was recorded or how it was obtained -- only to transcribe it,” the report said. “They're hearing Facebook users' conversations, sometimes with vulgar content, but do not know why Facebook needs them transcribed, the people said.” 

Users of Facebook’s Messenger app, meanwhile, were never informed that their conversations would be reviewed by human beings. Affected users did, however, select the option to have their voice chats transcribed and gave Facebook permission to access their microphone, the company said. 

Facebook added that its contractors had been tasked with reviewing the recordings in order to verify that its artificial intelligence tools had correctly interpreted the messages.

Privacy concerns

Amazon, Google, and Apple have also recently been exposed for putting employees in charge of reviewing audio recordings created by their respective user bases. In response to media reports of these privacy concerns, Facebook has now confirmed that it will no longer let its staffers review anonymized user conversations. 

“Much like Apple and Google, we paused human review of audio more than a week ago,” the company said Tuesday. 

Earlier this month, Apple temporarily suspended a program that let its employees listen to Siri voice recordings. The practice was called “grading,” and it was intended to help boost Siri’s speech recognition accuracy and quality. Apple said an upcoming software update will give users the ability to opt out of participating in its grading program. 

On Wednesday, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai made his approval of the T-Mobile/Sprint merger official. 

Although critics have argued that allowing the two carriers to join forces would reduce competition in the industry, Pai contends that the deal would help promote competition, expedite the nationwide deployment of 5G, and help shrink the digital divide. 

“After one of the most exhaustive merger reviews in Commission history, the evidence conclusively demonstrates that this transaction will bring fast 5G wireless service to many more Americans and help close the digital divide in rural areas,” Pai said in a statement. 

The conditions included in the FCC’s draft order would “promote robust competition in mobile broadband, put critical mid-band spectrum to use, and bring new competition to the fixed broadband market,” the Republican commissioner added.

“I thank our transaction team for the thorough and careful analysis reflected in this draft Order and hope that my colleagues will vote to approve it,” he continued. 

Help with 5G deployment

Pai, who signaled his intention to approve the deal back in May, believes that if T-Mobile and Sprint become one company, the combined entity will be in a better position to compete with rivals in the effort to launch 5G. 

“Consumers will directly benefit from improvements in network quality and coverage, which in turn will foster innovation in a wide variety of sectors and services (itself creating significant public interest benefits),” the FCC said in a statement. “Moreover, the transaction will help to close the digital divide by bringing robust 5G deep into rural areas, with enforceable conditions in the draft Order requiring coverage of at least 99% of Americans within six years.”

Following months of skepticism over the merger, the Department of Justice (DOJ) gave its approval of the $26.5 billion deal last month on the condition that Sprint sell its prepaid assets to Dish network. The DOJ said the new agreement will "enable a viable facilities-based competitor to enter the market.” 

The merger is still opposed by more than a dozen state attorneys general. These officials argue that the merger will harm competition and raise prices for consumers. Democratic FCC commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel also said she’s still “not convinced that removing a competitor will lead to better outcomes for consumers.” 

“But what I am convinced of is that before the FCC votes on this new deal negotiated by Washington, the public should have the opportunity to weigh in and comment. Too much here has been done behind closed doors,” she said in a statement regarding the FCC’s draft order.

Air pollution and climate change have gotten no shortage of headlines recently, and now researchers from the University of Washington have explored how the emissions are affecting those who are suffering from lung disease.

According to the researchers, air pollution has the ability to progress the severity of lung disease as quickly as smoking one pack of cigarettes per day. 

“We were surprised to see how strong air pollution’s impact was on the progression of emphysema on lung scans, in the same league as the effects of cigarette smoking, which is by far the best known cause of emphysema,” said researcher Dr. Joel Kaufman. 

Dangers in the air

The researchers conducted a study that spanned nearly two decades, evaluating over 7,000 participants and the polluted air they were exposed to over that course of time. The study was relegated to six major cities across the country, which included St. Paul, Minnesota; Chicago; New York; Baltimore; Winston-Salem, North Carolina; and Los Angeles. 

The researchers evaluated air pollution at the city level and then at participants’ homes to get the most accurate picture of the kinds of emissions consumers could be breathing in and the effects they could have on health. Ozone was hypothesized to be the biggest threat to consumers, as levels of these emissions continue to rise due to climate change, despite work to reduce air pollution. 

Participants underwent CT scans and lung function tests to evaluate the severity of emphysema and determine how their breathing was affected by pollutants. The study ultimately revealed that ozone has the power to increase the severity of lung disease much in the same way cigarettes do. As climate change continues to release more and more ozone into the air, the researchers say this issue will only continue to compound. 

Ozone is measured in parts per billion (ppb), and all of the cities involved in the study were in the range of 10 to 25 ppb. The researchers explained that an increase in ozone of just 3 ppb over the course of a decade will leave the same impact on your lungs as smoking one pack of cigarettes per day for nearly 30 years. 

“This study adds to the growing evidence of a link between air pollution and emphysema,” said James Kiley, director of the Division of Lung Diseases at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. “A better understanding of the impact of pollutants on the lung could lead to more effective ways of preventing and treating this devastating disease.” 

AT&T and T-Mobile have announced that they will be authenticating calls between their customers in an effort to combat spam calls. 

Under the new plan, customers will be notified if a call coming from the other carrier is actually from the number shown on the screen or if it’s a spoofed robocall or spammer. Users will see a “Caller Verified” message if the call is from a legitimate caller. 

Recent data from YouMail shows U.S. consumers received 4.7 billion robocalls in July, an increase of 7.5 percent from June. 

The collaboration between AT&T and T-Mobile comes a few months after Federal Communications Commission chairman Ajit Pai ordered U.S. carriers to develop a call authentication system by the end of 2019 to mitigate consumer frustration over robocalls. 

“Consumers want and need reliable caller ID information. That’s why we must move aggressively to combat spoofed robocalls,” Pai said in May.

Confidence when answering the phone

The FCC, which has named stopping illegal robocalls as its top consumer priority, said last month that carriers have been slow to roll out options for curbing unwanted spam calls. The agency said it would consider taking regulatory action if it found that carriers are “acting contrary to our expectations.” 

AT&T and T-Mobile’s call verification procedure, which rolled out Wednesday, is based on the SHAKEN/STIR framework -- technology which lets consumers know that an incoming call is actually coming from the number on the caller ID display. 

“A call that is illegally ‘spoofed’ – or shows a faked number – will fail the SHAKEN/STIR Caller ID verification and will not be marked as verified,” the companies said in a statement. “By contrast, verification will confirm that a call is really coming from the identified number or entity. More calls will be verified over time as more device providers participate, and as more network providers implement the standards.” 

The carriers noted that authentication “won’t solve the problem of unwanted robocalls by itself,” but it will help ensure consumers can answer their phones with confidence.