Today’s Tech Sightings:
FILE – A person uses a sensor for biometric identification on a smartphone in Berlin, Germany Oct. 16, 2015.
Child Uses Sleeping Mom’s Fingerprints to Buy Pokémon Gifts
Biometrics are supposed to offer better security for your mobile devices. But no one probably expected that Bethany Howell’s six-year-old daughter, in Arkansas, would borrow her fingerprint while she slept to buy $250 of Pokémon Christmas gifts. The child, Ashlynd, later admitted she had made the purchases. The Federal Trade Commission (FCC) has previously accused Apple, Google and Amazon of making it easy for children to make online purchases.
Dear Tech Companies: Stop Shipping Unfinished Products
As New Year resolutions go, writer Sean Hollister wants tech companies to stop shipping beta or unfinished versions of their products in an effort to make it to market first. Noting 2016’s exploding batteries and drones falling from the sky, among other things, Hollister said companies unfairly expect consumers to buy buggy products, then help them fix them. But he also blamed consumers for lusting after the greatest gadgets, even though manufacturers are unable to deliver all the promised features.
What Identity Thieves Do With Stolen Credit Cards
Cyber identity thieves are getting away with all kinds of personal information these days, not just credit card accounts. But once they get their hands on credit card data, they either use it to siphon money or sell the information to other hackers. Here’s what happens when your credit card information is stolen.
More:
- Humans Marrying Robots? Experts Say It’s Really Coming
- Turkey Says It’s Investigating 10,000 Social Network Users
- After a Big 2016, Next Year May Be AI Tipping Point
- The Biggest Technology Failures of 2016
- 2016: The Year Facebook Became the Bad Guy
- 10 Tech Trends to Watch in the Next Five Years
- Why Chatbots Will Disappoint and Messaging Will Thrive in 2017
- Google CEO Sundar Pichai to Kickstart New Year With an Event in India
- Hello Founder Says Social Media, Which Now Divides Us, Doesn’t Have to
