And here we go with the weekly register for the week of June 11. As usual make sure to leave your comments however sordid, demented, or obtuse. We are after all driven by free speech, and unlike other websites that have comments just to look pretty, we actually value your input. And btw, as you know we are on Facebook and Twitter and love looking important so like me, follow me, and tell everyone else that I’m just the best.
Fines For Unscrupulous People Search Companies
First off, Spokeo.com was recently fined $800,000 by the FTC for promoting their service as a pre-employment screening solution. However, the company has not admitted guilt, so the fine is basically a nice way of saying they should behave. Mind you, Spokeo is simply a data aggregator much like Intelius, eFindOutTheTruth, etc. They have absolutely no legitimate claim to offering employment screening solutions and any employer that used/uses them should be exposed and fined $100,000 per instance. The biggest problem is that mismatched names and incorrect data can completely screw some person looking for a job. As many know all too well, getting a good job in the current economy is pretty damn tough and being turned down because of a cheap and negligent employer is deplorable. If you want to get the complete scoop on this fiasco, head on over to Wired.com. However, we really want to hear from those who have an opinion in the comment section below.
Ask a Manager For all Your Employment Issues
Alison Green – AskaManager
Alison Green over at AskaManager.com recently answered a question from someone who asked why her old boss, from what may be a defunct company, was still checking her email a year after leaving the job. This extremely irate individual asked: “I have an old boss who completely screwed me over (I should have seen the signs, but I trusted him as a friend and colleague, stupid me). A year later, I’m better off for it, but I will never forgive or forget.” I recently started following her blog and as any long time reader may know, Alison doesn’t mince her words. To my thinking the type of feedback you can get on the blog is essential to succeeding in all aspects of your job and if you have a question for her, by all means ask away. Enjoy the straight forward, in-your-face, commentary. Of course, be aware that she can’t answer everyone due to the large volume of emails that she receives.
Yahoo Brings us The Top Consumer Complaints
For all the Yahoo fans out there, I’m an avid follower, they have actually released a decent article about the top 5 most frequent consumer complaints submitted to the FTC. For anyone who reads the sports section you may know of a certain writer with the initials CC, who has single handedly reduced Yahoo’s reputation with a writing style that can only be described as “simple.” In fact, the person is so infamous they’re getting mentioned in the comments section of articles outside the sports section. Anyway…not surprisingly, identity theft was first on the list for the 12th consecutive year in 2011. The Federal Trade Commission says about 15 percent of the complaints they received were about identity theft, of which almost a quarter were tax or wage-related fraud. Anyway, the point here is that you HAVE to be careful about online information. One way to curb identity theft is to delete your online profile from the dozens of background check and people search services. I wrote about SafeShepherd, one such company that does exactly this in another post about reclaiming your online privacy.
Categories: Weekly Register
