| 'Security Risk' Blocks U.S. Troops Overseas from Free Credit Report Site
No Free Online Access for Millions of Americans YONKERS, N.Y., Oct. 24 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Millions of U.S. citizens outside the country -- including several hundred thousand members of the armed forces -- are not permitted to see their personal credit information on the Web site set up by law to provide free access, over security concerns that an offshore user might create. Four years ago, the U.S. Congress mandated creating the http://www.annualcreditreport.com site that gives consumers free access to one report per year from each of the three major credit agencies, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. The law that created that site, the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 -- known as FACTA, or the FACT Act -- was designed to protect U.S.
Scam Jam 2007 held
By Karen WilliamsonKARENW@CULLMANTIMES.COMExperts agree shredding mail, paying bills and viewing bank statements online, picking up new check orders at the bank and mailing bills at the post office are ways to stop identity theft.If people take those steps, they will have reduced their risk for identity theft considerably, according to Federal Trade Commission attorney Paul Davis from Atlanta who was one of the experts at the 2007 Scam Jam Wednesday at City Hall."That right there will eliminate a certain percentage of identity theft," he said.Paying bills online requires the use of anti-virus software and firewalls on personal computers, and both have to be updated regularly, he said.Davis recommends contacting one of the three consumer reporting agencies — Equifax, Experian and TransUnion — every four months to request a free credit report."Federal law allows you to get free copies of each one every year," he said.That way people will know quickly if there is a problem.
Interview with Reza Pourzia, Cyber Rain
For our Friday interview, we thought it would be interesting to profile Cyber Rain (www.cyber-rain.com), a Los Angeles company in the clean technology space which recently raised a small round of funding. Reza Pourzia is founder and CTO of the company, and he told us a little bit more about its "smart" irrigation controllers designed to better control sprinkler systems to conserve water. Reza spoke with Ben Kuo. What's your background, and what's the idea behind Cyber Rain? Reza Pourzia: I was always walking down the street and seeing water running off the sidewalks in the morning. It was a problem that had been bothering me. So, I was the VP of engineering at Bizrate, which is now Shopzilla, and I have also worked at Experian Consumer Direct. I architected their new system, which is used to check your credit report online.
Partnerships For Promoting African Entrepreneurs
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I would like to welcome each one of you to this discussion on public-private partnerships in Africa. We have invited a distinguished panel of speakers who bring a wealth of experience and ideas to the task and I look forward to a productive and engaging dialogue. More importantly, I hope our shared time here today will lead to real opportunities to work together in partnership with Africa's entrepreneurs. .
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