uTarget Testing System That Sends Customers Notifications On Deals While They Shopr

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• Target wants to track your every move while shopping at its stores. Or at least that seems to be the gist behind the retailers’ new test of transmitters – known as beacons – that link to shoppers’ smartphones through the company’s app, sending coupons, deals, product recommendations and recipes based on their location inside the big box store.

  Target announced today that it has launched a test what it’s calling “Target Run” in 50 stores, marking it the retailer’s latest attempt to integrate smartphones into the shopping experience. The company already operates the separate Cartwheel app that provides discounts on certain products.

  In each of the chosen stores – located in Chicago, Denver, Minneapolis, New York City, Pittsburgh, Portland, San Francisco and Seattle – Target has placed between 20 and 50 beacons on the top of shelves that transmit signals to customers’ phones. For now, the test will only work for Bluetooth-enabled iPhones operating on iOS 7 or higher.

  To showcase the new system’s capabilities, Target provided The Star Tribune with a demonstration at a downtown Minneapolis store.

  While walking through the women’s apparel department, the system sent a $10-off coupon for clothes to the top of what Target describes as a social network-like newsfeed on the Target app.

  When the demonstrators moved to the baby section of the store, the newsfeed updated with a link of the top items picked by third-party site BabyCenter.com.

  Finally, while perusing the grocery department, the system notified shoppers of a recipe for a smoothie, listing all the ingredients needed to create the breakfast meal.

  “It’s a matter of creating relevant, convenient and inspiring moments while you’re shopping,” said Eddie Baeb, a Target spokesman tells the Tribune. “It starts moving us toward that smart store of the future.”

  In order to ensure that customers aren’t bombarded by annoying notifications, the system is, for now, limited to just two push notifications per shopping trip. However, if a user leaves the app open or continually sneaks a peek, they’ll see more than two deals or recommendations from the system.

  Additionally, Target makes it clear that customers who don’t want to be tracked during their shopping trips, don’t have to be.

  In fact, the company required users to opt-in to the system three times before they start receiving notifications.

  The company tells the Tribune that if all goes well with the initial tests, it could rollout the system to other stores later this year.

  In the future, the retailer says it hopes to integrate other capabilities into the system, such as providing the ability for shoppers to page an employee for help or send them reminders based on their shopping lists.

  Target testing beacons to provide in-store shoppers coupons, recommendations [The Star Tribune]

  
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by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

uJeep Cherokee Owners File Lawsuit Against Fiat Chrysler, Harman After Hackers Wirelessly Hijack Vehicler

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  (Scott Nesham)
  

  It was inevitable: A few weeks after hackers showed that a Jeep Cherokee could be hijacked remotely, three car owners have filed a lawsuit seeking class-action status against Fiat Chrylser Automobiles and Harman International, the maker of the Uconnect onboard infotainment system.

  The three Jeep Cherokee owners who filed a complaint against FCA and Harman on Tuesday [PDF] accuse FCA and Harman of fraud, negligence, unjust enrichment and breach of warranty.

  Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek, the security researchers who hacked the Jeep while a Wired.com reporter was driving it, exploited a security flaw in Uconnect that gave them the entry point to wirelessly take control of the vehicle. The plaintiffs point out that hackers had alerted FCA to the fact that there were architectural vulnerabilities in Jeep Cherokees in a paper back in 2014.

  At that time, Miller and Valasek noted that there are connections between the internet-enabled Uconnect and the vehicle’s CAN Bus, which Wired.com notes is the network that controls critical driving features like the steering and brakes. Having those connections between the thing that plays streaming music and the thing that makes your brakes work is a serious defect in vehicles FCA and Harman sold to customers, the plaintiffs argue.

  “The [affected] Vehicles are defectively designed in that essential engine and safety functionality is connected to the unsecure Uconnect system through the CAN bus,” thee complaint reads. “uConnect should be segregated from these other critical systems. There is no good reason for this current design. The risks associated with coupling these systems far outweigh any conceivable benefit.”

  The plaintiff’s lawyer tells Wired.com that the suit also seeks an injunction against the two companies that would force Chrysler to stage another recall to address those architectural security claims.

  Though FCA had issued a software patch for the Uconnect issue a week before Wired’s story, after working with Miller and Valasek on it in early 2015, the lawsuit argues that neither the patch nor the subsequent recall (issued under pressure from the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration) fixes the problem.

  “As long as the Uconnect system is physically connected to the vehicles’ CAN bus, the potential for vulnerability exists,” the complaint reads. “The overarching defect is a design and system architecture problem in that non-secured systems are coupled with essential engine and safety controls. This is not a software issue.”

  The lawsuit argues that the plaintiffs suffered from fraud, because their defective vehicles aren’t worth as much as they thought, as they’re vehicles that are “known to be subject to the unreasonable risk of catastrophic accident because of defects.”

  The complaint adds that “plaintiffs and Class members are subjected to a continuing increased risk of severe injury or death but for the Defendants’ failure to disclose or remedy the defect.”

  It’s unclear what total damages the lawsuit might seek, but if the lawsuit is certified as class-action, it could potentially include millions of drivers with vulnerable Uconnect systems in their vehicles. And though this might be the first lawsuit filed regarding Uconnect and FCA, there could always be more.

  “It’s way too early to have any idea what kind of damages the class has suffered,” the attorney for the three plaintiffs told Wired. “Right now we’re just focusing on trying to make these vehicles safe.”

  Chrysler and Harman Hit With a Class Action Complaint After Jeep Hack [Wired.com]

  
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by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

uStudent Loan Debt Causing Millennials To Delay Marriage, Kids, Home-Buyingr

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• We’ve written before about the idea of a “debt backpack,” this notion that young adults are graduating from college already burdened by debt. The more burdensome that backpack, the less able and likely they may be to not only make major financial investments — like a home, or a new car — but also might be putting off important personal milestones, including marriage and kids. The results of a new survey back up this theory and show the delaying effect that student loan debt has on Millennials.

  According to a survey from Bankrate, nearly half (45%) of all adult Americans who took out student loans ended up delay some major financial or personal milestone. The effect is most notable among student loan borrowers in the 18-29 age range, where 56% say that this debt has put them off of investing or starting a family.

  Home-buying is often the easiest can to kick down the road, since one can always rent. You can’t (or at least shouldn’t; please don’t) rent a spouse or child.

  So it’s of little surprise that homeownership is the most frequently delayed milestone among Millennials with student loan debt. Buying a car was a close second in this age group, which makes some sense as it’s often cheaper to keep driving and fixing your old vehicle than it is to sink money into a new one. In both cases, around 30% of 18-29 year-olds put off these important purchases.

  The next oldest age range (30-49) had similar results, though the overall impact of student debt was slightly less, with 53% saying they had delayed these milestones.

  Millennial borrowers are more likely to say they were not provided sufficient information about the potential risks of taking out student loans. A full two-thirds of this age group believe they were not provided enough info. Compare that to 59% for those in the 30-49 group, and only 44% in the 50-64 bracket.

  

  
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by Chris Morran via Consumerist

uGuy Who Chucked Winning Lottery Tickets Saved From Eternal Regret By Convenience Store Workerr

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  (Lisa Brewster)

  We’ve all had that moment: something you need is suddenly missing — a receipt, a paycheck, your kid’s birth certificate — and a horrible thought strikes you — “Did I throw it out?!?” A Georgia man had the weight of certain lifelong regret sitting on his shoulders when he realized he’d chucked two lottery tickets worth $10,000, thinking they weren’t winners.

  The man is a regular at his local convenience store, and had purchased new lottery tickets on Saturday, reports the Rome News-Tribune. Not realizing he’d played the winning numbers, he asked the cashier to throw the old tickets he had away.

  Cut to later that day, when it dawned on him that he’d tossed $10,000 in the trash. He went back to the store and explained the situation, and the staff went through the trash at the counter to look for his tickets. Nothing.

  “I had to go inside the dumpster cause I thought that I had thrown them away for real,” the customer said.

  After he’d left, the cashier who’d tossed the tickets for him remembered that he had dumped the counter trash into another trash can inside the store, and hadn’t taken it out after all. He found the tickets and tracked down the customer with the good news.

  “It was a blessing from God,” said the winner, who cashed his winnings this week and then went back to the convenience store to try his luck with some scratch-off tickets.

  As for the clerk, he says there was no way he wouldn’t have tried to find the customer.

  “If I had kept them it would have been like stealing,” the cashier said.

  $10,000 in lottery tickets recovered from Rome store’s trash [Rome News-Tribune]

  
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by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

uElectronic Mortgage Documents Easier To Understand, Provide More Benefits For Consumersr

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• If you’ve ever bought a house, you’re more than familiar with the mountain of paperwork you have to deal with at closing, not all of which are easy to understand.  But a study claims that homeowners who utilize a newer electronic method for reviewing closing documents may better comprehend what they’re signing.

  This is according to research [PDF] from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that found electronic mortgage closings – technology for borrowers to view and sign closing documents electronically – can be a benefit for consumers, helping them navigate the mortgage process.

  The report – the latest in the Bureau’s “Know Before You Owe” initiative aimed at improving the home buying experience – found that those who closed their mortgages using an electronic platform generally have a better understanding of terms and feel more empowered than borrowers who used paper forms.

  

  The CFPB study found that consumers felt better about the mortgage closing process when given electronic documents.

  The Bureau’s research on the effectiveness on eClosings was initiated after a 2014 report found that consumers felt like they didn’t have enough time to review documents and were overwhelmed by the stack of paperwork provided during the closing process.

  Following that report, the CFPB identified eClosings as an option to alleviate some of consumers’ apprehension with the mortgage lending process.

  An eClosing pilot program, administered by the CFPB for the study, took place over a four-month period involving seven lenders, more than 3,000 consumers, four technology companies and several settlement agents and real estate professionals.

  While some consumers in the pilot used traditional paper documents, others used a complete eClosing process, and others used a combination of the two.

  After the closing process was completed, borrowers provided the Bureau with a survey about their feelings on their given method.

  When it came to having a better understanding of terms and fees, consumers who used eClosing were about 7% more likely to believe they understood the contracts compared to borrowers who used paper documents.

  Asked about their perceptions of the process’s overall efficiency, the study found a 17% positive difference in scores for borrowers using eClosings.

  Additionally, the study found that consumers were 15% more likely to feel empowered by having more time to review documents, ask questions and flag concerns during the closing process.

  “The CFPB finds the results of this study encouraging for industry participants that are currently completing eClosings, working toward eClosing implementation, or are still in early discussions on eClosing,” the report states.

  Still, the Bureau believes the study shouldn’t be used as a final verdict on the potential of eClosing, because of constraints in the data used and consumers reported mixed feeling on some of the technology-focused processes, specifically when it came to refinancing options.

  “Given these constraints and results, we instead view this study as confirmation of growing interest in eClosing as an option for consumers and as a platform to spur further research,” the Bureau states.

  Today’s report comes just two months before the CFPB’s “Know Before You Owe” mortgage disclosure rule takes effect.

  The new rules requires two redesigned, easier-to-use mortgage disclosure forms that clearly lay out the terms of the loan for a homebuyer.

  The first form is the Loan Estimate, which provides a summary of the key loan terms and estimated loan and closing costs. This form will be provided to consumers within three business days after they submit a loan application.

  The second form is the Closing Disclosure, which offers a detailed accounting of the transaction. The rule requires the delivery of the Closing Disclosure three days before closing.

  
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by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

uKellogg Joins Food Industry Cool Kids, Will Remove Artificial Ingredients By 2018r

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  The colors of Froot Loops could change once the company phases out artificial colors. (frankieleon)

  Major food producers and chain restaurants have to follow trends to stay relevant, and right now the trend is ditching artificial flavors, colors, and preservatives. The latest manufacturer to join this party is Kellogg, a company with falling sales since Americans just aren’t as into cereal as we used to be.

  Kellogg is joining a party that’s been going on for the last few months, as a wide variety of food producers, including the other major U.S. cereal maker, General Mills, have announced that they’ll be removing artificial colors and flavors from their products. Other companies that have done the same this year include Nestlé USA, Campbell Soup Company, and Kraft and chain restaurants like Subway, Panera, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut.

  Kellogg says that most of its cereals are already made without artificial colors (75% without) and artificial flavors (more than 50% without) and that they will remove the additives from 90% of its products by next year, finally phasing all of them out by 2018.

  Key colorful cereals like Froot Loops are already made with plant-derived food colorings in international markets. Froot Loops in Australia, for example, use the following for their colours: “carmine, paprika, caramel I, turmeric, copper chlorophyll, and vegetable carbon.”

  If they choose similar ingredients once natural ingredients are phased in, don’t tell your kids that carmine is a red coloring made from ground-up bugs. Or maybe they’d be more likely to eat it if they knew that.

  Kellogg to stop using artificial products in cereals, snack bars [Reuters]

  
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by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

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