By Nathalie Voit Less than one month after the IRS announced it would require taxpayers to enter biometric data to access their online accounts, the agency has dropped the controversial facial recognition requirements amid an outcry from lawmakers and digital rights activists concerned about their privacy. A statement from the agency released on Feb. 21 said that "a new [...]
By Nathalie Voit Target announced on Feb. 23 it plans to expand its popular curbside pickup service Drive Up to include return options and Starbucks orders, according to a press release from the company. RedCard customers will be able to add Starbucks orders and make returns when using the company’s same-day pickup service as soon as this [...]
By Nathalie Voit Electronics giant Sony on Feb. 22 unveiled its latest virtual reality (VR) headset, the PlayStation VR 2. In a blog on the company’s website, Senior Vice President of Platform Experience Hideaki Nishino revealed “the stunning new design” of PlayStation VR 2, poised to compete against other prominent companies’ products in the VR [...]
By Nathalie Voit Tesla and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reached a settlement on Feb. 22 after the automaker was found to have violated the Clean Air Act at its vehicle assembly facility in Fremont, California, the agency announced in a news release on Tuesday. According to the announcement, Tesla breached a federal clean air law [...]
By Nathalie Voit E-commerce giant Amazon on Feb. 22 filed a lawsuit against two major fake review brokers, AppSally and Rebatest, accused of filling the site with misleading and incentivized product reviews, the company said in a press release. The lawsuit, filed in King County Superior Court in Seattle, accused the two companies of allegedly selling [...]
By Nathalie Voit The U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (USWNT) and the U.S. Soccer Federation have settled their class-action equal pay lawsuit for $24 million, both parties announced in a joint statement on Feb. 22. "We are pleased to announce that, contingent on the negotiation of a new collective bargaining agreement, we will have resolved our longstanding [...]
By Nathalie Voit U.S. oil prices surged over 3% to a high of $96 per barrel on Feb. 21 amid heightened tensions between Russia and Ukraine. U.S. crude climbed about 2.15% to $93.03 a barrel at 12:45 p.m. ET Tuesday. Brent crude oil prices surged even more, trading as high as $99.50 on Feb. 21 to settle at [...]
By Nathalie Voit According to car tracking service Edmunds, 8 out of 10 buyers (82.2%) paid above sticker price for a new vehicle in January. This was compared to buyers overpaying in just 2.8% of new vehicle purchases in January 2021 and 0.3% in January 2020, Edmunds said on Feb. 15. The average transaction price for a [...]
By Nathalie Voit The U.S. Education Department will provide $415 million in student debt relief for borrowers who attended for-profit schools, the department announced in a press release on Feb. 16. Nearly 16,000 student debt borrowers who attended certain for-profit institutions, such as DeVry University, will have their debts cleared. The relief totals approximately $415 million, according [...]
By Nathalie Voit On Feb. 16, New Mexico legislators signed off on a bill aimed at discouraging so-called ‘predatory lending.’ House Bill 132, otherwise known as “Interest rates for certain loans,” would institute a 36% annual interest rate cap on small loans in the state. The maximum interest rate on storefront loans in New Mexico [...]
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