Finding out that a business you’ve trusted with your email, searches, and login information—possibly for more than ten years—has been compiling a comprehensive profile of your identity, purchases, online activities, and TV viewing habits is subtly unsettling. Until a lawsuit comes to light, most people are unaware. And that has occurred multiple times with Yahoo. Unbeknownst to most users, the Yahoo class action lawsuit has a longer history. A significant $117.5 million settlement was reached in a lawsuit related to a number of data breaches that happened between 2012 and 2016, impacting users who were residents of Israel or the…
Author: Sierra Foster
Sierra Foster
Born in Kansas City, Sierra Foster writes about politics and serves as Senior Editor at kbsd6.com. She was raised paying attention to this city, not just living in it. Sierra has a strong, deep connection to Kansas City, from the neighborhoods east of Troost to the discussions that take place in the city hall halls. Sierra, who is presently enrolled at the University of Kansas to pursue a degree in Political Science, applies the rigor of academic study to her journalism. She writes about politics in Missouri and Kansas as someone who genuinely cares about what happens to the people in these communities—the policies that impact them, the leaders who represent them, and the civic forces influencing their futures—rather than as an outsider watching from a distance. Her editorial coverage encompasses state-level policy, local government, and the national political currents that permeate bi-state regional life. Whether it's a city council vote or a Senate race, she has a special gift for turning complex policy language into writing that feels urgent, relatable, and worthwhile. Sierra seldom sits still off the page. She claims that playing soccer on a regular basis has sharpened her instincts for political reporting because of the sport's teamwork, strategy, and requirement to read a changing game in real time. She's probably somewhere in Kansas City with her friends when she's not writing or on the pitch, discovering new reasons to adore a city she already knows so well.
Many people currently have an email in their inboxes with the subject line “Facebook User Privacy Settlement – Settlement and Second Distribution Status Update.” Most people would probably just glance at it and delete it. It seems like a fraud. It appears to be something you would report as spam. However, it is real, and it might contain your name if you used Facebook between May 24, 2007, and December 22, 2022. For those who need a refresher, the history dates back to 2018. At that time, word leaked out about Cambridge Analytica, a political data company that secretly collected…
A Facebook user is opening their email somewhere right now and discovering an unexpected message. It’s not a friend request. Not a 2014 recollection. A second payment related to a class-action lawsuit that most people had already forgotten about was announced as being on its way. It’s not a lucky break. Nobody’s month will be altered. However, it is true, and it is interesting to learn the backstory. The formal name of the lawsuit is In re: Facebook, Inc. Facebook was accused in the Consumer Privacy User Profile Litigation of disclosing users’ personal information to thousands of third parties over…
Standing at an ATM, tapping through a balance inquiry at a 7-Eleven, and not realizing you’re being charged twice for the same request is a subtly unsettling experience. Never once. twice. For one glance at your own balance. Customers of Bank of America essentially claim that this is what happened to them, and it is the main allegation of a $2.25 million class action settlement that is presently awaiting final approval. The case centers on the period from May 1, 2018, to November 16, 2021. During that time, some Bank of America customers were allegedly charged multiple out-of-network fees for…
You approach an ATM that isn’t connected to your bank, enter your PIN, and before your own money even reaches your hands, you are hit with a $3 or $4 surcharge. It’s almost routine. Most people shrug and move on. Few people pause to consider whether those fees were ever valid in the first place because they have become so commonplace. In the end, a significant federal lawsuit that took years to proceed through the legal system revealed that they weren’t. In order to resolve allegations that they took part in an illegal scheme to artificially increase ATM surcharge fees,…
Watching America’s most reputable public health organization become the target of lawsuits brought by the very physicians and states it is meant to assist is almost disorienting. The fact that the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Physicians, and fifteen state governments are suing the CDC rather than fringe organizations or political outliers illustrates how drastically things have changed in a short period of time. The legal dispute began in January when the CDC discreetly declared that it would no longer recommend seven childhood vaccines. Flu, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, rotavirus, some meningitis protections, and RSV have been…
A certain type of frustration develops gradually. Attracted by a marketing campaign that promises something truly novel, such as a smarter phone, a more capable assistant, or an AI that truly understands you, you enter a store or place an online order. The money is paid by you. The package shows up. Then, week after week, the promised feature just doesn’t show up. With Apple Intelligence, that is basically what took place. Apple placed a strong focus on artificial intelligence (AI) when it unveiled the iPhone 16 lineup in late 2024. This included an enhanced Siri that could function as…
It’s difficult to forget the scene Nate Quarry described outside a federal courthouse in Las Vegas. A federal judge ultimately approved a $375 million antitrust settlement between the UFC and more than a thousand of its former fighters after twelve years—twelve years—of depositions, appeals, setbacks, and a near-collapse of the entire case just a year earlier. Quarry reported that the room burst into cheers and embraces. As he described it, he acknowledged that he was still on the verge of tears. Veteran fighters cuddling in a courtroom hallway conveys a message that the court documents are unable to fully convey.…
A utility company requesting less money than it initially requested is almost uncommon. Rare, or more precisely, unusual. Xcel Energy anticipated a revenue increase of about $63 million when it first requested a rate increase for its Minnesota gas utility. After more than two months of negotiations, a much more subdued $37.8 million increase was the result. Less than $25 million. That gap did not close on its own. A back-and-forth between Xcel, the Minnesota Department of Commerce, the Citizens Utility Board of Minnesota, and the Suburban Rate Authority—a group that represents ratepayers in 29 metro areas—led to the recent…
There’s a good chance you’re sitting on an unclaimed payout and are unaware of it if you’ve used Cash App since 2018. Following allegations related to two distinct data security incidents, Block Inc., the parent company of Cash App, consented to a $15 million class action settlement. For most people, the sum won’t change their lives, but it’s real money, and there isn’t much time to claim it. When Block revealed in April 2022 that a former employee had gained unauthorized access to Cash App Investing account data, the problems began. About 8.2 million current and former users were impacted…