Pictured: LPM Traci Tucker (far right), ESSA Rick Lombardo (far left), ESSA Pateicia Maynor (next to Lombardo)

Alarm.com Acquires OpenEye to Expand Commercial Solutions

Video Surveillance-as-a-Service Offering Creates Growth Opportunities in Enterprise Market for Service Providers

Alarm.com (Nasdaq: ALRM) today announced a majority-stake acquisition of OpenEye, a leading provider of cloud-managed video surveillance solutions for the commercial market. OpenEye is optimized for enterprise-level commercial customers requiring expansive video recording capabilities, in addition to remote viewing, administration and diagnostic reporting. Combined with the Alarm.com for Business offering, service providers partnered with Alarm.com now have a best-in-class solution to accommodate commercial accounts of any size.

Read more in today's Press Release column below.
 

ADT Executive Don Young Becomes TMA’s 35th President
The Monitoring Association (TMA) is pleased to announce Don Young, CIO and EVP of Operations of ADT, as the new President who officially began his two-year term on Thurs., Oct. 17, 2019 at the conclusion of TMA’s 2019 Annual Meeting, Young recently served a two-year term as Vice President on the Executive Committee leading up to his presidency. He succeeds Ivan Spector, Sentinel Alarm, Montreal, QC. Spector who will serve an additional two-year term as Immediate Past President on the TMA Executive Committee.

“It is a distinct honor to serve as TMA’s president,” stated Young, “In some ways, I feel as though I’ve been preparing for this role for 30 years. As our industry faces new and rapidly emerging technologies, it is more important than ever to leverage the collective knowledge, expertise, and strength of TMA and its member companies to convey the importance of professional monitoring to consumers and first responders. It is also vital that we take an active leadership role in the development of new industry standards to provide a framework by which our businesses can most effectively protect life, property, and data for our customers.” tma.us

Cincinnati Implements Automated Secure Alarm Protocol (ASAP) for Faster, More Accurate Emergency Alarm Response
The City of Cincinnati is the latest agency to implement Automated Secure Alarm Protocol (ASAP), technology that automates communication between alarm monitoring central stations and Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) / 911 centers, resulting in faster, more accurate emergency response for users of monitored alarms. The implementation aligns the city with the rest of Hamilton County, which went live with ASAP in July.

ASAP was developed in partnership between The Monitoring Association (TMA) and the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO), with Vector Security President and CEO Pam Petrow co-chairing the committee. Vector Security was the first alarm company to debut ASAP in Richmond, VA in 2012. Vector Security assisted with implementation in Cincinnati by helping to conduct extensive testing prior to the system going live. vectorsecurity.com
 

Power blackouts likely again for hundreds of thousands of Californians this week
Still reeling from criticism for shutting off power to up to 2 million people this month to prevent fires, PG&E says it could have to do it again.

Pacific Gas & Electric Corp., or PG&E, said at a hastily arranged late afternoon news conference that it was calling, emailing and texting more than 200,000 customers in 15 Northern California counties to alert them that their power could be shut off for as long as 48 hours, starting Wednesday.

A power "customer" can be a single residence or a large business; the standard conversion utilities use assesses 2½ people per customer, meaning as many as a half-million people could be affected Wednesday. Most of the impact will be felt in the Sierra Foothills and the northern part of the San Francisco Bay area, the utility said.

PG&E said high winds and dry conditions would lead to a critical risk of wildfires sparked by faulty electric lines. Those same conditions plunged as many as 2 million people into darkness two weeks ago in rolling blackouts, which PG&E called a public safety power shutoff. nbcnews.com

Read PG&E's full statement here, with a list California counties that could be impacted Wednesday.

Coping With Chaos: For California Businesses, Blackouts Are Becoming the Norm
Lost wages, money spent on generators, hot spots, and porta-potties.
Is this the future of doing business in the state?

When PG&E shut off power earlier this month in a rolling blackout that reached an estimated 600,000 customers throughout Northern California, homes darkened and electronics (including medical devices) and even some cell service were silenced. Streets in areas like Santa Rosa were eerily empty, which was not unexpected given that streetlights and traffic lights weren't working. Supermarkets experienced runs on milk, meat, produce, and other items; what perishables they couldn't sell started to rot. Just like PG&E's reputation.

For California businesses, the shutdown, which PG&E described as a public safety measure to avoid more catastrophic wild fires like 2018's Camp Fire, also meant closures, unexpected costs, and income loss. While most of the businesses that Inc. contacted are committed to California - in the case of wineries in particular, their roots in this region are quite literally deep, and abiding - many find themselves wondering how they can continue here if seasonal power shutoffs become the new normal. inc.com

Posted in the Daily 10-10-19:
California's Back in the Stone Age
Red Flag Warning: No Power - No POS - No Customers
Power Outage in California Affects Millions as PG&E Tries to Avoid Wildfire

Posted in the Daily 10-14-19:
"'I'm Out': PG&E Blackouts Stagger Californians"
Food Spoilage, Curfews Impacting Grocery Stores - Malls - All of Retail
 

Many States and Municipalities Now "Ban the Box"
Over the last several years, the “ban the box” movement has gained an impressive amount of momentum and support from lawmakers and activists across the nation. With an aim to provide job applicants a chance to obtain employment without the stigma of a conviction or arrest, “ban the box” laws require employers to consider an applicant’s qualifications before inquiring into or considering their criminal record. While employers may still consider an applicant’s criminal record, they generally must wait until after the applicant’s initial interview or until they extend a conditional job offer, depending on the laws of the particular jurisdiction.

At this time, 35 states and over 150 municipalities have “banned the box” for public employers, while 32 municipalities have extended their policies to government contractors. Perhaps most notably, the following 13 states have “banned the box” for private employers:

JPMorgan Chase Hired 2,100 People With Criminal Records In 2018 (And Will Hire More)
JPMorgan Chase announced an expansion of its efforts to hire people with criminal backgrounds Monday, continuing the trend of big companies “banning the box” and giving people second chances.

JPMorgan Chase hired 2,100 people with criminal records in 2018, which equals about 10% of their total hires last year. The bank knows those people have records, because they conduct background checks on applicants after a job offer has been made. Applicants with criminal records are being considered for entry-level jobs like account servicing and transaction processing, according to the bank’s press release.

Koch Industries, Starbucks, McDonald’s, Target and Home Depot are among other corporations that have increased hiring efforts of the formerly incarcerated since at least 2013. forbes.com

Spokeo Wipes Class Cert. In Walmart Background Check Row
A California federal judge has decertified a class of roughly 6.5 million Walmart job applicants challenging the retail giant's background check procedures and remanded the dispute to state court, finding that the named plaintiffs had failed to allege an injury sufficient to meet the Spokeo standing bar.

U.S. District Judge David O. Carter, who in January certified a class of millions of Walmart job applicants accusing the company of violating the Fair Credit Reporting Act and California's Investigative Consumer Reporting Agency Act by providing them with deficient background check disclosure forms between June 2012 and March 2019, walked back his decision Friday in an order granting the retailer's motion to decertify the class. law360.com
 

2019’s States Most Vulnerable to Identity Theft & Fraud
10,818 breaches accounting for 1.6+ billion records compromised from 2005 to 2019

A recent study by WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 15 key metrics. The data set ranges from identity-theft complaints per capita to average loss amount due to fraud.

Georgia, Nevada, California, Florida, Texas and the District of Columbia tied for first in most identity theft complaints per capita. Vermont had the fewest identity theft complaints per capita, followed by Iowa. South Dakota and Maine tied for 48th in fewest complaints, followed by Kentucky.

Minnesota, Illinois, Connecticut, South Dakota, Rhode Island and California tied for the highest average losses due to online identity theft. North Dakota, Kentucky, Wyoming, Delaware and New Mexico were the five states with the lowest average loss amount due to online identity theft. wallethub.com

Eddie Bauer Beats Broad Allegations of Fake Discounts at Outlets
An Eddie Bauer LLC customer didn’t offer enough evidence to proceed with claims in a proposed class suit alleging a widespread practice of tricking outlet customers with fake sales and bogus comparison prices, the Southern District of California said. Jackie Fisher alleges he bought a Radiator Fleece ¼-zip and a Thermal ¼-zip advertised at 50% off because he thought he was getting a good deal on authentic Eddie Bauer merchandise. Fisher may pursue claims on behalf of Californians who bought those two items, but he failed to support his broader allegation of a fraudulent pricing scheme. bloomberglaw.com

Q&A: RILA's incoming president talks trade, antitrust and 2020 priorities
After serving as president of the Retail Industry Leaders Association since 2002, President Sandy Kennedy plans to retire at the end of this year. Taking her place as president is Brian Dodge, who has been with the organization for 12 years and currently serves as RILA's chief operating officer. Dodge, who begins in the role Jan. 1, joined RILA as vice president for communications at a time when the organization was building out a more robust communications and government affairs operation.

He takes over the organization — which represents some of the largest retailers and brands in the world, including Walmart, Target, Nike and The Home Depot, among others — at a critical juncture both for retail and the policy environment around it. retaildive.com

Wendy’s enters fast food breakfast fray
Fast food restaurants breakfast visits have increased 7.7 percent over the last five years and purchases are up 31 percent, according to NPD Group. That has led chains including Shake Shack and Wendy’s to add breakfast items to their menus in an attempt to capture share from established players like Burger King, Dunkin’ Brands and McDonald’s. wsj.com

Running List of Stores Closed on Thanksgiving 2019

Survey: Consumers more excited about Cyber Monday than Black Friday

7 things store managers should do now to be ready for Christmas
 

Drugstore drones: UPS will fly CVS prescriptions to U.S. customers
United Parcel Service Inc’s new Flight Forward drone unit will soon start home prescription delivery from CVS Health Corp. The service, which will debut in one or two U.S. cities in the coming weeks, shows how the parcel delivery company plans to expand its upstart drone business beyond hospital campuses.

“Flight Forward will work with new customers in other industries to design additional solutions for a wide array of last-mile and urgent delivery challenges,” UPS Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer Scott Price said.

The Atlanta-based company this month won the U.S. government’s first approval to operate a drone airline, leapfrogging rivals like Amazon.com Inc and Alphabet Inc’s Wing and clearing the way for the expansion of Flight Forward. reuters.com

'Mind Your Own Business Act'
Holds Corporations, Executives Accountable with Steep Fines, Jail Time
U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., introduced sweeping new privacy legislation, the Mind Your Own Business Act, to create strong protections for Americans’ private data and to hold accountable the corporate executives responsible for abusing information.

Wyden’s bill contains some of the most comprehensive protections for Americans’ private data ever introduced, and goes further than Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), says the press release. It would give American consumers an easy, one-click way to stop companies from selling or sharing their personal information, give consumers radical transparency into how corporations use and share their data and impose harsh fines and even prison terms for executives at corporations that misuse Americans’ data and lie about those practices to the government.

“Mark Zuckerberg won’t take Americans’ privacy seriously unless he feels personal consequences. A slap on the wrist from the FTC won’t do the job, so under my bill he’d face jail time for lying to the government,” Wyden said. “I spent the past year listening to experts and strengthening the protections in my bill. It is based on three basic ideas: Consumers must be able to control their own private information, companies must provide vastly more transparency about how they use and share our data, and corporate executives need to be held personally responsible when they lie about protecting our personal information.” securitymagazine.com

Why Businesses Shouldn't Sleep On Nev.'s Privacy Law
A new law that allows Nevada residents to opt out of the sale of their data isn't garnering as much attention as California's broader looming privacy rules, but attorneys say the risk of regulatory enforcement — including for future data sales — should encourage companies to keep the regulation on their radar.

Nevada's Senate Bill 220, which was signed in May and took effect Oct. 1, requires website operators that collect personal information from state residents to provide these consumers with a way to demand that the operator not sell any covered information that it has or will collect about them.

The law doesn't encompass the sweeping data access and transparency requirements contained in California's landmark Consumer Privacy Act, which is set to go live Jan. 1, and contains much narrower definitions of key statutory terms, including "sale" and "operator."

But that doesn't mean compliance with the law — which allows the attorney general to recover up to $5,000 per violation and covers unanticipated future data sales — should be put on the back burner, according to attorneys. law360.com

Majority of U.S. Adults Believe Their Personal Information Has Been Breached
A majority of Americans (44 percent) believe their personally identifiable information (PII) has been stolen as a result of a data breach. A strong majority (63 percent) are concerned that prior breaches could lead to future identity fraud, and a significant number (37 percent) believe they have already been a victim of fraud. securitymagazine.com

Researchers Turn Alexa and Google Home Into Credential Thieves
"Alexa, steal my passwords." It's not a phrase a user is likely to utter, but security researchers in Germany have shown that it's possible for malicious apps — Alexa "skills" and Google Home "actions" — to launch phishing attacks on users, forward the compromised credentials to criminals, and do it all in apps approved for use by the voice-assistant giants. darkreading.com
 

Cheyenne, WY: Police Searching for Women in $18,000 Multi-State Theft Scheme
Cheyenne police are searching for three women who they say made $18,000 worth of fraudulent returns at JCPenney stores around the country this summer. Officer Kevin Malatesta says the trio, who have been identified as 23-year-old Kyrisha Strickland, 35-year-old Latonya Strickland and 37-year-old Starlisha Strickland, hit the JCPenney in the Frontier Mall on Aug. 6. "(They) came into the store and brought merchandise with them that they had apparently picked up from another place, maybe a thrift store or something like that," said Malatesta. They had attached fraudulent labels to that merchandise as well as made up fraudulent receipts and were able to return those items for cash and gift cards," Malatesta added. The three, who are believed to be sisters, are also suspected of making fraudulent returns at JCPenney stores in Montana, Colorado, Nebraska, Missouri, Kentucky, South Carolina, North Carolina, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. "It sounds like they took a cross-country trip and did this," said Malatesta. "Warrants have been issued for their arrest here in Laramie County, but there are other agencies that may be looking for them as well." kgab.com

Ventura, CA: Man allegedly stole $7K worth of merchandise from Kohl's
An Oxnard man who allegedly stole more than $7,000 worth of merchandise during multiple trips to the Ventura Kohl's store was recently arrested, authorities said. An investigation started last month when the department store chain's loss prevention officers started monitoring security footage, the Ventura Police Department reported Monday. Video from Sept. 7 and Sept. 26 reportedly showed a man take a "large amount of property" from the store and flee in a vehicle, according to the police account. Store officers reported the incidents to police. Ventura police detectives with the street crimes unit identified the suspect as Enrique Campos Lopez, 36. Lopez allegedly returned to the Kohl's on Oct. 3, took more property and fled before the store's loss prevention team could detain him, authorities said. On Oct. 11, Ventura police detectives began to actively search for Lopez after getting an arrest warrant. On Monday, Lopez pleaded not guilty to all three counts in Ventura County Superior Court, records show. He remained in jail Monday night with bail set at $10,000. vcstar.com

Lancaster County, NE: 3 women arrested with thousands worth of stolen merchandise
A Lancaster County Sheriff's deputy stopped the women around 5:30 p.m. Saturday near 112th Street and Highway 6 for speeding. A search of the car turned up $6,888 worth of stolen merchandise, according to LSO. Officials said the merchandise had been taken from Walgreens, TJ Maxx, Forever 21, Dollar Tree, Victoria's Secret, and some items still had price tags on them. klkntv.com

UK: Melbourne, AU: 57 of Melbourne's 'most violent' young people arrested; ‘Operation Liege”
Dozens of Melbourne's most rampant and violent young offenders have been arrested in a sweeping operation across the city. Police conducted a three-day string, executing warrants in a number of suburbs. In total, 57 people were arrested as part of the crack down on youth offending across the state. Detectives have so far charged 34 offenders aged between 13 and 19-years-old with more than 150 offences, and said the majority of those arrested are aged between 15 and 21-years-old. Police said those targeted are alleged to have committed offences which caused "significant harm to victims" and have "substantial impact on the broader community's feelings of safety." "These crimes include carjackings, aggravated burglaries, armed robbery and serious street robberies – all horrendous crimes which leave a long-lasting impact on victims," North West Metro Region Commander Tim Hansen said. 9news.com.au