The Cookie You Accepted Without Reading. Here Is What It Does. You have seen the banner thousands of times. A pop-up appears at the bottom or top of a website the moment you arrive. It says something about cookies and privacy. It offers a button that says Accept All and a smaller, harder-to-find link that [...]
Before You Click That Link — Read This. Every day, on every device, you are presented with links. In emails, in text messages, in social media posts, in search results, in documents, in chat applications. Clicking links is so fundamental to how the internet works that most people do it reflexively — without hesitation, without [...]
Every App That Knows Where You Are Is One You Did Not Think About. Open your phone's settings right now and look at which apps have been granted access to your location. Most people who do this for the first time are surprised. Not by one or two apps — by the number. A flashlight [...]
There Is a Microphone in Your Living Room and It Never Sleeps. Somewhere in your home — possibly in multiple rooms — there is a device with a microphone that is always on. It is listening right now. It has been listening since the day you plugged it in. And the audio it captures does [...]
Your Passwords Are Only As Safe As the Company Holding Them. Cloud storage is convenient. Cloud password managers are convenient. Automatic backups to the cloud are convenient. Convenience, however, is not the same as secure — and the gap between those two things has cost millions of people dearly. When you store your passwords, your [...]
Security Cameras, Smart Bulbs, Connected Doorbells. Your Home Is the Network. The average connected household now has 22 devices on its network. Smart cameras. Video doorbells. Smart bulbs and switches. Connected thermostats. Smart locks. Baby monitors. Streaming devices. Appliances with Wi-Fi. Each one was purchased for a specific, legitimate purpose — convenience, security, energy saving, [...]
Everything You Think You Know About Digital Privacy Is Probably Wrong. Digital privacy is a topic most people feel they understand well enough. They use incognito mode when they want privacy. They have nothing to hide, so they have nothing to worry about. They are not important enough for anyone to bother tracking. Their data [...]
