Can somebody steal a passkey?
New research says malware can reach Google's synced passkeys on Windows. Here is what has to go wrong first, and why a clean computer is the whole defense.
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This week: AI in your exam room, and a delete with no undo
Also in this issue: what location sharing actually hands over, why your next phone costs more, and five shortcuts hiding on your phone.
A colon cancer test company got breached. If you took Cologuard, expect a phone call.
Exact Sciences, the Abbott company behind the at-home Cologuard colon cancer test, was breached and 10.9 million email addresses are public. What to do before the notification letter arrives.
Two people agreed to your location sharing. Three are in it.
You agreed with one person. A company is in it too, and what that company keeps depends on which app you picked.
Five shortcuts I wish somebody had told me about
Five small things your phone and computer have always done. I learned most of them late, and I use every one of them almost daily.
Your doctor wants to record the visit with AI. Here is what to ask before you say yes.
Your clinic will tell you the tool is HIPAA compliant. That doesn't actually mean much. Four questions to ask before you agree, and what to do if you would rather not.
Also this week: your location, an AI shopper in court, and California's AI labels
Four stories from the week: leaky ad code, an AI shopper's day in court, California's new AI labels, and the end of Google Assistant on your phone.
Your phone says storage is almost full. Don't delete anything yet.
The standard advice is to delete some photos. On the wrong phone, that advice destroys the only copy. Answer one question first.
The AI boom is showing up on price tags
AI data centers are buying up the memory chips that go into every phone, laptop, and game console. The bill has reached store shelves. The cheapest devices are taking the biggest hit. Here is a real answer on whether to buy now or wait.
This week: the first hour after a scam
Also in this issue: what your kid's school laptop can see, your router's expiration date, and the magnifying glass hiding in your phone.
The school laptop is a work computer. Here's what it does and doesn't monitor.
Every adult knows how to behave on a work laptop. Your child was handed one at school and nobody explained the distinction. Here is what the school district can see, and what to check before you sign the packet.
Check Your Router's Expiration Date. No Manufacturer Is Required to Tell You It Has One.
Washington spent this month regulating where your router was manufactured. The far more dangerous question is how long anyone will keep patching it, and on that one you are entirely on your own.
News
Also this week: iPhone leases, a movable taskbar, and a deepfake law in court
Four stories from the week I did not write a full piece about, and a sentence or two on why each one matters to you.
Learn
The power company is not calling to cut you off in 30 minutes
A call says your electricity goes off within the hour unless you pay right now. Real shutoffs move by mail, and during dangerous heat the shutoff itself can be against the law.
News
Millions of cars carry a Southern California dealer alarm with a security flaw
Most of the 2.2 million affected cars were sold at Southern California dealerships, but resale carried several hundred thousand of them everywhere else. Two minutes tells you whether yours is one.
Learn
You just got scammed. What now?
The hours lost to embarrassment are what turn a bad afternoon into a drained account. Here is the order to work in, and what is actually recoverable.
News
Google wants a video of your face. Skip it for now.
Google's new selfie sign-in is optional, stored on Google's servers, and easier to turn on than to undo. Five minutes on your recovery settings does more for you.
Learn
Make your phone stop ringing for robocalls
Your phone can send robocalls straight to voicemail, or make them say who they are first. Here is the five-minute setup on iPhone, Android, and Samsung.
Learn
What a Flock camera actually does
It photographs every car that passes, including yours. The argument your city council is having is about who gets to search the record.
News
Also this week: rival app stores, Siri's public beta, and rising phone prices
Four tech stories from this week that matter to everyday people, each in a sentence or two, with a link to whoever reported it well.
News
The Odyssey hit theaters Friday. The scams were ready by Monday.
Scam sites and a fake movie file appeared within hours of release. Two rules protect you, and neither needs technical skill.
Blog
AI tips for people who don't want to get left behind
The habits that make AI genuinely useful, written for regular people, not AI people. What to set up, what to watch out for, and why it works.
Learn
How to get a deepfake of you taken down
The full platform-by-platform companion to our deepfake explainer: where the real removal paths are, what each report form actually covers, and what to save before you file anything.
Learn
Shark fixed the vacuum flaw. Here's what yours knows about you.
A researcher pulled a live camera feed, a floor plan, and a Wi-Fi password off a Shark robot vacuum he didn't own. Shark hasn't fixed it. Here's what every robot vacuum collects, and what you can do about it.