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Can you stop AI companies from training on what you write?
The opt-out settings are real, they only work going forward, and they only bind companies that choose to honor them. What each one actually does, and the one place you have real power.
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Also this week: an Apple alert, a Comcast deadline, and a teen account nobody asked for
Apple warned the people it thinks are spyware targets and shipped an update the rest of us should install, the Comcast breach claim deadline moved to September 14, ChatGPT started sorting its own users by age, and four states put Meta on trial in Oakland.
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What is a CPSC product safety warning?
A second kind of safety notice has grown to a fifth of the total, and it comes with no refund. Here is what to check before you buy a charger, a power strip, or a power bank.
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What you own when your printer is on a subscription
Cancel the subscription and the cartridge stops working, ink and all. HP writes it down, and so do Brother, Canon and Epson. What the contracts say, and how to leave without a dead printer.
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Google is paying $68 million over Assistant recordings. Claims close 8/27.
The $18 to $56 estimate assumes almost nobody files. What the claim form actually asks for, which class needs a receipt, and why your Nest speaker is fine.
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Do you need antivirus on a Mac?
macOS already runs three layers of protection for free. What XProtect and Gatekeeper cover, the one rule that does more than any scanner, and who should still install something.
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Your library card is a subscription you already pay for
Free audiobooks, ebooks, and magazines on the phone already in your pocket. No card? You can probably fix that today without leaving home.
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Before you price hearing aids, take the test that came with your earbuds
AirPods Pro carry an FDA-authorized over-the-counter hearing aid for mild to moderate hearing loss, plus a free hearing test. What it does, what it does not do, and what Medicare covers.
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Also this week: a photo backup that quit, an FTC refund check, and new limits on license plate cameras
Google Drive stopped pushing your pictures into Google Photos on Monday, the FTC is sending $23.8 million in Grubhub refunds, Flock is tightening the rules on its license plate cameras, and Toyota is recalling half a million Camrys over a dashboard that goes blank.
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Do you need antivirus, or is Windows Defender enough?
Windows Defender is free, already on, and tests level with paid antivirus for most people. What the labs found, who should still pay, and how to cancel McAfee or get a Norton renewal refunded.
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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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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.