| The Current Plus: Gmail scam, $40 a month for X, smarter PC shutdown ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏  | | Hello on this fabulous Wednesday, friend! Question for you: What does Rick Astley, an iPad and your digital afterlife have in common? Zugu's $1,500 "In Case of Death Case" includes an M4 iPad Pro, a protective case, and a pulse-detecting smart ring. If your heart stops, the ring triggers an app to erase your data, post a farewell message on your social media accounts and Rick roll your loved ones on repeat. Yikes! Your loved ones will certainly want to give you up! 🌐 Every day, I visit at least 40 different sources to bring you only the top tech news and tips that matter to your life. I hope you take away something today that makes you glad you subscribed. I bet you do! — Kim 📣 Don't keep me a secret: Share this email with friends (or copy URL here) | TODAY'S TOP STORY Selling you out  Shocker! Another Communist China company was caught red-handed. DeepSeek AI shares user data with TikTok's parent company, ByteDance. The BBC reports countries worldwide are yanking it from app stores, and I bet we'll see bans here roll out soon. Here's the bigger issue. AI chatbots are always on, always listening and always collecting data. Some are sneakier than others, but make no mistake, if you're using them, they're using you. The real question is: How much of your data are they scooping up, and where is it going? Who's collecting what? I combed through the vague, confusing privacy policies so you don't have to. Links included, though, if you're curious and want to read legalese. ChatGPT: Data collected includes your prompts, devices and when and where you're chatting from. Oh and they might give it to "vendors and service providers." Microsoft Copilot: Any interaction can be logged and used to target ads. The bot sees where you are when you use it, too. Google Gemini: Your chats, location and how you use Gemini are logged. Your chats might be reviewed by Google staff. Google promises this is to improve Gemini, not to sell ads (for now). DeepSeek: All your conversations, locations and typing patterns are saved. These can be shared with advertisers, other agencies and, presumably, the Chinese government and other companies. Yikes. Qwen: Another Chinese AI that saves everything from your location to your chat history. Qwen can link all this up with data bought from "third party agencies." Yes, they're buying even more info about you. So, what's the verdict? No one comes out of this with a gold star. Gemini is probably the safest for now. It's separate from Google's ad business and they do at least give you controls, like auto-deleting chats. If they're all "meh" the privacy scale, it's up to you to keep your data safe. - Watch what you say: Never share business secrets, passwords or anything personal. Assume everything you type is stored somewhere.
- Use a browser, not an app: Apps can track way more data, including precise location. A browser in incognito or private mode limits tracking and cookies.
- Tweak your settings: ChatGPT lets you disable chat history so your conversations aren't used for AI training. Gemini lets you auto-delete chats.
- Avoid logging in when possible: Some chatbots work without an account, reducing how much they can track. Use a Guest login, too.
👨🏼💻 Tech nerd alert: Did you know you can run your AI chatbot locally? That means nothing you type goes back to the big AI company servers. Hit my site for more. 💡 Word of the day: "Zuckerberg" is what you call a person who does not respect your privacy. | THE CURRENT POWERED BY KIM KOMANDO She's the Bluetooth lady Every time you fail to pair your phone, she's there: "Device not found." Meet Kristen DiMercurio, the voice of Bluetooth. Listen on Komando.com → | | IN PARTNERSHIP WITH |  | Remarkably clear sound Being left out of the conversation stinks. If you or someone you love keeps repeating, "Huh?" or "What was that?" it's time to check out hearing aids. The Horizon IX hearing aids include two state-of-the-art computer chips for the clearest sound possible. They process speech and background noise independently, then recombine them for crystal-clear audio. They're also rechargeable, comfortable and you can control them with an app right from your phone. With hear.com's extensive network of U.S. audiologists and convenient online consultations, they're available wherever you are. Join over 540,000 happy customers who can hear better thanks to these game-changing hearing aids. Claim your free consultation today! → Please support our sponsors! | WEB WATERCOOLER 🚨 Gmail scam spreading: If you get a phone call saying your Gmail's been hacked, hang up. It's a scammer trying to get you to enter in your login credentials at a website that looks just like Google. Never stops. Elon Musk's Grok-3 AI is here: He says "reasoning" is why his model is better than ChatGPT, Gemini and DeepSeek. It's not free. xAI's Premium Plus subscription is $40 a month, up from $22. The SuperGrok standalone plan is $30. I tried it. Saying it's 10x times better is a crock. 🤑 MrBeast earned how much? A screenshot showed $4.2 million in earnings after racking up 2.6 billion views in 28 days on YouTube. That's more than $50 million a year. What a great American success story! 🍏 It's Apple launch day: They're rolling out a new iPhone SE without the old home button, revamped AirTags with a longer range and a speaker that's harder to remove. Watch it live on Apple's YouTube channel at 10 a.m. PT (1 p.m. ET). While you're at it, don't forget to subscribe to mine, too. Forever ends now: Starting today, your Facebook live videos will only be stored for 30 days and then, they'll be deleted. This also means if you have any videos older than 30 days, they're off to the intergalactic bit bucket gone forever. Until now, your live videos were stored forever. ✅ 50% off alert: My home security pick, SimpliSafe, is having a massive sale. I love their new Active Guard technology that alerts you before a break-in happens. You don't need to live in fear or worry about burglars when you're not home. Get all the gear to lock down your home for half off.* iSpy: A private detective took to social media to spill one of the tricks of the trade. He says if someone comes to your door looking for help with a lost pet, it's just a ploy to see your face and verify you're home. 🚢 Captains make ship happen: Barry walks around our boat with a special remote to dock it. So smart. Yamaha's Helm Master EX's new handheld remote control looks like a Wii controller. It works with a slew of fishing boats and cruisers and powers off the engines if someone falls overboard. Watch it in action now. | DEALS OF THE DAY They just work Warning: You're going to love each one. - Slice your kitchen clean-up time. Clip on a silicone strainer (35% off) that fits pots and pans of many sizes.
- Give your pricey leather some love with a cleaner spray (17% off) so it won't crack and fade.
- Bissell's Little Green cleaner works on your car, carpets, furniture and anything else. Rare this thing is under $100!
- Oops, forget your power brick? Plug in your USB cable directly into a power strip ($17).
- Wake up without bags under your eyes with these overnight patches ($10).
👋 I'm never ironing again: A handheld steam iron ($119) is so much easier. Yeah, it's a splurge but the cheapo ones don't get the job done. Hit the coupon box for 20% off! | DIGITAL LIFE HACK TV myths you need to stop believing Hmm, 4K always looks better? Leaving your TV on saves it? Pricey HDMI cables improve quality? Nah. Listen on Komando.com → | TECH LIFE UPGRADES Turn it off and on again like a boss: There's a better way to reboot your grumpy PC that shuts down all the background processes. Before you click to restart, hold down the Shift key. Keep holding until the machine powers up, then click Continue. 👀 This is auto-installed on most Androids: Go to Settings > Apps > See all apps and search for SafetyCore. It's the app that checks for NSFW content in photos. Delete it if you don't want it. Wake me up before you go go: iPhone alarm being finicky? Check these settings. In Settings > Sounds & Haptic, turn the alarm slider all the way up. Under Settings > Focus, make sure Sleep is off. Not right now! Open the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad, then scroll and tap Siri & Search. Tap Listen for and select Off. You can also turn off Allow Siri When Locked to prevent Siri from activating if a button's pressed in your pocket. Ban these buzzwords from your LinkedIn profile: "Specialized," "focused," "strategic," "experienced," "passionate," "creative" and innovative." The hot term now is "high agency." Hiring? Use my link to post a job free to LinkedIn's huge network.* Always impresses me that this is free: DaVinci Resolve is pro-grade video editing software you can download and use for free. There are tons of training videos here if you want to learn new tricks. | BY THE NUMBERS 10% Price increase for Acer laptops next month. Why? CEO Jason Chen says new tariffs are raising import taxes. Now those get passed along to me and you. If you've been thinking about upgrading, hurry. 30 seconds Time after a distraction ends before drivers refocus. Researchers found glancing at your phone for five seconds really takes your attention off the road for 35. Next time you're in a car with a younger driver, count to 35 and tell them this fact. 5,000 year old Mummies smell woody, spicy and sweet. That's what a team of human sniffers (yes, it's a real job) say. Ancient Egyptians used special waxes and balms to keep their pharaohs and nobles smelling nice. BO in the afterlife was a sign of corruption. I heard they also liked wrap music. | WHAT THE TECH?  Motorola's $450 Razr phone is here. I'm gonna leave it in 2004 where it belongs. | UNTIL NEXT TIME ... We started with death. Let's end with a new life. 👶 Have any little ones in the family or coming soon? Alongside all the other things to do before baby arrives, add this: Secure their usernames. Gmail and Instagram are the big ones. The idea is you don't want your teenager to go looking for their name and find it's already taken. Some parents post pics of the kiddo as they grow up. Cute idea, just make sure it's set to private.
I'd make a joke about newborns, but the delivery would be too painful. (Oh, I heard you groan all the way here in Phoenix!)
🫶 Thanks for letting me in your inbox. If you laughed, learned something new or thought, "Oh crap, I need to change that setting," do me a solid and share this email with a pal. See you tomorrow with the best tech newsletter in the USA! — Kim | How'd we do? What did you think of today's issue? | | |
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