Welcome to your Thursday, friend.Let's rewind your streaming history for a sec, back to the year 2000, when Netflix was a scrappy DVD-by-mail service looking for a home, like maybe somewhere in a Blockbuster. So the founders made an offer. Blockbuster laughed them out of the room. And you know how that story ended.
📼 How much did Netflix offer to sell itself for in 2000? A) $1 million, B) $10 million, C) $50 million or D) $500 million? Take a shot, and imagine being the exec who said "nah." The answer is buffering at the end.
🧵 This newsletter exists because of you. Every forward, every reply, every "not spam" click keeps this going. I know your inbox is crowded, and I know your time is valuable. That's exactly why I work so hard to earn my spot in it. — Kim
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TODAY'S DEEP DIVE
Take that, snitchers!
Image: ChatGPT
⚡ TL;DR (THE SHORT VERSION)
Five popular apps are tracking your driving and selling the info to insurance companies.
The data goes to Arity, owned by Allstate, which sells driving scores to jack up your premiums.
I'll share steps to shut them down and get your own driving score from LexisNexis.
📖 Read time: 2 minutes
Larry Johnson in Atlanta installed Life360 to keep tabs on his teenage kids. Good parenting, right?
Then he got quoted insane car insurance rates. When he pushed back, he learned the truth. That family safety app had been tracking every turn, every hard brake, every mile his family drove, and it sold all that information to insurance companies.
Larry had no clue. Neither do the 45 million other Americans getting spied on right now.
📱 The 5 apps (go check your phone)
Life360: The family tracker. Selling your driving data to Arity, which is owned by Allstate. Yeah, that Allstate.
GasBuddy: That feature rating your fuel efficiency? It's powered by Arity. Surprise.
MyRadar: Innocent little weather app. Same tracking garbage hidden inside.
Fuel Rewards: Saving you 3 cents a gallon while selling you out.
Routely: Marketed to gig workers. Monetizing your every mile.
Insurance companies buy driving scores based on your speed, braking and routes. Then they use them to raise your rates. You never agreed to this. You never even knew.
🛡️ Shut them down
iPhone:Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services. Find the offenders. Change them to "Never" or "While using." Tap each one and toggle OFF "Precise location."
Android:Settings > Location > App permissions > [App Name]. Choose "Don't allow" or "Allow only while using the app."
Or delete them. GasBuddy isn't worth your insurance jumping $300 a year.
🔍 See what they know about you
You can request your driving report like you pull a credit report. It's free once a year. You might be shocked at what's already in your file.
LexisNexis is the big one. Insurance companies use them constantly to check your history before giving you a quote.
Click the red rectangle marked "Request a Consumer Disclosure Report."
Fill out the form with your name, address, date of birth, SSN and driver's license number. Yes, you need to give them all that info to confirm it's you. They have it already.
They'll mail you instructions to access your report online.
Rather talk to a human? Call 1-888-497-0011.
Your report will show what driving data they have on file, any claims history and who they've shared it with. If something's wrong, you have the legal right to dispute it under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Same rules as your credit report.
These apps promised to keep your family safe or save you a few bucks on gas. Instead, they've been selling your every move to the highest bidder.
Check your phone. Pull your report. Delete the snitches.
🚘 These apps shared your data without asking. Now it's your turn to share something, this story. Someone in your life is getting spied on and has no idea. Use the icons below.
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🎧 Or search "Komando" wherever you get your podcasts. I'm everywhere.
WEB WATERCOOLER
📅 Don't save the date: Here's a new nightmare. Researchers found a way to trick Google's Gemini into leaking private calendar info without you clicking anything. I'm talking meeting titles, times, descriptions, attendee lists, basically the stuff that screams merger, layoffs, doctor or divorce lawyer consultation. The hack hides a prompt inside a calendar invite. When you ask Gemini to check upcoming events, it summarizes your private meetings into a new event the attacker can see. Google says it's patched, but still. Don't let AI auto-read your calendar, and treat random invites like spam.
Algorithm on trial: I don't know how we got here as a society, but a mom in Delaware is suing TikTok after her 17-year-old son died trying to master the viral Blackout Challenge (paywall link) by tying his jiujitsu belt to his bunk bed and choking himself. She's joined other families saying the For You algorithm pushes dangerous content to kids. TikTok says it bans and removes 99% of that stuff before it's reported, hoping the lawsuit gets tossed under free speech laws. Nothing says safe app like a judge deciding.
Mini-me: Your YouTube Shorts feed might get a lot weirder fast. Creators will be able to make Shorts using AI versions (paywall link) of their own faces or voices sometime this year and spin up a bunch of content. YouTube is also adding AI gaming tools and music experiment features. And yeah, execs are trying to reassure us the platform will still fight low‑quality, repetitive junk. Good luck with that.
🧃 Cherry‑picked irony: So ChatGPT is about to start showing ads to free and $8 Go users, on purpose, not by accident. Told ya. Google's answer? Gemini won't have ads, for now. Google's bosses think plastering ads on AI responses early feels weird. That's peachy coming from Google, who's never stuffed an ad anywhere ever. ChatGPT says ads won't mess with your answers or show up in sensitive topics. Soon: paying extra not to see ads about paying extra.
Sidekick or shadow: You might get a new best friend, whether you like it or not. Microsoft's AI chief Mustafa Suleyman says Copilot is on track to evolve from recipe buddy to emotional support bot tracking your sleep, mood swings, weekend plans and more. It's part weird live-in life coach, part monitored surveillance. Microsoft's not spitballing here. Copilot's already leveling up its memory, screen awareness and personalized routines. You might be a guinea pig for automated codependence, but hey, at least it won't forget your birthday.
📎 Scranton hits Fortnite: You ever see a brand collab and think, "Who approved this?" Fortnite, the game your kids yell at while you're trying to remember your Apple ID password, teased The Office by posting beets and the line "Build. Beets. Battle Royale." No launch date, no trailer, just a beet pic sending two wildly intense fan clubs into a spiral. Fortnite turns collabs into big bucks, as they've done with Marvel and Star Wars, and it looks like they're about to do it again. You've been warned.
THE KIM KOMANDO SHOW
The trillion-dollar space war
Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk are battling for control of the internet from space. I break down who's winning and why China just filed to launch 200,000 satellites. Plus, I talk to a woman sent to jail by an AI deepfake, a man's creepy smart glasses sex tape and how to automate your emails with ChatGPT.
Low tire light? No prob. Inflates in about a min and hits up to 160 PSI. That's plenty for SUVs, bikes and light trucks. The built-in gauge is easy to read, even in the dark.
Image: Modari
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Cargo control: The sturdy base of this trunk organizer(24% off, $13) keeps it upright. Your groceries, tools and sports gear can stop sliding.
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That "new car" smell: Clip in an air freshener(38% off, $11), so your car smells less … lived-in. Choose from 14 scents, like peach or lavender.
🧼 Grossly effective: Press this cleaning gel(25% off, $6) into the cracks, vents and buttons that wipes can't reach. Oddly satisfying.
Gas up your cart: Tap for 25 more upgrades that make every drive easier.
Prices and deals were accurate at the time of publication.
DEVICE ADVICE
⚡️ 3-second tech genius: On Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge, you can see all your open tabs at once. Press Ctrl + Shift + A on Windows or Cmd + Shift + A on Mac. You can search the list or type a word to jump straight to a tab. Bonus: This shortcut also shows your recently closed tabs.
Check your phone subscriptions: Those free apps you downloaded a while back might have turned into monthly charges in the background. On iPhone, open Settings > Your Name > Subscriptions and cancel anything you're not using. On Android, open the Play Store > Profile Picture > Payments & subscriptions > Subscriptions.
🤔 Stuck writing a birthday card? It's always hard to find the right words. If you're going blank, open a chatbotand tell it who the card is for. Include their age, how you know them and maybe a personality trait, inside joke or shared memory. Then ask it to draft a short personal message. Works for anniversaries and other special occasions, too. Stay ahead by signing up for my weekly AI cheat sheet, launching soon!
Rename all your files at once on Mac: Renaming files one by one is a waste of time. Good news is Finder has a batch rename feature. Select all the files you want, right-click and choose Rename. Pick a new name like "screenshots," and macOS will automatically number the rest for you.
See your text cursor easily: If you often find yourself losing track of where you're typing in a long document, Windows has a built-in fix. Open Settings > Accessibility > Text cursor and turn on Text cursor indicator. You can change the color and size, so it stands out wherever you're typing, even in other apps.
🎧 Stop paying the brand tax: Big tech companies charge you extra just for their logo. I prefer Raycon. You get the same rich sound, deep bass and noise isolation as the expensive pairs, but for half the price. I rely on them for my daily walks and calls. Be a smart shopper. Use my link to save 20% sitewide right now.*
WHAT THE TECH?
Image: Xinhua News
🦾 RoboCop says, 'No!'
Good news, drivers. This RoboCop isn't coming for you. It's going after cyclists and pedestrians, the folks who treat traffic laws more like gentle suggestions.
The Chinese city of Wuhu deployed a humanoid traffic robot that monitors bike lanes and crosswalks with HD cameras. It syncs its arm movements to the traffic lights. And when you mess up? It announces your violation over a loudspeaker for everyone nearby to hear.
No ticket. No fine. Just public shame, delivered by a robot.
Today it's a scolding. Tomorrow it's lasers. Progress!
LOGGING OUT …
Tomorrow: You may have a small fortune in your junk drawer. I'm not talking about the coins rolling around in there. Your old gear, phones and video games could bring in some serious cash. I'll tell you what vintage tech is worth and the best places to sell it.
The answer: C) $50 million. Yep, Netflix offered itself up for the cost of a sleepy franchise fee, and Blockbuster said hard pass, go away. Fast-forward: Netflix is now worth over $250 billion. Blockbuster? There's one store left. In Bend, Oregon. It does solid tourist traffic and sells merch like "Be Kind, Rewind" T-shirts.
Fun fact: You can spend the night inside it through Airbnb. In theory. It looks sold out.
I'll never forget when I got carded at the liquor store. While I was looking for my ID in my wallet my Blockbuster card fell out onto the counter. The guy started laughing and said, "Never mind." (lol)
🎛️ Now, go forth and adjust your settings. You control the brightness of your day. — Kim
Kim Komando • Komando.com • 510+ radio stations • Trusted by millions daily
Companies and products denoted by an asterisk (*) within this publication are paid sponsors or advertisements. As an Amazon Associate, the publisher earns from qualifying purchases. Statements regarding products denoted by a double asterisk (**) have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration; such products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. This newsletter is provided for informational and entertainment purposes only and does not constitute legal, financial, medical, or professional advice of any kind. Readers should consult with a qualified professional before making any decisions based on this content. The publisher disclaims all liability for any loss, damage, or injury resulting from the use of or reliance on the information contained herein.
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Keep a civil tongue.