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The Hidden Danger in Your Browser: How Productivity Chrome Extensions Become Backdoors You probably installed a Chrome extension to save time—a grammar checker, a tab manager, a note-taking tool. It seemed harmless. But behind the convenience, a growing number of these extensions have been turning into backdoors for attackers. Once compromised, they can silently steal your passwords, read your email, or even hijack your online accounts. ...

One in Three Americans Has Been Scammed While Shopping Online: How to Stay Safe What Happened According to a November 2025 report from the Pew Research Center, about one in three U.S. adults say they have personally experienced an online shopping scam. That’s roughly 33% of Americans—a figure that underscores just how common these scams have become. The same survey found that younger adults, particularly those under 30, were even more likely to report being targeted, though no age group is immune. ...

Your local police may be using AI surveillance—here’s what you need to know Earlier this month, the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office announced it was expanding its use of AI-powered surveillance cameras across the county. The new system, supplied by Flock Safety, adds automatic license plate readers and video analytics to dozens of intersections and public spaces. Facial recognition software is also part of the mix, according to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. ...

What Wirecutter’s 2026 To-Do List App Picks Mean for Your Productivity Every year, Wirecutter—the product review site owned by The New York Times—publishes an updated list of the best to-do list apps. Their most recent roundup, from late 2025, is still the benchmark for mid-2026, as no major changes to the top picks have been announced since then. But rather than simply telling you which three apps to download, it’s worth understanding what makes those choices useful and how you can apply the same thinking to any task manager you consider. ...

Is That Chrome Extension Spying on You? How to Spot a Backdoored Tool You probably have a handful of Chrome extensions running right now. Maybe an ad blocker, a password manager, or a tab organizer to keep your work sessions sane. What if one of them quietly started collecting your login credentials, reading your email, or exfiltrating business documents—just because its developer sold it to someone else? This scenario is more common than most people realize, and it has become a standard tactic for attackers targeting both individuals and companies. ...

Police Are Using AI Surveillance: What It Means for Your Privacy A Florida sheriff’s recent expansion of AI-powered surveillance has drawn attention to how law enforcement agencies across the country are quietly adopting these tools. The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office announced plans to add new artificial intelligence capabilities to its existing camera network, raising questions about what data is collected, how it’s used, and what rights residents have. ...

The Best To-Do List Apps of 2026: Wirecutter’s Picks, Plus Privacy Checks Every year, The New York Times’ Wirecutter team tests and updates its recommendations for to-do list apps. Their 2026 picks are out, and they remain a solid starting point for anyone looking to get organized. But there’s a catch: the apps we trust with our daily tasks often ask for permissions that touch our contacts, calendars, and even email. Before you download one of these recommended tools, it’s worth understanding what you’re signing up for in terms of data privacy and account security. ...

Your “Productivity” Chrome Extension Might Be a Backdoor: What to Do Now You’ve probably installed a handful of Chrome extensions to save time: a grammar checker, a note-taking tool, a file converter, a password manager. Many of these are genuine. But a growing body of security research shows that some extensions that look like harmless productivity aids are actually being used as backdoors into people’s browsers—and sometimes into entire company networks. ...

5 Things You Should Never Tell Your AI Chatbot (to Keep Your Money Safe) AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude are convenient tools for drafting emails, brainstorming ideas, or summarizing documents. But their usefulness can lead to a false sense of privacy. People often treat chatbot conversations like a private diary, forgetting that anything typed may be stored, reviewed, or even used to train future models. ...

Best To-Do List Apps of 2026 That Actually Protect Your Privacy A to-do list app seems like one of the safest tools you can use. You type out tasks, check them off, and move on. But behind the interface, many of these apps collect more data than you might expect: timestamps of when you work, location data, notes you jot down, and even the names of projects. In an era of frequent data breaches and aggressive app tracking, the privacy practices of a simple task manager deserve a closer look. ...