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Is Your Chrome Extension Spying on You? How Productivity Tools Become Backdoors You probably have a handful of Chrome extensions you rely on daily—a password manager, an ad blocker, a note-taking tool, maybe a grammar checker. They’re small, convenient, and easy to install. But what if one of them was secretly logging your keystrokes, reading your email, or sending your corporate credentials to a third party? It happens more often than you might think. ...

5 Things You Should Never Tell Your AI Chatbot to Protect Your Finances AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude are now part of daily life for millions of people. They can draft emails, summarize documents, and answer questions about almost anything. But as these tools become more integrated into our routines, a serious privacy risk has emerged: oversharing financial information. ...

5 things you should never tell your AI chatbot (to protect your money) AI chatbots are convenient. They can draft emails, summarize articles, help with travel plans, and even offer financial advice. But the ease of conversation can lead to oversharing—and that can be costly. A recent column in The Washington Post drew attention to five categories of personal information that should never be handed over to a chatbot, no matter how helpful it seems. Below is a summary of the advice, along with context on why it matters and what you can do instead. ...

Avoid Online Shopping Scams This Holiday Season: What You Need to Know The holiday season is prime time for online shopping—and, unfortunately, for scammers looking to take advantage of rushed buyers. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), reported fraud losses in the United States hit $12.5 billion in 2024, a significant jump from previous years. Impersonation scams, where fraudsters pose as well-known retailers, delivery services, or even friends, were among the top categories. ...

Five Things You Should Never Tell an AI Chatbot About Your Money AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Google Bard, and others have become everyday tools for quick answers, writing help, and even financial advice. Their convenience is hard to beat. But there’s a catch: these tools are not designed to keep your secrets safe. Recent incidents and expert warnings — including a Washington Post column, a Reader’s Digest piece, and a BBC report showing how easily chatbots can be hacked — make clear that sharing certain types of information with a chatbot can put your money and identity at risk. ...

The Best To-Do List Apps of 2026—and How to Keep Your Tasks Secure Every year, Wirecutter (the product review service owned by The New York Times) publishes its picks for the best to-do list apps. Their 2026 roundup is no exception, covering three apps that stand out for features, reliability, and ease of use. If you follow their recommendations, you’ll probably get a solid tool for managing your daily tasks. ...

Holiday shopping scams are on the rise: How to protect your money and identity The holiday shopping season is a prime opportunity for scammers. With more people buying gifts online, scammers ramp up their efforts with fake websites, phishing texts, and too-good-to-be-true deals. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), reported fraud losses hit $12.5 billion in 2024 — a record high. And the holiday months typically see a spike in reports. ...

5 things you should never tell a chatbot if you want to keep your money safe AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Meta AI have become everyday tools for drafting emails, planning meals, and even managing personal finances. But as their popularity has grown, so have concerns about what happens to the information you share. Recent reports, including a Washington Post column on chatbot safety, alongside a BBC investigation that showed how easily a researcher could extract data from these systems, make one thing clear: chatbots are not private vaults. ...

The Best To-Do List Apps That Also Protect Your Privacy (2026 Edition) A to-do list app might seem like an unlikely vector for a data breach. But the tasks you record often contain personal details—work projects, medical appointments, financial reminders, even passwords you jot down as placeholders. If that data lives in the cloud, its security depends on the app’s infrastructure and policies, not just your own habits. ...

Don’t let scammers ruin your holiday shopping: What to watch for this season The holiday shopping season is a busy time for everyone—including fraudsters. With more transactions happening online, and many shoppers pressed for time, scammers have plenty of chances to exploit the rush. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently reported that Americans lost a record $12.5 billion to fraud in 2024, and online shopping scams are a major driver of those losses. Whether you’re buying gifts, hunting for deals, or just restocking household items, it’s worth taking a few minutes to learn about the latest tactics and how to avoid them. ...