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The Best To-Do List Apps for 2026: Wirecutter’s Picks for Privacy and Productivity A good to-do list app can be the backbone of your daily workflow. But with so many options, choosing one that is both effective and respectful of your privacy has become harder than it should be. Wirecutter, the product review arm of The New York Times, published its annual review of to-do list apps in late 2025. After testing over 30 apps across multiple platforms, the team narrowed the field to three top recommendations. Their criteria went beyond features and ease of use: security and data handling were given equal weight. ...

That Urgent Google Notification Might Be a Scam—Here’s How to Tell You’re checking your email or browsing the web when a notification pops up: “Security alert – unusual sign-in detected” or “Your Google account will be suspended in 24 hours.” It looks official—Google logo, familiar fonts, even a link that starts with “accounts.google.com.” But that link might not lead where you think. ...

Social media scams are surging: How to protect yourself from fraud Americans lost billions to social media scams last year, according to recent reporting from ConsumerAffairs. Fraudsters are increasingly moving from email and phone calls to platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, where they can create fake profiles, hack trusted accounts, and reach millions of people with minimal effort. If you use social media, you’ve probably already seen the signs—a too-good-to-be-true listing for a new iPhone, a sudden message from a “friend” asking for money, or an ad promising quick cash. Learning to recognize these tactics is the best way to keep your money and identity safe. ...

Is That Chrome Extension Safe? How “Productivity Tools” Turn Into Backdoors You download a note-taking extension because it looks clean, has good reviews, and promises to save you time. A week later, your email account is used to send spam, or worse, someone logs into your bank. This isn’t a hypothetical scenario. Over the past year, security researchers have documented dozens of Chrome extensions that started as harmless utilities and later turned into data-stealing backdoors. ...

1 in 3 Americans Hit by an Online Shopping Scam: How to Protect Yourself This Season Intro A new report from Pew Research Center puts a number on something many of us have suspected: online shopping scams are widespread. According to the study published in November 2025, about one in three Americans say they have experienced an online shopping scam. That’s a large share of the population, and with holiday shopping season in full swing, the risk only increases. ...

Is That Chrome Extension Safe? How Productivity Tools Can Hide Backdoors Browser extensions promise convenience and efficiency. A grammar checker, a tab manager, a note-taking helper—they seem harmless enough. But over the past year, security researchers have documented a growing number of cases where popular “productivity” extensions turned out to be Trojan horses. Attackers have found ways to compromise these tools, turning them into backdoors that can steal data, deploy malware, and persist inside enterprise networks. ...

Which To-Do List Apps Actually Respect Your Privacy? Every year, product review sites like Wirecutter publish their picks for the best to-do list apps. Their recent roundup of the top three for 2026—Todoist, TickTick, and Things 3—is a good starting point if you’re looking to get organized. But if you’ve been paying attention to how apps handle your data, you might wonder: does using one of these mean handing over details about your daily tasks, habits, and even your location? ...

How to Spot the Latest Google Scam That Looks Legitimate A new phishing campaign impersonating Google has been making the rounds, and it’s unusually convincing. Victims receive emails or pop-ups that appear to come directly from Google, complete with official logos and messages about account suspension. If you click the link, you’re taken to a login page that looks identical to the real thing—but every credential you type goes straight to scammers. ...

1 in 3 Americans Hit by Online Shopping Scams: How to Protect Yourself This Holiday Season The holiday shopping season is in full swing. Black Friday and Cyber Monday are almost here, and retailers are pushing deals across every channel. But scammers are working just as hard. A new survey from the Pew Research Center, released in November 2025, found that approximately one in three U.S. adults say they have experienced an online shopping scam. That’s a striking figure, and it ought to give anyone pause before clicking “buy.” ...

Don’t Fall for This Convincing Google Scam: What to Watch For Scammers have gotten better at copying Google’s official pages, and a new wave of these fakes is circulating right now. They look nearly identical to real login screens and security alerts, which makes them particularly dangerous for anyone who uses Gmail, Google Drive, Google Ads, or other services. ...