Consumer Tips

Online Shopping Scams Hit a Third of Americans: How to Protect Yourself The holidays are prime time for hunting bargains online. But new data from the Pew Research Center should give any shopper pause: about a third of Americans say they’ve had an online shopping scam happen to them. With more people turning to social media, payment apps, and unfamiliar sellers for deals, the risk isn’t going away. Here’s what’s happening and how to shop smarter. ...

Canada Just Set a New AI Privacy Rule — Here’s What It Means for You In May 2026, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) issued a ruling that directly restricts how companies can use personal data to train artificial intelligence models. The decision requires companies to obtain explicit consent before using anyone’s personal information for AI training. While the ruling aims to strengthen consumer privacy, it has also sparked debate about its effects on AI development and the tools millions of people use daily. ...

How AI’s Data Habits Put Your Privacy at Risk—And What to Do About It Introduction If you’ve used ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, or Google Gemini in the past year, you’ve probably noticed how quickly these tools can answer questions, draft emails, or summarize documents. What’s less obvious is what happens to the information you feed them. A recent analysis by Computing UK argues that AI adoption has raced ahead of the data governance needed to keep personal information safe. For the average person, that gap creates real—if often invisible—risks. ...

1 in 3 Americans Have Experienced an Online Shopping Scam — Here’s How to Spot One Before You Lose Money The numbers are hard to ignore. In November 2025, the Pew Research Center reported that about a third of Americans say they’ve had an online shopping scam happen to them. For a country where nearly everyone buys something online at least a few times a year, that means millions of people have lost money, had their personal data stolen, or both. ...

1 in 3 Americans Have Fallen for an Online Shopping Scam: Here’s How to Protect Yourself Online shopping has become routine for most people, but it also comes with risks that are more common than many realize. New data from the Pew Research Center shows that about a third of Americans say they’ve personally experienced an online shopping scam. That figure is a reminder that fraud is not rare, and that basic precautions can make a real difference. ...

Watch for Mother’s Day Shopping Scams: How to Spot Fake Deals and Protect Your Money Mother’s Day spending is projected to hit record levels this year, which means more people are shopping online for gifts. Unfortunately, scammers know that too. They tend to ramp up fake deals, misleading ads, and phishing emails around seasonal spending spikes. This is a good time to review the common tactics they use and how to avoid losing money—or personal information—to a fraudulent seller. ...

AI Tools Are Getting Smarter — But Your Privacy Is Falling Behind If you’ve used a chatbot, image generator, or smart assistant lately, you’ve probably noticed how much more capable these tools have become. What you may not realize is that the companies behind them are racing ahead with AI while leaving privacy protections in the dust. A major new survey makes the gap plain: most organizations are adopting AI faster than they can build the safeguards needed to protect your personal data. ...

AI Adoption Outpaces Privacy Protections, New Survey Shows — What You Need to Know If you’ve used a chatbot, image generator, or voice assistant recently, you may have wondered what happens to the information you share. A new global survey from TrustArc, a privacy management company, suggests that concern is well founded: privacy safeguards across many organizations are not keeping up with how fast they are adopting artificial intelligence tools. ...

Shoppers’ Top AI Fear? Their Data Privacy — Here’s How to Protect Yourself Introduction If you’ve used a shopping assistant that suggests products, a chatbot that helps you compare prices, or a visual search tool that finds items from a photo, you’ve already stepped into the world of AI-powered shopping. These tools are convenient, but a recent study from eMarketer confirms what many consumers already suspect: data privacy is shoppers’ biggest fear when it comes to AI shopping, by a wide margin. The report found that privacy concerns far outrank other worries such as accuracy, cost, or even job displacement. For everyday shoppers, the question isn’t whether to use these tools—it’s how to use them without giving away more personal information than necessary. ...

Shoppers’ Top AI Fear? Privacy. Here’s What to Know and How to Protect Yourself Introduction If you’ve used an AI-powered shopping assistant—like ChatGPT to compare products, a retailer’s chatbot for recommendations, or Google Shopping’s AI summary—you’ve probably appreciated the convenience. But a new survey from eMarketer confirms what many consumers already suspect: data privacy is shoppers’ biggest AI shopping fear, by far. The survey, published in May 2026, found that concerns about how personal data is collected, used, and shared topped the list of worries, ahead of accuracy of recommendations and even cost. ...