Digital Privacy

How AI Could Put Your Bank Accounts and Privacy at Risk—and What to Do About It Intro Artificial intelligence is no longer just a tool for productivity or entertainment. It has become a weapon for scammers—one that targets your bank account and your personal privacy with alarming precision. Recent reporting from Kiplinger highlights how AI is being used to bypass traditional security measures, making it harder than ever to tell a legitimate message from a fraud. Understanding these new threats is the first step to protecting yourself. ...

Online Shopping Scams Are Still Common: What to Watch For Every year, millions of Americans shop online for everything from groceries to gifts. The convenience is real, but so are the risks. Scammers have become skilled at impersonating legitimate stores, payment portals, and even government agencies. Recent warnings from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) remind us that these threats aren’t going away. Whether you’re a frequent online shopper or just browsing occasionally, knowing how to spot a scam is the best way to protect your money and personal data. ...

How to Spot and Avoid Online Shopping Scams: Tips to Stay Safe Online shopping scams are not new, but they become more frequent and sophisticated during seasonal sales and holidays. Government agencies, including the VA News and the FDIC, have issued repeated warnings in recent years. In January 2026, VA News published an alert titled “Watch out for scams and stay safe while online shopping,” reinforcing a message that remains relevant year-round. Consumers lose billions of dollars annually to fraudulent websites, phishing offers, and payment scams. Understanding the common tactics and knowing how to verify a seller can make the difference between a good deal and a costly mistake. ...

Don’t Get Tricked While Shopping Online: Spot Scams and Stay Safe Online shopping is convenient, but scammers are getting smarter. Every year, consumers lose millions to fake deals, phishing emails, and bogus websites that look just like the real thing. The threat is serious enough that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has published several alerts to help shoppers—especially veterans and older adults—stay safe. Whether you’re buying gifts, household goods, or services, a few simple precautions can save you money and stress. ...

1 in 3 Americans Hit by an Online Shopping Scam – Here’s How to Stay Safe If you’ve ever clicked on a too-good-to-be-true deal and ended up with nothing but a lost payment, you’re far from alone. According to a November 2025 Pew Research Center survey, about a third of Americans say they’ve had an online shopping scam happen to them. That’s roughly 33 percent of U.S. adults — a reminder that fraudulent sellers and fake storefronts have become a routine part of the digital marketplace. ...

Hedy AI Launches On-Device Processing: A Private Alternative to Cloud AI If you’ve used an AI assistant like ChatGPT, Gemini, or Copilot, you’ve likely sent your questions, documents, or voice recordings to a remote server. That’s how most AI tools work today: your data leaves your device, gets processed in the cloud, and then the result comes back. For many people, that exchange raises legitimate privacy concerns—especially after years of data breaches and revelations about how tech companies use personal information. ...

Hedy AI Brings AI to Your Phone, Not the Cloud: What That Means for Your Privacy Every time you ask a cloud-based AI assistant a question, a copy of that conversation—your words, sometimes your voice, occasionally your location or contacts—travels to a remote server. For many people, that exchange is the price of convenience. But a growing number of users are uneasy with the idea of feeding their private questions and documents into servers run by companies they don’t fully trust. ...

1 in 3 Americans Has Been Scammed While Shopping Online. Here’s How to Protect Yourself According to a recent report from the Pew Research Center, about a third of Americans say they’ve had an online shopping scam happen to them. That figure—roughly 33 percent of U.S. adults—is a stark reminder that fraudulent sellers and fake websites are not rare outliers. They are a routine hazard of buying goods over the internet. ...

How to Use AI Tools Safely on Windows: A Privacy & Access Guide for 2026 AI assistants, image generators, and productivity tools are now part of everyday Windows use. Microsoft’s Copilot is integrated into the operating system, and third-party AI apps are available through the Microsoft Store and browsers. A Microsoft study from early 2026 reported that 80 percent of Fortune 500 companies are using active AI agents, indicating how quickly these tools have become standard. ...

WhatsApp Just Added an ‘Incognito’ Mode for AI Chats – Here’s How to Use It In mid-May 2026, Meta began rolling out a new privacy control for WhatsApp users: an “incognito” mode specifically for conversations with the app’s built-in AI chatbot. The move comes as more people interact with generative AI inside messaging apps and as regulators and users alike ask tougher questions about how chat data is used. ...