Online Safety

1 in 3 Americans Have Been Scammed Online Shopping: Here’s How to Protect Yourself A new report from the Pew Research Center, released in November 2025, confirms what many have suspected: online shopping scams are disturbingly common. Roughly one in three American adults say they have fallen victim to at least one online shopping scam. With holiday shopping already underway, this data is a timely reminder to slow down and check before you click. ...

Don’t Get Tricked: How to Spot Online Shopping Scams and Shop Safely Every year, scammers refine their tactics to separate shoppers from their money. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) regularly issues warnings to its community about these threats—advice that applies to anyone buying goods online. Whether you’re hunting for holiday deals or just restocking everyday items, understanding how fraudsters operate can save you time, money, and stress. ...

What Tech Experts Actually Buy to Protect Their Privacy from AI The sense that AI is quietly watching, recording, and profiting from our everyday lives has moved from a background anxiety to a tangible concern. A recent VICE article captured this mood by reporting on the specific tools and devices that privacy-conscious tech insiders are now purchasing to push back. The response is not about paranoia—it’s about practical defense. Here is what is happening, why it matters, and what you can do with about half an hour and a reasonable budget. ...

Tech Experts Share What They’re Buying to Stay Private from Creepy AI Intro Every year, AI systems get better at recognizing faces, understanding voice commands, and predicting our behavior. For many tech experts, this progress comes with a side of unease. The same tools that make our lives convenient also collect vast amounts of personal data — often without clear consent or meaningful control. ...

Privacy in the Age of AI: What Tech Experts Are Buying to Protect Their Data As artificial intelligence becomes embedded in more products—smartphones, search engines, photo editors, even toasters—the line between convenience and surveillance keeps blurring. A recent article in VICE titled “AI Is Getting Creepy—Here’s What Tech Experts Are Buying to Stay Private” taps into a growing unease: the tools we rely on are also the ones collecting massive amounts of personal data. Whether it’s your email provider scanning messages to train its chatbots or your photo app using facial recognition on uploaded images, the average user has less control than they might think. ...

AI Is Getting Too Personal? Here’s What Privacy Experts Actually Use to Stay Safe If you’ve recently used a chatbot, searched for a product online, or even just scrolled through social media, you’ve probably noticed that AI feels more attentive than before. It suggests messages, summarizes your emails, and sometimes seems to know what you were about to type. That attentiveness comes from data—your data—and it’s making more people uneasy. A recent VICE article highlighted that even tech experts, people who build and understand these systems, are quietly buying tools and adopting habits to limit how much personal information AI can grab. This article walks you through the same tools and habits they use, without the hype. ...

Privacy in the Age of AI: What Tech Experts Recommend Buying Intro If you’ve felt a creeping unease about how often your phone seems to listen, or how eerily accurate the ads are after a casual conversation, you’re not alone. AI-powered tools are now woven into everything from photo management to customer service, and with that convenience comes a steady erosion of privacy. ...

Is That Chrome Extension Safe? How to Spot a Backdoor Before It’s Too Late Installing a browser extension feels low-risk. A pop-up offers a convenient tool — a grammar checker, tab manager, or note taker — and with one click it’s added to Chrome. Most people never look at the permissions it requests. ...

Chrome Extensions Under Attack: How to Spot a Malicious Productivity Tool If you rely on Chrome extensions to manage tasks, take notes, or block distractions, you are not alone. Millions of users install these small pieces of software every week, trusting that the Chrome Web Store will keep them safe. But a growing number of attacks are exploiting that trust. Security researchers recently documented a pattern where seemingly useful productivity extensions are being used as backdoors into browsers – and from there, into corporate networks. ...

Don’t tell your AI chatbot these 5 things if you want to keep your money safe Chatbots like ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, and Claude have become go‑to tools for quick answers—including financial questions. But treating them like a private financial advisor can backfire. A Washington Post column recently highlighted specific types of information you should never share with an AI chatbot. Here’s what to avoid and why. ...