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Location tracking: Your unsolicited life memoir
Think you’re off the grid? Think again. Your phone is basically a chatty little informant. While you were living your life, grabbing coffee, sneaking off for that totally relaxing solo cabin trip, it was logging every move like a nosy aunt with a snooping addiction.
It’s all tucked inside a setting most people have never touched. Note: I tested the steps below, but depending on your make, model and operating system, the steps may differ a bit.
📍 Team iPhone
On your iPhone, go to: Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services > System Services > Significant Locations
Yep, it’s buried deep.
Once you’re in, you’ll see a full list of cities and addresses you’ve visited, complete with time stamps and maps. Apple says this helps features like Maps and Photos “learn places significant to you.” Translation: They know when you went to brunch and how long you stayed.
💡 Want to clear it? You can.
Scroll down and tap “Clear History” or toggle it off at the top. Just know: You’ll lose some personalized features like traffic predictions or location-based reminders.
🗺️ Team Android
If you’ve ever used Google Maps, there’s a timeline of your movements, too, all tied to your Google account across devices.
Check yours: Open maps.google.com/timeline. Or in the Google Maps app, tap your profile photo > Your timeline. You’ll see routes, modes of travel and photos … all time-stamped, curated and a little unsettling.
Want more control? Inside Your timeline, tap More (three dots) > Location & privacy settings. You can delete parts of your history or pause tracking altogether.
Don’t panic, shopper
🛟 From power outages to self-defense, you’ll want this gear.
- Stay charged up and get alerts with a hand-crank radio (17% off).
- A smoke & carbon monoxide detector (25% off) lets you act fast.
- Roadside trouble? Keep a car safety tool ($29) in your glove box.
- This first aid kit ($40) has everything for bumps, cuts and burns.
- Clip one of these personal alarm sirens ($19) to your key chain.
- The meals in this emergency food bucket (5% off) last 25 years.
🚨 Don’t stop now: Stock up smart with more emergency must-haves on my page to stay prepped for anything.
We may earn a commission from purchases, but our recommendations are always objective.
Why you can’t focus and 3 sneaky fixes that work
Work got beef with your focus?
You’re not imagining it, according to Microsoft, employees get interrupted every two minutes. Emails. Pings. Meetings that could’ve been Slack messages.
Sick of your cloud bill eating your budget alive? I negotiated with Oracle to bring you a limited-time offer to slash your cloud costs. We’re talking 50% off or more. Why keep overpaying when you can run faster, leaner and smarter?
🦴 Help for arthritis is here: A 58-year-old woman got a tiny bio-implant that stopped her symptoms cold. It sends signals through the vagus nerve to calm inflammation, so no more pain or swelling. The best part? She only needs one minute of treatment a day. If all goes well, the FDA could approve it this summer.
How to disappear from the internet
People always ask me: can you stop being tracked on the web? One guy tried, here’s how far he went.
$249.99
That’s how much Google wants for the Gemini AI Ultra VIP pass, monthly. You get AI everything: video gen, doc summarizing, Chrome copilots and a personal bot concierge named Mariner that’ll shop online for you. It also includes YouTube Premium and 30TB of storage because apparently, your digital clone needs closet space.
Your Echo knows movies: Planning your next movie night? Just say, “Alexa, tell me about the movie [title].” She’ll give you a quick rundown on the plot, director and cast without spoiling anything. It’s an easy way to help decide what to watch.
Find out if your car is being tracked
Your location could be logged every time you drive, thanks to license plate readers. Here’s how to check if it’s happening near you.
Instagram’s teen accounts don’t work: A group of testers created fake profiles to see what the algorithm would push. Instead of the so-called protection enabled by default, they were still shown sexual reels, eating disorders, drugs or worse (paywall link). Meta’s clapback? The report is flawed and most of the content is “PG-13” at worst. Sure.
Big Memorial Day sale
💸 Long weekend + Amazon = serious savings. Let’s go.
- Smooth things out fast with a travel-size iron (25% off).
- An electric toothbrush (15% off) keeps your smile healthy.
- Ready to play? Grab this gaming keyboard (40% off) first.
- Print your memories on an instant photo printer (41% off).
- Chop smarter, not harder, with a mandoline slicer (19% off)
- Cheers to this electric wine opener (10% off) for no more mess.
🇺🇲 More finds here: Click this special link for more Memorial Day steals that are too good to scroll past.
We may earn a commission from purchases, but our recommendations are always objective.
23andMe data sold for $256M
Your DNA is now in the hands of biotech giant Regeneron. They say they’ll protect it. Plus, Owen Wilson deepfake scams, Meta lets fraud off the hook, and phone-free vacations. Got T-Mobile? Here’s how to claim your part of the $350M data breach settlement.
40-foot submarine-hunting drone
The “BlueWhale” uses special sensors to spot underwater and surface threats, and can help clear mines. The cool bit? It’s fully autonomous and runs on batteries for weeks. Basically, a Roomba’s scarier cousin with serious military vibes.
✍️ Faulty AI detectors: More students are being accused of using tools like ChatGPT when they didn’t. Like Leigh, who got a zero on her assignment after Turnitin said it was bot-written (paywall link). She appealed, but now records herself working. Others even track their keystrokes to avoid false positives. What a mess.
I spy a virus: If your connection’s dragging, a virus might be the culprit. I trust and recommend TotalAV. It’s just $19 a year to protect up to five devices on Windows, Mac, Android and more. That’s total peace of mind for your phone, laptop and tablet.
23andMe sold your DNA. Can you stop it? — May 24th, Hour 1
Your DNA, your family tree, your most personal data … now in the hands of Big Pharma. Also this hour: Meta refuses to stop scam ads, AI clones, and the viral “invisible phone.” Plus, Anthony from Spokane says someone hacked the neighborhood security cameras.
No faux pa’s here
📅 Father’s Day is (checks date) just three weeks away. I did the digging for you.
- For the dad who loves to grill, get a BBQ grilling set (20% off).
- Let him kick back on a comfy backyard lounge chair (15% off).
- He’ll laugh at these socks (54% off) that say “I’m not sleeping.”
- This pocket-size multitool ($28) can do 21 different things.
- Go the nine yards, literally, with a golf ball stamper ($14).
- Tangled belts? A hanger organizer ($8) will keep them tidy.
🧢 More dad-approved picks: Check out my Father’s Day Ultimate Gift List for more finds he’ll actually use.
We may earn a commission from purchases, but our recommendations are always objective.
👇 Android app shortcuts: Long-pressing certain apps gives you quick access to the features you use most. For example, Google Maps shows your favorite locations like Home or Work. Gmail lets you compose a new message or switch accounts. And Instagram? You can post something new or hop straight into your DMs.
Power banks on blast: Starting May 28, Southwest Airlines wants your power bank out and visible while charging. Lithium batteries are tiny arsonists with 19 in-flight incidents already this year. Portable chargers are the second most flammable vibe onboard after e-cigs. Reminder: “Unattended fire” is not a boarding group. Pro tip: Buy a reputable portable charger like this one (21% off)!
We may earn a commission from purchases, but our recommendations are always objective.