Retailers have so many ways to track you – Here’s how to fight back
If you have a pulse and an internet connection, companies want all the details they can get about what you’re willing to buy. Now that your holiday shopping is done, it’s time to take back control.
There’s a bit of work you can do and then to reclaim your privacy, but if you’re looking for a longer-term solution, I’ll share my secret weapon in the fight against tracking.
🙃 Smile for the bot: A new AI tool calculates your biological age by looking at your face. Created by cancer doc Raymond Mak, FaceAge spots signs of aging by analyzing wrinkles and skin texture. Mak’s team says it’s even better than doctors at predicting your life expectancy. Your next annual exam might include a photo opp. I wonder how it deals with Botox.
“The biggest influencer scam of all time"
That’s what YouTuber MegaLad calls the coupon browser extension Honey, which PayPal bought for $4 billion in 2020. He says they’ve been deceiving shoppers and influencers for years by ignoring coupon options and hijacking links through sneaky pop-ups. While I am researching to see if this is true, I uninstalled Honey and you should, too. I’ll let you know what I find out.
20 years ago
Yelp launched. Over 300 million reviews later, it’s still one of the first places most of us go to check out a restaurant or bar. They just rolled out an AI assistant that gives recommendations and weeds out phony reviews. A restaurant owner offered me a free calamari appetizer if I gave him a good review on Yelp. It was squid pro quo. (I saw you smile!)
Ever wonder who’s behind scam rings? The Wall Street Journal just published a great story about a giant pig-butchering scam operation (paywall link) in the Philippines run by the former mayor of a town 60 miles north of Manila. Alice Guo had thousands of workers scamming people, including Americans. She swindled millions from mostly retirees to pay for fancy cars, designer goods and a helicopter. Now, the 34-year-old is facing human trafficking and corruption charges. I hope she rots in jail.
About to see way mo’ Waymos: Google’s Waymo took the lead in the self-driving robotaxi race, with over 3 million driverless rides across three cities this year. In 2025, we could see autonomous Teslas, and Amazon’s Zoox plans to open up to customers early next year, too. OK, this made me laugh: A confused cop tried to pull over a car with no one in the driver’s seat.
$1.3 million
Prince Harry’s salary at BetterUp. The U.S. company is the app equivalent of a life coach, yet ex-employees describe it as “a toxic trainwreck” where “everyone is living in fear.” Didn’t he use those words to describe the royal family?
Hear, there, everywhere: Leaks for Apple’s AirPods Pro 3 hint at nifty, new features, like heart rate monitoring, temperature tracking and other cool health metrics. No release date yet, but, based on Apple’s usual timeline, we should see them next fall.
🧑🎄 Sleigh what? Elon Musk posted an Ozempic Santa pic on X, with Saint Nick looking festive and slim in a suit and beard. He’s technically using Mounjaro, but it has the same GLP-1 hormone that regulates your blood sugar. Musk says he isn’t a big fan of the gym and uses drugs to drop weight instead.
☢️ Toxic wrist: This is bad. Your smartwatch band may be loaded with forever chemicals linked to cancer, infertility and high blood pressure. Researchers found a particularly nasty chemical in 22 smartwatch brands, including Apple and Google. The highest concentrations were in the more expensive bands; all the under-$15 ones were clear. Here are options for Apple Watches and Fitbit.
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