Fake followers? Fake likes? The FTC is done playing around. I’ll tell you why the crackdown could mean big fines — or worse — for influencers and brands pulling these tricks.
Exposed: Uncover the tracking secrets of Apple and Microsoft while you work on your Mac or PC
Ever accidentally liked something on social media you didn’t mean to click? Before you panic, read this to see which “likes” you can take back.
That’s just one small slice of what websites you visit and services you use collect about you. Here’s how to see (and erase) everything Google tracks.
It’s not just your phone collecting your activity, habits, likes, dislikes and everything else. Your computer does, too. Here’s how to check what Microsoft and Apple know about you.
Use Windows?
Without a Microsoft account, you can’t register a license key or, in some cases, update your computer. It allows access to all Windows features, functions and online products like Office 365, Microsoft Teams and Xbox gaming services.
If you’ve had the same account for a while, there’s probably a lot of data associated with it. This may include anything from Bing and Cortana searches to Microsoft Edge browsing and services activity.
To see what’s there, go to the Privacy Dashboard. From here, you can also take many steps: Clear your search history, review your location data, change your advertising settings and edit your marketing preferences.
Turning off data collection
What’s the best way to limit the data a company can gather on you? Use privacy settings to limit their reach.
Personalized advertising: Microsoft uses your searches and purchase history to serve you with customized ads. You can turn this off in the privacy dashboard.
- Select Privacy. Next, scroll down to Personalized ad settings and click on Review ad settings. Toggle the slider next to See ads that interest you to the left to disable it.
Accessing diagnostics from other apps: Unless you turn it off, Microsoft collects diagnostic data from apps you use “to help improve our products and make them work better.”
True or false: People can see the embarrassing things you 'like' on social media
Social media is fantastic, isn’t it? You can communicate with friends and family instantly from anywhere in the world, find new products, and do dozens of other fun and practical activities.
All that fun, though, comes with a price. Everything becomes public when we live our lives on social media, and maintaining any semblance of privacy becomes impossible. Tap or click here for 10 Facebook privacy and security settings you need to change right now.
🦐 Anything for likes: Facebook hasn’t stopped AI slop like “Shrimp Jesus” from landing on your news feed, even though this junk is often tied to scams. Why? Well, it doesn’t violate their rules if there’s no nudity or violence. But really, they want to keep people sharing and liking. When you see a post like this, hit the three-dot icon on it and click Hide post. Hopefully, the algorithm will catch on.
2 pizzas
Can feed any team at Amazon. And that’s just how Bezos likes it. In the early days, he enacted the “two-pizza team rule” to keep Amazon efficient. The rule says any team should be small enough to be fed by — you guessed it — two pizzas. Oh, you’re a real pizza work!
Use Firefox? Mozilla wants your help to see how nosy Facebook really is
Social media has been around long enough to see children grow into adults and young people enter middle age. Facebook launched in 2004 and has become the largest social network in the world, with billions of active users.
The best puzzles and toys to get your dog's mind working
Dogs love their humans unconditionally. You can see it in their eyes as they gaze up at you and in the excited wag of their tails. Since the average lifespan of your furry friend is only about a decade, don’t you owe them the best life has to offer?
Not exactly K-pop going viral: “Friendly Father” is a North Korean propaganda tune praising dictator Kim Jong Un. The video features, uh, heartwarming scenes, like a military officer crying in Kim’s arms while children sing along. Gen Zers are dancing to Communist remixes for views and likes, but not everyone gets it. Here’s the full vid.
🌟 Celeb appreciation: Morgan Freeman thanked fans on X for exposing a TikTokker using AI to mimic his voice. The woman pretending to be his “nepo niece” (a relative who benefits from someone’s fame) used fake Morgan to narrate her day-in-the-life video. The clip pulled in hundreds of thousands of likes. Crazy.
Like it or not, on X, the likes are gone
Why did the social media platform decide to ditch the like button? I’ll give you the scoop.
How to make money in podcasting
We talk with Rob Walch from Libsyn about the current state of podcasting and get his top tips for starting your own podcast. Plus, X makes your ‘likes’ private, SoftBank uses AI to make angry customers sound calm, and nobody likes being called a bot.
Don’t buy an iPhone now: Apple’s doing a deal with the ChatGPT team to bring regenerative AI to the iPhone 16. This means the AI will learn and remember your likes and dislikes, just like a real (virtual) assistant. The iPhone 16 is expected to roll out in September or October. This will be the biggest iPhone update since it was first released in 2007.
How to see everything you've done on Facebook
Ready for a blast from the past? In 60 seconds, I’ll show you how to unearth those cringe-worthy likes and comments you’ve left behind.