Get an ad for something you only talked about? You might be a target of ultrasonic cross-device tracking.
This phone is made in the USA
Adobe Firefly
“Kim, I love my iPhone 16 but hate it’s made in China and apps track everything you do including your bowel movements. Is there a phone made in the USA that doesn’t track you?” — Paul in Tampa, Florida
Well, Paul, there’s exactly one, the $1,999 Liberty Phone from Purism. If the name makes you want to stand up and salute, you might sit right back down when I tell you the rest.
📱 Parts
First, it’s made in California with mostly American parts. Key components though, like the screen, battery and camera, are from China, South Korea and India.
The Liberty Phone has a 5.7-inch LCD display at 720-by-1,440 resolution (yes, 720p in 2025). The iPhone 16 has a 6.1-inch OLED screen at 2,556-by-1,179 resolution, with over three times the pixel density.
The Liberty Phone is like an Etch A Sketch but grumpier.
It’s 9.5 ounces compared with your 6-ounce iPhone. The Liberty Phone battery is lame, barely gets through a full day.
🚀 Performance
The Liberty Phone runs on an NXP i.MX 8M chip, a processor used in things like smart thermostats. It’s slow. Combine that with just 3GB of RAM, and you’ll feel the lag.
The iPhone 16 runs on Apple’s new A17 chip with 6GB of RAM. It’s like comparing a scooter to a Porsche.
📸 Camera
The Liberty Phone gives you a 13MP rear camera and 8MP selfie cam. There’s no portrait mode, no low-light correction, no HDR.
👀 A note about Google watching your texts: I told you about this yesterday, and the link worked for some people but not all. It’s surprisingly tricky to turn off Google’s Gemini AI text tracking. You’ve gotta manually yank its permissions. Think of it like breaking up with a clingy ex who still has a key. Head to gemini.google.com/apps and toggle the switch off for Phone, Messages, WhatsApp, etc. These might not pop up on your end, yet, but anticipate a rollout sometime before July 7.
⌚ Get a grip: Your smartwatch works best when it fits right. A loose strap can throw off tracking accuracy. Swap it for an adjustable one, like these for Apple (10% off) and Samsung (25% off).
We may earn a commission from purchases, but our recommendations are always objective.
🕳️ Google reads your texts: They’re doing it again. Starting July 7, Google’s Gemini AI will tap into your Phone, Messages, WhatsApp and more, even if you’ve opted out of activity tracking. Google calls it “good news.” I found the secret steps to stop this nonsense here. Otherwise, your texts will be stored, scanned and possibly read by a human along with the things, up to and including being sold to who knows who. Not cool.
Think your email’s private? Think again. Big Tech tracks everything. That’s why I use StartMail. No ads, no tracking, just private email. Try it free for seven days and get 60% off your first year.
Big Tech are email snoops: Gmail, Yahoo and all those other Big Tech companies track your email activity. StartMail puts privacy first! No ads, no tracking, includes encrypted emails and disposable addresses. Get 60% off your first year, and try it free for seven days.
🧟♂️ No face? No problem: AI’s tracking you anyway. A startup called Veritone made an AI that ditches facial recognition and still tracks you in video footage, just by how you walk and what you’re wearing. It’s already being used by cops and government agencies. The tech is legal, terrifying and possibly the start of your new fashion surveillance arc.
🧳 Get that job: Don’t send the same resume everywhere. Ask your favorite chatbot to tailor your skills for each role. Just say, “Update my resume for the [Title] role at [Company] by focusing on key skills from the job description.” Copy and paste your current resume and the job listing. This helps you beat those application tracking systems.
⚡️ 3-second tech genius: Want a distraction-free YouTube? Add -nocookie to the URL to skip tracking cookies. Whoa. That was a good one!
⌚ Watch for noise: Your Apple Watch’s built-in Noise app can check if the sounds around you are too loud. Open the app on your watch and tap Enable to start tracking. To see how often you’re in noisy spots, go to the Health app > Browse (bottom right) > Hearing > Environmental Sound Levels. Now your watch can judge your eardrum choices, too.
AI quietly raises your rent — April 12th, Hour 4
Paying more in rent? Landlords are using AI tools to jack up prices. Also, why I’m skipping Airbnb (and maybe you should too). Plus, in-store tracking tech, gunshot-detecting AI, and a weird stat about men and voice assistants.
From Lisa in Texas: “Kim, I’m done with Big Tech snooping. Is StartMail really private?” You bet! StartMail is built for privacy — no tracking, no ads, just secure email. You can even import all your old messages and contacts, hassle-free. Save 60% now with my exclusive link!
“Everything’s computer” but in a bad way: Tucker Carlson’s brand new Chevy truck screen lit up with a message that said, “Stop, we’re downloading information from the internet,” and he took that personally. No second chances. He took the truck back to the dealer. The man wants horsepower, not spyware. Somewhere, his 1987 Silverado is grinning. PSA: Enter your VIN at Privacy4Cars to see what your car is tracking.
🛍️ Buy Now, Pay Later is now Buy Now, Regret Publicly: The WSJ (paywalled) says credit bureaus have officially started tracking your “Buy Now, Pay Later” shopping. So yes, that $89 “ergonomic” beanbag you split into four payments? It might now haunt your credit report. Suddenly, Klarna feels a lot less like a fun hack and more like a fiscal breadcrumb trail leading directly to your FICO score.
I’m scratching my head on this one: People who use a Garmin smartwatch are upset about a monthly fee, and it’s not that they are still using a Garmin. The app’s new AI health and fitness tracking tools cost $6.99 a month ($69.99 per year). Apple Watch, anyone?
We may earn a commission from purchases, but our recommendations are always objective.
📦 Remember the iPhone porch pirates? It was a major crime ring (paywall link). Hackers built software to scrape FedEx tracking numbers, then bribed AT&T employees to leak delivery addresses and order details for thousands of phones. Once the package showed up, a runner would grab it. Wild.
This company has your data – March 29th, Hour 1
One of the biggest ad companies quietly admitted it’s been tracking nearly everyone online. A man in Phoenix lost $900,000 to a crypto scam that started with a friend request. Jeff Bezos is engaged and, of course, the internet has opinions. Meanwhile, 23andMe just filed for bankruptcy. If your DNA is still sitting in their system, now’s the time to delete it. And yes, people are using ChatGPT for bedroom inspiration.
📷 Not just for tracking steps: The Apple Watch looks like it will get a camera to “see” the world using AI-enabled visual intelligence (paywall link). That means you could scan a flyer to add an event to your calendar or look up a restaurant on the spot. ETA? 2027.
🛑 Stop ad trackers: It makes it harder for advertisers and data brokers to snoop on you. On iPhones, go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Tracking and toggle off Allow Apps to Request to Track. For Androids, open Settings > Google > Ads, then enable Opt out of Ads Personalization.