Retailers have so many ways to track you – Here’s how to fight back
If you have an internet connection, companies are racing to gather every bit of data they can on what you might buy — and they’re getting increasingly sophisticated about it.
How do they do it? Let’s dive into how retail tracking works and, more importantly, what you can do about it.
Text scam: Chinese phishing crew behind fake delivery notifications
Oh, no! An urgent text from the U.S. Postal Service about your package delivery. Yeah, we all know by now these texts are fake.
And we finally know who’s behind the scammy messages. I thought this was super interesting, and I bet you will, too. A Chinese phishing operation has been farming personal info for the last year and a half.
$17 million loss
On a $27 million dream home. A New Jersey couple spent seven years building a 40,000-square-foot property that includes a chapel, an English-style pub, a gym, a home theater, a wine grotto and a golf simulator (paywall link). It’s up for auction with a reserve price of just $10 million.
43 times out of 100
AI car features are more trouble than they’re worth. J.D. Power polled Americans who drive 2024 models that include tech like facial recognition, a fingerprint reader and interior gesture controls. The feedback? “Meh.” See the top-rated manufacturers and models here.
1.6M brain scans
Used to train an AI tool that predicts dementia risk. Researchers are using MRI and CT scans to find patterns that could help doctors spot dementia sooner and treat it better. I sure hope it works; by 2050, the number of people with dementia is expected to triple.
10M copies
Three-day sales of Black Myth: Wukong, a new action game for PC and PlayStation 5. It’s based on the Chinese novel “Journey to the West.” It’s officially one of the fastest-selling games of all time, and it broke the record for the most-played single-player game on Steam, taking out Cyberpunk 2077.
$100M from Google
To fund propaganda surrounding the war in Ukraine. The money was taken from the tech giant’s Russian bank accounts in 2022, forcing Google’s Russian entity to declare bankruptcy. The funds went to Russian TV channels that pledged to use the funds to support the Kremlin’s war.
7,000 pancreases
Listed as missing and never transplanted from 2021 to 2023. There’s a loophole in federal transplant regulations that allows organ procurement organizations to use pancreas cells for diabetes clinical trials. Meanwhile, there are folks sitting on the waiting list for these organs and the operations aren’t happening.
$300 a year
For Google Maps access in a new Chevy Silverado. It’s now built into the infotainment system through Chevy’s Connected Vehicle Plan, priced at $24.99 a month. To make matters more annoying, reviewers say it doesn’t even work well.
3 years away
From having the perfect AI employee that works 24 hours a day and doesn’t complain. Alex Zekoff, co-founder of Thoughtful AI, has every reason to hope for that. His company creates AI employees for use in health care. Given how fast the industry is progressing, I can see it.