🍗 Free nugs: Get six free chicken nuggets from Wendy’s every Wednesday for the rest of the year. What’s the catch? You need to sign up for Wendy’s Rewards and buy something on hump day through their mobile app (iOS and Android).
The worst money apps for your data revealed
I can’t remember the last time I went into a bank. No reason to now that I do it all from my phone. We trust banking apps to keep our financial info safe and secure — but what about privacy? Oh yeah, that.
Merchant Machine reviewed the privacy policies of today’s top banking and finance apps. Researchers found that the 20 worst offenders take an average of 20 unique types of data. Major yikes.
We’re not just talking about your location, purchases and username. It’s everything from browsing history to contacts, search history, usage data and even health and fitness metrics. What are you giving away?
Robin my data
If you use your smartphone to make investments, you’re probably familiar with Robinhood. You might not realize how much info it takes from you: 25 data points, to be exact. And no, it’s not giving it to the poor. Btw, it fell victim to a data breach in 2021.
A newer bank on the scene is Chime, which has had its fair share of controversy. In addition to collecting 23 personal data segments from app users, Chime is guilty of locking users out of their accounts and holding their cash hostage.
What about the big hitters?
Chase is one of the biggest names in the biz and one of the worst data-collection offenders. The Chase mobile app takes 20 data points on users.
In case you forgot, Chase was fined $200 million in 2021 for allowing employees to discuss bank business over messaging apps “to circumvent federal record-keeping laws.” Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.
Download now, steal data later
The buy now, pay later (BNPL) business is booming. BNPL giant Klarna has about 150 million active users — who buy stuff from half a million merchants. The app grabs 24 types of personal data.
BNPL apps definitely take the edge off a large purchase, but they’re also closely tied to your credit score. Something to consider before allowing an app like Klarna to access your shopping habits.
How to make sure emails you want to see don't end up lost in spam
Have you ever felt like spam is that one friend who just can’t take a hint? You know, the one who keeps inviting you to their pyramid scheme parties? Out of nowhere, your inbox is flooded with offers of “get rich quick” pitches. Some email providers block these kinds of messages before they cause trouble.
How to import all your photos and videos from Facebook
The more social media accounts you have, the more data companies collect on you. There’s an easy way to clean up your old posts from Twitter, Facebook, Imgur and more. Tap or click here for a tool that can automatically remove posts from over 20 sites and apps.
Finally! How to see ONLY posts from friends and family on Facebook
Facebook is an excellent tool for keeping in touch with family and friends. But the longer you spend on it, the more cluttered it becomes. You might not realize it, but every group, page or event you join will add posts to your feed.
Warning: Trendy ‘New Profile Pic’ app could be a risk to your data
Social media is a great way to keep up with friends and family. But nobody wants to look at the same profile picture for months on end. You could pose for a new photo or use an app to get creative with one in your library.
QR code app caught hiding malware - Check your phone!
Malware is always problematic, but the worst kind of infection is those that steal your money and wipe your phone.
While new malware is constantly developing, security researchers closely watch for updated variants. Banking trojans like TeaBot can hide in any mobile app and wreak havoc with your finances.
Woman catches boyfriend unfriending men on her Facebook account - Signs you have a snoop
Social media is a wonderful tool to connect with friends and family. Facebook is the most popular, with almost 2 billion users logging in last year.
But for all the good it has done, there have been tons of problems. Like this scam that cost a user $5,000 through a bogus competition.
Save some time in your workday with this new Slack trick
With many making the move to remote work, applications like Zoom and Slack are necessary to optimize communication. Especially across time zones. Tap or click here for 11 Zoom tricks you’ll wish you knew sooner.
As an avid Slack user, you know how beneficial it can be for work. Slack coworkers a message and get an instantaneous answer.
Pandas, giraffes, hippos, oh my: Watch 3D animals walk around your house
Most of us would agree that 2020 has been incredibly rough, and we can’t wait for it to end. If there has been some positivity to come from living through a pandemic, it’s all the new technology to help us make it through. Who would have thought grandma would be a Zoom expert before all this began?
Google Drive tricks: 15 smart ways to get more out of this free office software
Almost all of us utilize cloud storage services like Google Drive or Dropbox in some capacity. Cloud-based storage services are just a normal part of using technology at this point.
While there are lots of cloud storage services to choose from, Google Drive has tons of advantages over the competition. Not only does it offer free file storage, but it also lets you create documents that can be accessed from anywhere. That’s a huge benefit now that it’s common to work remotely. Tap or click here to see what Google did to help at-home workers over the past few months.
Tech-how to: Make phone calls to friends and family from Facebook
You may be familiar with Facebook messaging, which allows you to directly message someone when you want to have a conversation outside of Facebook’s public forum, but did you realize that you can also make voice and video calls through the social media platform? RELATED: Facebook Messenger tricks you’ll use over and over.
