Have someone flying in to visit this summer? No more tracking them online or trying to figure out if they’ve been delayed if you use this hack.
How to know if you’re being stalked or are just paranoid
I’ve heard it all on my national radio show. There was the guy totally freaked out because too many strangers in public knew his name for it to be a coincidence. (His name was Buddy.)
There was a woman who swore one of Metallica’s band members hacked her iPhone to stalk her after she rejected him online. And another who bought and sold three cars because she thought they all had hidden trackers.
They all ask the same question: “Is it me or is someone/something tracking everything I do on my device?”
Tracking happens, no doubt, and it’s getting worse, given how easy these tools are for anyone to use. But I also know sometimes, it’s paranoia at work. Before you panic, let’s talk through a few scenarios.
‘I see ads for things I talked about’
I was talking to my husband about taking a hiking trip in Patagonia. I walked upstairs, sat at my laptop, and travel ads for a Patagonian getaway were on my screen. Tech companies insist this is a coincidence.
If you don’t want to believe Big Tech (I don’t blame you), take privacy into your own hands. Skip the smart speaker or turn off its microphone when it’s not in use. On your phone or computer, pop into your settings to turn off your mic for specific apps and sites, or force your device to ask you each time before enabling it.
‘They know where I am’
Dana called my show with a frightening story. Her daughter is a college student who was afraid to leave the house because unknown numbers sent her threatening texts no matter where she went. “They know what time we eat dinner, our workplaces and our schedules,” Dana told me.
This case was true harassment. I called Ricoh Danielson, a friend of the show and digital forensics expert, who helped track down the guy. Turns out, it was someone Dana’s daughter had talked to on a dating app. Here are Danielson’s tips for if something like this happens to your family.
‘Is Google stalking me?’
I once had a caller concerned Google knew his schedule too well. A few weekends in a row, he drove to his son’s house to mow his lawn while his son was out of town. The following Saturday, a pop-up from Google Maps told him how long it’d take to get to his son’s home in current traffic.
You’re being tracked secretly by 3 settings on your phone
When mobile apps first hit the scene, many were designed to make our phones more useful. This included new tools for productivity, as well as apps for entertainment. Many of today’s apps, though, are packed with sneaky permission requests and hidden trackers.
GPS dog collars are smart: Use Battery Optimization mode so you don’t have to charge the collar so frequently. As long as your furbaby stays in a safe zone, it’ll check less often, saving your battery. If they leave the safe zone, real-time tracking will kick in. My golden retriever, Abby, wears a Fi collar, and this is her favorite ball (10% off today!).
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Car companies are tracking your driving
Are you a speed racer? You’re being watched. Major car companies are watching how you drive and selling your data to third-party brokers. Plus, discover secret codes to protect your family from scams and why the FCC is cracking down on illegal jammers.
A hush-hush economy: When you agree to an app’s terms and conditions, you’re agreeing to be tracked — so says the Secret Service (great read, but it’s a paywall link). They used a data-broker company’s tool called Locate X to follow people over time through the apps they’d given GPS access to — no warrant needed or required. Now you know what you’re really doing when you agree to those permissions.
3 billion-plus
Phone coordinates collected and sold by data brokers. The kicker? They expose U.S. military and intelligence workers, including people who work in places like nuclear weapons facilities. Anything for a buck.
Wallet, keys, phone, kids: Found with these trackers
My husband, Barry, loses track of everything. Well, he did until I AirTagged his life. That’s where Bluetooth trackers come in handy. These tiny devices attach to what you don’t want to lose, and they sync directly to your phone. The tracker shares its location when you can’t find it.
Your smartwatch isn’t as accurate as you think
Sensors in today’s smartwatches can detect your heartbeat, track how you sleep and even monitor blood oxygen levels. We’re not far from your watch tracking your blood sugar … and possibly sending reports about it to your doctor.
📍 Secret Service agents spilling secrets: How? By using the GPS fitness app Strava, which is more like a social media site. Sure, agents can’t use their personal devices while on duty, but it’s OK off the clock. Agents’ Strava profiles gave away the locations of President Biden and his wife, former President Trump and his wife, and Vice President Harris. If you use Strava, set your privacy to the “Only You” setting. You’d think that the Secret Service’s top brass would’ve known about this. FWIW, I’ve been warning about this app for years.
$299
For a toilet camera that will monitor your gut health by photographing your poop. Yep, you read that correctly. Throne uses AI to analyze your stool’s size, shape and structure, and it sends the data to an app on your phone, where you can view the results. Talk about logging your logs!
🦅 The secret life of birds: The Motus Wildlife Tracking system has tagged nearly 50,000 birds, insects and bats with mini trackers to reveal their flight patterns. When an animal flies by one of 2,000 stations, its location is logged. A surprising and sad find? Only 40% of fledgling barn swallows in southern Ontario survive to migrate. ”Peep” at the data yourself.
🆕 Bluetooth 6.0 is incredible: One of the coolest new features is channel sounding, which calculates distance with crazy precision — think tracking devices with centimeter-level accuracy. Imagine finding your lost TV remote or some other gadget in an instant. Give it about a year till this tech is ready for you and me to use.
Online tool to stop ads
Ever feel like online ads know too much about you? I’ll share a simple tool that lets you stop companies from tracking you across the web — and it’s totally free.
Get rid of stalkerware
Is someone using software to secretly tracking your phone? Here’s how to spot the signs.
Some 51% of people think sharing their smartphone PIN with a partner is normal and healthy. Checking internet search histories and tracking a partner’s location are a different story; 74% of those surveyed think location tracking is toxic, and that percentage jumps to 95% if the location tracking is done without the other party’s knowledge.
Get your head out of your apps: America’s first smart highway is coming to Interstate 94 in Michigan. This three-mile stretch will have sensors and cameras to alert drivers of traffic jams, accidents and obstacles. The tech will connect to most modern cars with built-in navigation features. No one’s talking about data tracking.
🚨 Security breach: A hacker infiltrated tracking company Tile, stealing customers’ names, physical addresses, emails and phone numbers. The bad guys even got into tools that process location data for law enforcement agencies. Instead of paying the hacker off, Tile disabled the login credentials.
Mission impossible: Scientists invented an ultra-thin battery for smart contact lenses that could support facial recognition and eye tracking one day. Here’s the kicker: You charge them with your tears! They’re powered by a saline solution instead of flammable lithium-ion batteries. Insanely cool.
Big Tech is tracking your emails
I have three different work email addresses — and a Gmail address I set up when it launched in 2004. I could never score the handle again today, but after 20 years, that inbox is a mess.
It’s become my disposable email address for coupon codes, free signups and newsletters — pretty much, the nonessential things in my digital life.