5 ways you’re being tracked you must stop right now

 Online privacy is an oxymoron. For example, there’s an advertiser ID on your phone that’s supposed to keep your location anonymous. Are you surprised it doesn’t? Me neither.

It’s not always advertisers and Big Tech spying. A stranger or someone you know might be poking around your accounts.

Privacy isn’t a given. Here are five ways to take as much as you can back.

1. Everyone’s least favorite kind of cookie

You collect cookies when you browse the web on your phone, computer, or tablet. These bits of data store information about the websites you visit. Cookies store your logins, personalization settings, advertising information, and other details.

The upside is that cookies save images and files and stop you from having to log in every time you visit a site. But these cookies contain a lot of your details. Fortunately, you can delete cookies manually in a few steps.

Cookies store information about you through the websites you visit. Using incognito mode will protect you from this data gathering.

istock

Better yet, use Incognito Mode. When you surf the web Incognito, your browser doesn’t save your history, cookies, site data, or information you enter in forms. It does keep any downloaded files or bookmarks created during the session.

Exclusive limited-time offer: As a special thank you to my readers, I’m giving you a free Windows or Mac guide full of tips, tricks, and great downloads.

Be warned: Your internet service provider can still see your activity, as can a school or employer providing your internet access or computer.

To go incognito on Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge, press Ctrl + Shift + N (or Command + Shift + N on Mac).

For even more privacy, fire up a VPN. A virtual private network, or VPN, is a layer of protection between your devices and the internet. It hides your IP address and your location. It also encrypts your data after leaving your device and traveling to whatever website you’re visiting.

Don’t even think about using a free VPN. At best, it will lack the necessary privacy features and slow you down. At worst, it’s hiding malware or tracking your information. My pick is ExpressVPN, the VPN I used before they became a sponsor of my national radio show. 

2. Your emails are a wealth of information

Just think about everything sitting in your inbox. In the wrong hands, those digital messages can do much damage.

Encryption is a method to protect your email from hackers, criminals, and prying eyes. It’s a process where your email messages are scrambled, so if hackers manage to intercept them, all they’ll see is gibberish.

Big-name email services like Gmail and Yahoo don’t provide end-to-end encryption. Encryption is tough to implement, and it generally requires all correspondents to participate. The process isn’t end-to-end if your email uses encryption, but mine doesn’t. At some point, your message will be vulnerable.

Encrypting your email will protect your messages from hackers and criminals.

istock

If encrypting your emails is essential, you’ll need to switch to a secure service like StartMail, ProtonMail, Mailfence, Tutanota, or Hushmail.

Use Gmail? You can send a Confidential email. Email sent in Confidential mode can’t be forwarded, and you can choose whether to require a recipient to use a passcode to read it.

3. Your apps are watching where you go

Your phone knows precisely where you’ve been over the past few days, weeks, and even months. If it’s been a while since you looked at your phone’s location settings, do it now.

Check this hidden location setting on your iPhone:

• Click Settings, then Privacy.
• Select Location Services, then scroll down to System Services.
• Choose Significant Locations to see the record of where you’ve been and toggle it off.

Here’s how to adjust location settings on an Android:

• Open Settings, then scroll down and tap Location.
• To stop all tracking, you can toggle Use location off.
• If you don’t want to remove all permissions, tap App location permissions.
• For each app, tap it to choose your preferred setting: Allow all the time, Allow only while using the app, Ask every time, or Don’t allow. You can also decide whether an app sees your precise location or an approximate location.

4. Your TV is watching you right back

Sorry to break it to you. Your streaming services are tracking your activity, too. It makes sense. Netflix, Hulu and all the rest want to know what shows you like so they can recommend content you’ll enjoy and don’t mind paying for.

The monitoring isn’t for your benefit, though. Streaming services collect your viewing history and the ads you watch or skip. Then, they share this data with advertisers. 

If you have a smart TV, you have essential settings to review there, too.

5. Stop sharing everything you buy and browse

Google always seems to know just what you want, and it’s not in your head. Google tracks every search, click, message, and request. Now and then, clear your search history and activity. Here’s how:

• Go to myaccount.google.com and log in. Alternatively, go to google.com and click the circle icon in the upper right-hand corner with your image or initials inside. Then click Manage your Google Account.
• Click Data & Privacy in the left-hand menu.
• You will see checkmarks next to Web & App Activity, Location History, and YouTube History. Click each one to adjust your settings. Toggle them off to stop further tracking if you choose.

On these pages, you can also set up Auto-delete for future activity. I highly suggest you enable this. You can choose from 3 months, 18 months, or 36 months.

https://nypost.com/2023/04/14/kim-komando-5-ways-youre-being-tracked-you-must-stop-right-now/

Kim Komando: Get Temu, the popular shopping app, off your phone now

 Seemingly overnight, everyone’s talking about Temu, an online shopping app full of deals that seem too good to be true. You’ll find $17 wireless earbuds, $1 “gold” necklaces, and $23 wedding dresses. 

No wonder Temu is the most popular shopping app in the U.S., behind only Amazon. But most of us know little about the app’s origins. Like these apps, it’s tied to China.

I did some digging into whether it’s safe to use. Here’s what I found.

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Where did Temu come from?

This app isn’t some fly-by-night operation. Temu (pronounced “tee-moo”) is based in Boston, Massachusetts, by PDD Holdings Inc. PDD is headquartered in Shanghai, China. PDD also owns the e-commerce platform Pinduoduo headquartered in — you guessed it — China. (More on Pinduoduo and its shady app below.)

Over 50 million Americans have downloaded Temu since it launched state-side in September 2022. You might remember its expensive Super Bowl ads promising to let you “shop like a billionaire.” 

Searches for terms like “Is Temu legit” surged once Americans saw just how cheap the prices are. Not surprisingly, you get what you pay for.

Temu is now the most popular shopping app in the U.S., behind only Amazon.

SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

What you need to know before using Temu

First, you’re buying goods directly from manufacturers in China and other parts of the world. That’s why shipping times are often much longer than on sites like Amazon. You might get your stuff in a week, but that could be more like 12 days. 

For the most part, the prices are low because the goods are cheap. The pictures of what you see advertised may not be what you actually get.

Online reviewers seem to agree: Cheap is nice, but not when the quality is too shoddy to use. Temu’s BBB rating is 2.21/5. Reviews at TrustPilot are interesting, with 38% 5-star reviews and 41% 1-star reviews.

But that’s not the worst of it. As you shop, Temu collects lots of information.

Security boost: Simple mistake making your computer slower and less safe

Reportedly, Temu collects the data of its users.

Alamy Stock Photo

It gets worse

Temu isn’t unique in all the info it wants to capture from your phone, of course. Most apps out there want as much as you’ll give up. But considering its ties to Communist China, the permissions seem even more frightening to me.

Temu collects, among other things:

The info you provide, like your name, address, and phone number.

• Details you enter, like your birthday, photo, and social media profiles.
• Your phone or computer’s operating system and version, your IP address, GPS location (if you allowed it), and browsing data.

They also gather more about you from third party sources, including Temu sellers, public records, social media, data brokers, credit bureaus, and marketing partners.

Americans using Temu are selling the country out for bargains that really aren’t worth it. I say you delete it. Here’s how:

On iPhone, Long-press an app, then tap Remove App > Delete App. Tap Delete to confirm. 

On Android, touch and hold an app, then tap Remove App > Delete App > Delete. 

Still have TikTok on your phone? Here’s why it’s more complicated than fun viral videos.

Temu also gather more about you from third-party sources, including Temu sellers, public records, social media, data brokers, credit bureaus, and marketing partners.

NurPhoto via Getty Images

In bad company

While Temu collects a lot, it’s nothing compared to Pinduoduo. Remember, they are owned by the same company. 

Cybersecurity researchers found it wasn’t just tracking device info and activity – malicious code allowed it to bypass cellphone security settings to spy on other apps, read notifications and messages, and even change settings.

Temu gains full access to all your contacts, calendars, and photo albums, plus all your social media accounts, chats, and texts. In other words, literally everything on your phone. 

Why? Company insiders told CNN that it’s a way to spy on users and competitors to boost sales.

No shopping app needs this much control, especially one tied to Communist China. If you’re using Pinduoduo, delete the app from your phone ASAP. It’s also reportedly hard to remove everything, even after you delete it.

Pro tip: If you downloaded Pinduoduo you really need to do a full factory reset on your smartphone to wipe out any remaining code or tracking.

https://nypost.com/2023/04/14/get-temu-the-popular-shopping-app-off-your-phone-now/

Biden’s endless missteps have led to utter chaos around the world

 Why is French President Emmanuel Macron cozying up to China while trashing his oldest ally, the United States?

Why is there suddenly talk of discarding the dollar as the global currency?

Why are Japan and India shrugging that they cannot follow the United States’ lead in boycotting Russian oil?

Why is the president of Brazil traveling to China to pursue what he calls a “beautiful relationship”?

Why is Israel suddenly facing attacks from its enemies in all directions?

What happened to Turkey? Why is it threatening fellow NATO member Greece? Is it still a NATO ally, a mere neutral or a de facto enemy?

Why are there suddenly nonstop Chinese threats toward Taiwan?

Why did Saudi Arabia conclude a new pact with Iran, its former archenemy?

Why was Egypt secretly planning to send rockets to Russia to be used in Ukraine, according to leaked Pentagon papers?

Since when did the Russians talk nonstop about the potential use of a tactical nuclear weapon?

The Chinese spy balloon moving east towards North Carolina at an altitude of about 60,000 feet.

AP

Why is Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador bragging that millions of Mexicans have entered the United States, most of them illegally?

And why is he interfering in US elections by urging his expatriates to vote for Democrats?

Why and how, in just two years, have confused and often incoherent President Joe Biden and his team created such global chaos?

Let us answer by listing 10 ways by which America lost all deterrence:

1) Biden abruptly pulled all US troops from Afghanistan. He left behind to the Taliban hundreds of Americans and thousands of pro-American Afghans.

President Joe Biden being welcomed by Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Biden abandoned billions of dollars in US equipment, the largest air base in central Asia — recently retrofitted at a cost of $300 million — and a $1 billion embassy.

Our government called such a debacle a success.

The world disagreed and saw only humiliation.

2) The Biden administration allowed a Chinese high-altitude spy balloon to traverse the continental United States, spying on key American military installations.

The Chinese were defiant when caught and offered no apologies.

In response, the Pentagon and the administration simply lied about the extent that China had surveilled top-secret sites.

3) In March 2021, at an Anchorage, Alaska, mini-summit, Chinese diplomats unleashed a relentless barrage at their stunned and mostly silent American counterparts.

They lectured the timid Biden administration diplomats about American toxicity and hypocrisy.

4) In June 2021, in response to Russian cyber-attacks against the United States, Biden meekly asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to at least make off-limits certain critical American infrastructure.

5) When asked what he would do if Russia invaded Ukraine, Biden replied that the reaction would depend on whether the Russians conducted a “minor incursion.”

6) Between 2021 and 2022, Biden serially insulted and bragged that he would not meet Muhammad bin Salman, the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, and one of our oldest and most valuable allies in the Middle East.

7) For much of 2021, the Biden administration made it known that it was eager and ready to offer concessions to re-enter the dangerous Iran nuclear deal — at a time when Iran has joined China and Russia in a new geostrategic partnership.

8) Almost immediately upon inauguration, the administration moved the United States away from Israel, restored financial aid to radical Palestinians and both publicly and privately alienated the current Netanyahu government.

9) In serial fashion, Biden stopped all construction on the border wall and opened the border. During the 2019 Democratic presidential primary, Biden made it known that illegal aliens were welcome to enter the United States — some 6 million to 7 million did. He reinstated “catch and release.”

And he did nothing about the Mexican cartel importation of fentanyl that has recently killed over 100,000 Americans per year.

10) In the last two years, the Pentagon has embarked on a woke agenda. The army is short by 15,000 in its annual recruitment quota. The defense budget has not kept up with inflation.

One of the greatest intelligence leaks in US history just occurred from the Pentagon.

The Pentagon refused to admit culpability and misled the country about Afghanistan and the Chinese spy balloon flight.

The current chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff called his Chinese communist counterpart and head of the People’s Liberation Army to advise him that the US military would warn the Chinese if it determined an order from its commander-in-chief, then-President Donald Trump, was inappropriate.

This list of these self-inflicted disasters could be easily expanded.

But the examples explain well enough why our emboldened enemies do not fear us, our triangulating allies judge us unreliable and calculating neutrals assume America is in descent and too dangerous to join.

Yet without America, the result is a new Chinese order in which, to quote the historian Thucydides, “The strong do what they can, and the weak suffer what they must.”

Victor Davis Hanson is an American classicist, military historian, and political commentator. He has been a commentator on modern and ancient warfare and contemporary politics for The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, National Review, The Washington Times and other media outlets.

https://nypost.com/2023/04/14/bidens-endless-missteps-led-to-utter-chaos-around-the-world/

Sedentary time may significantly enlarge adolescents' heart

 In adolescents, sedentary time may increase heart size three times more than moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, a paper published in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports concludes. The study was conducted in collaboration between the University of Bristol in the UK, the University of Exeter in the UK, and the University of Eastern Finland. The researchers explored the associations of sedentary time, light physical activity, and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity with cardiac structure and function.

Recent World Health Organization reports and guidelines note that more than 80% of adolescents across the globe have insufficient physical activity per day. Physical inactivity has been associated with several non-communicable diseases in adults such as cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, and cancer. In the pediatric population, the majority of movement behaviour studies have focused on the effect of sedentary behaviour and physical activity on cardiometabolic health which includes blood pressure, insulin resistance, blood lipids, and body mass index.

There has been a gap in knowledge on the effect of sedentary time and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity on cardiac structure and function in large adolescent populations due to the scarcity of device-measured movement behaviour and echocardiography assessment in the pediatric population. A higher left ventricular mass, which indicates an enlarged or hypertrophied heart, and a reduced left ventricular function, which indicates decreased heart function, may in combination or independently lead to an increased risk of heart failure, myocardial infarction, stroke, and premature cardiovascular death.

The current study, which used data from the University of Bristol study Children of the 90s (also known as the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children) included 530 adolescents aged 17 years who had complete measurements of fat mass, muscle mass, glucose, lipids, an inflammation marker, insulin, smoking status, socio-economic status, family history of cardiovascular disease, echocardiographic cardiac function and structure measures, and accelerometer-based measure of sedentary time, light physical activity, and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity.

On average, adolescents spent almost 8 hours/day sedentary and about 49 minutes/day in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity in this new study. It was observed that both sedentary time and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity were associated with higher left ventricular mass. However, the increase in cardiac mass (3.8 g/m2.7) associated with sedentary time was three times higher than the cardiac mass increase (1.2 g/m2.7) associated with moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. This finding was observed in adolescents irrespective of their obesity status, i.e among adolescents who had normal weight and those who were overweight or obese. Importantly, light physical activity was not associated with an increase in cardiac mass but was associated with better cardiac function estimated from left ventricular diastolic function.

"This novel evidence extends our knowledge of the adverse effects of sedentary time on cardiac health. It is known among adults that a 5 g/m2 increase in cardiac mass may increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and death by 7 -- 20%. Engaging in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity also slightly enlarged the heart but it seems an acceptable negative side effect considering several other health benefits of moderate-to-vigorous exercise. Hence, public health experts, health policymakers, high school administrators and teachers, pediatricians, and caregivers are encouraged to facilitate adolescent participation in physical activity to enable a healthy heart," says Andrew Agbaje, a physician and clinical epidemiologist at the University of Eastern Finland.

Dr Agbaje's research group (urFIT-child) is supported by research grants from Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation, the Finnish Cultural Foundation Central Fund, the Finnish Cultural Foundation North Savo Regional Fund, the Orion Research Foundation sr, the Aarne Koskelo Foundation, the Antti and Tyyne Soininen Foundation, the Paulo Foundation, the Yrjö Jahnsson Foundation, the Paavo Nurmi Foundation, the Finnish Foundation for Cardiovascular Research and the Foundation for Pediatric Research.

Journal Reference:

1. Andrew O. Agbaje. Associations of accelerometer‐based sedentary time, light physical activity and moderate‐to‐vigorous physical activity with resting cardiac structure and function in adolescents according to sex, fat mass, lean mass, BMI, and hypertensiv. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 2023; DOI: 10.1111/sms.14365

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/04/230412131217.htm

Elon Musk launches AI company

 Tesla Inc. (TSLA) Chief Executive Elon Musk has launched an artificial intelligence company called X.AI, incorporated in Nevada, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday, citing a state filing. Musk is the only listed director of the company, and Jared Birchall, the director of Musk's family office, is its secretary, the report said, adding that the filing was made last month. X.AI has authorized the sale of 100 million shares for the privately held company, according to the report. Earlier Friday, the Financial Times said that Musk was hiring engineers and talking to Tesla and Space X investors to launch an AI startup that would rival Open AI. According to the FT report, which cited anonymous sources, Musk has amassed "thousands" of GPU processors from Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) for the new venture.

https://www.morningstar.com/news/marketwatch/202304141288/elon-musk-launches-ai-company-wsj

Leaked documents show officials were aware of additional Chinese spy balloons: WaPo

 U.S. officials knew about additional Chinese spy balloons beyond the one that traveled across the United States in January and February, according to a report from The Washington Post.

The Post reported on Friday that the intelligence community also continued to have questions about the balloon after shooting it down in the Atlantic Ocean as it had sensors and antennas that the government had not identified more than a week after. 

The reporting was based on documents that the Post obtained from the classified documents leaked online recently that shared a wide range of U.S. intelligence and national security information. The suspected leaker, a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, was arrested in connection with the leak on Thursday and charged with violating the Espionage Act. 

The Post reported that the balloon that was shot down was one of at least three that intelligence agencies know of. One of the other two flew over a U.S. carrier strike group in the Pacific Ocean and the other crashed in the South China Sea, according to a top-secret document. 

The document did not mention launch dates for the balloons. 

Intelligence agencies refer to the balloon that traveled across the country before being shot down as Killeen-23. The documents the Post reviewed also mention balloons referred to as Bulger-21 and Accardo-21, but they do not make clear if these are the ones that flew over the carrier and crashed into the sea, respectively. 

A document produced by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) states that Bulger-21 carried surveillance equipment while circumnavigating the world from December 2021 to May 2022. Accardo-21 carried similar equipment and a “foil-lined gimbaled” sensor. 

The document includes an image that seems to connect Bulger-21 to one of six Chinese companies that the U.S. sanctioned in February for supporting the Chinese government’s spy balloon program, the Post reported. 

It states that Killeen-23 contained a parabolic dish, multiple unidentified sensors and a possible mast antenna, but the government does not have any “imagery collections of the bottom of the Killeen-23 payload to analyze for an optical sensor.” 

Another document states that Killeen-23’s entry into U.S. airspace likely surprised parts of the Chinese government, as information about the incident was “heavily stovepiped” in the Chinese military. 

The Defense Department and Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment to the Post on the report. 

Republicans criticized the Biden administration over its delay in shooting down the balloon from February, arguing that it allowed China to continue spying on the U.S. The administration has said it took steps to limit the balloon’s capabilities while flying and wanted to avoid potentially harming anyone on the ground with falling debris. 

But NBC reported earlier this month that the balloon was still able to gather some intelligence from sensitive military sites despite the administration’s efforts to block it.

https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/3951680-leaked-documents-show-officials-were-aware-of-additional-chinese-spy-balloons-report/