It’s Friday! Let’s kick things off with a little brain teaser. Considering all active Netflix subscriptions worldwide, what is the maximum number of people who can simultaneously stream the same show on Netflix? Is it … 1 million, 10 million, 150 million or is there no limit? You’ll find the answer at the end.

🍬 Glad to bestow upon you tech-know that you’ll use time and time again. Plus, lots of goodies to share with your family and friends. — Kim

Google might just be your biggest admirer. It knows more than some of the people closest to you. Weird to think about, huh? It goes far beyond where you live, your age, interests and favorite stores.

To get you geared up for the launch of our brand new Current Life Hacks newsletter, I’ve got a special tech tip today. It’s worth taking the time to really see what Big Tech companies know about you. 

🥇 Want to be the first to get my smart tips each afternoon? Sign up here.

A painfully accurate look at where you’ve been

Google Maps knows all the countries, cities and attractions you’ve visited. If you have Location History enabled on your Google account, take a trip down memory lane with the Google Maps Timeline.

This feature lets you see exactly where you traveled in the past, down to the specific time and route you took to get there.

Check your Google Maps Timeline on a computer:

• Log into your Google account, then open Google Maps.
• Click the hamburger menu in the top-left corner.
• Choose Your Timeline > Your Places > Visited. 

Or do it from your phone:

• Open the Google Maps app.
• Tap your profile or initials > Your Timeline.

If seeing this level of detail has you rethinking your settings, you’re not alone.

You can pause location history. You can always turn it on again if you choose, but for my money, it’s worth doing. Sure, it’s a little annoying when you have to type in where you want to go, but ah, the peace of mind.

• On your iPhone or iPad, open the Google Maps Timeline. Tap the three-dot menu > Settings and privacy > Pause Location History.
• On your Android, open Google Maps, tap on your profile or initial and select Your Timeline > More > Settings and privacy. Turn Location History off.
• If you’re on a computer, go to Timeline, click Settings > Pause Location History.

Yup, timelines are a thing of the past, present and future.

✅ Wait, there’s more! I can’t fit it all here, but Google tracks where you take every pic and personalizes the ads you see based on info that may or may not be correct. Dig in here.

🧒 Warn your kids: A new TikTok trend called “#boatjumping” is killing people. Rescue workers in Central Alabama say people are jumping off the back of moving boats; four died instantly when their necks broke. Seriously scary stuff.

I’ll take that, thanks!: Google updated its privacy policy, listing all the ways everything you do and say online can be scraped to build the company’s AI offerings like Google Translate, Bard and Cloud AI. Seriously, they reserve the right to harvest the data you post online. I smell a lawsuit.

Bogus refund: Be very wary if you get a package in the mail with IRS letterhead with a message about your “unclaimed refund.” The tax man warns scammers are using fake letters to trick people into handing over personal info like your Social Security number and driver’s license. Yup, it’s an identity theft scam.

😴 Get some Zs: Forget walking around to catch Pokémon. The new mobile game Pokémon Sleep tracks your rest and unlocks new cute monsters. Btw, they say it won’t work on your nightstand and recommend leaving your phone by your pillow. Uh, I vote you don’t keep an app running and in your bed all night.

Update your Android: Be sure to get the latest security update for Android OS that fixes 46 vulnerabilities, including three that hackers are exploiting. If you use Android 11, 12 or 13, I’m talking to you.

Wrong guy, Sherlock: Did you see the viral video of a jerk carving the names Ivan and Haley into the wall of the Colosseum in Rome? Internet “sleuths” decided the culprit was a lawyer named Ivan M. Camejo. He and his wife (yes, her name is Haley) were attacked on social media, and someone even posted their home address. Yeah … they’ve never been to Rome.

😉 Secret Prime Day Sale link: Amazon Prime Day is next Tuesday and Wednesday. I found a secret page where you can see the deals and add the ones you want to your “Watchlist.” Here’s the page for you to bookmark and check out. Ssshhh!

📺 Artificial Intelligence can’t count fingers: AI can write essays, diagnose illnesses and even develop software. But there’s one thing AI can’t seem to get right: Human hands. This fun video explains why our digits are so vexing.

Sound like a tech pro, even if you're not one. Try my award-winning, daily podcast. Search for my last name with "K" wherever you get your podcasts and "Go Komando!"

Listen to my podcast, Kim Komando Today, here.

Another day, another bad app. Cybersecurity researchers at Pradeo spotted two apps in the Google Play Store collecting and sending data straight to malicious servers based in China. Combined, they have 1.5 million downloads. Is one on your phone?

Look for these names

• File Recovery & Data Recovery (com.spot.music.filedate): Over 1 million installs
• File Manager (com.file.box.master.gkd): Over 500,000 installs 

Both are supposed to be file managers. In reality, they’re spyware apps that collect a lot of info and send it off to 100+ different destinations, most located in China.

In the Play Store, both apps claimed they don’t collect data. Uh, they lied. Oh, and there’s no way to delete or request deletion of that data, either. Collected data includes:

• Contacts stored in the device and connected accounts like email and social media
• Pictures, audio files and videos
• GPS location
• Network provider, plus the phone’s operating system and model info

Stay vigilant

The scary thing is you can’t always spot malware. It can hide in apps that seem completely legit — or even apps that WERE safe to use and then compromised. In this case, though, there were a couple of giveaways.

• The apps asked for all these permissions upon download. Don’t mindlessly click through and accept when looking for a new app. Look through the list of permissions and determine whether it’s really worth giving that up.
• They had a ton of downloads and very few reviews. Bad sign! Anything popular will have its fair share of good and bad reviews.
• They disappeared from the home screen. This is a sneaky tactic malicious apps rely on. Everything seems normal, then the icon for the app is nowhere to be found. The best case for the shady developer is you forget you downloaded this junk, and it stays hard at work mining your data.

⚠️ Was one of these apps on your phone? Sorry, friend, but it’s time to do a factory reset. It’s a bit of a pain, but there’s no getting around it once you download malware.

Stop fumbling around with a printed boarding pass and access a digital version. You get to skip that annoying line and might save some cash. Some airlines are starting to charge for printing your boarding pass.

It’s as easy as logging into the airline’s website or checking in via email. You’ll see an option to get your boarding pass via email. Another option is downloading your airline’s app to access it. 

From there, you can add it to your phone’s digital wallet.

• If you get your boarding pass through email, Apple Mail can automatically add it to your wallet. Otherwise, open the email attachment and tap Add to Apple Wallet > Add.
• On Android, use the Google Wallet app. Follow the instructions here.

➕ Bonus if you download your airline’s app: You can watch where your checked bags go; you’ll get an update every time they hit a new destination. I still toss an AirTag in my bag. Tile works if you’re an Android user.

✈️ My friend Jason told me he was threatened at the airport the other day. At the check-in counter, the woman said, “Window or aisle.” He said, “Window or you’ll what?”

✅ Psst, hey you: Get more tips like this every day with our Current Life Hacks newsletter, coming soon. Be the first to get it!

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How do trees access the internet? They … log on.

📺 The answer: There's no limit. As long as they have an active subscription and internet connectivity, all Netflix subscribers worldwide can stream the same show simultaneously. Isn't that amazing?

Thanks for being here. Have a beautiful weekend, be sure to catch my national radio show while you’re driving around or podcast on your walk, and I’ll be back in your inbox Sunday with the best tech newsletter in the world! – Kim