It’s a wonderful Wednesday, friend. Well, air we go again. Some smart air fryers are cooking up more than just dinner. Researchers at U.K. company Which? found smart air fryers made by Xiaomi, Aigostar and Cosori send your data back to servers in Communist China — everything from what you’re cooking to convos it hears. Serving up hot intel!

0️⃣ Zero, zilch, nada. I get no spam phone calls and texts after using Incogni. It wiped my DOB, address, Social Security number, phone number and more from over 627 data-broker and people-search sites that sell your data. Use code KIM60 to get 60% off. It’s fabulous! — Kim

🆕 Today's podcast: The internet couldn't stop this death

⏱️ Daily Tech Update: The end of Google

💡 Digital Life Hack: Don't spill the beans to ChatGPT

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.

He called me, worried Google was in his life too much, and I told him no, that’s exactly how Maps is supposed to work. Your navigation app looks for patterns in where you go, and sometimes, it’s just creepy. Fortunately, on Google Maps, you can change a few settings to stop that tracking.

The bottom line

There’s a huge difference between a healthy dose of skepticism and true paranoia. When I hear from someone I’m genuinely concerned about, I privately recommend they call the National Alliance on Mental Illness Helpline at 1‑800‑950‑6264.

📩 We all know someone who’s convinced they’re being watched. If you need me to step in, drop me a line here. It’s my mission in life to lend a helping hand whenever I can.

I went looking for a service to remove my info from data brokers and people-search sites. With Incogni:

Instead of navigating these tricky sites, Incogni does the work. All I had to do was make an account and answer a few questions. Even better, they check on a regular basis that data brokers didn’t sneak me back in.

Sign up now before we hit the holiday rush and you’re bombarded with even more spam and junk. You won’t regret it.

👨‍💻 Say goodbye to being a cybersecurity researcher: For the very first time, it wasn’t a person who found a zero-day vulnerability; it was AI. Google’s Big Sleep AI used a method called “fuzzing.” In case you’re curious, the AI feeds random data into software to expose errors in the code hackers could exploit.

A scam in time for the holidays: “Card declined” messages are all over scammy retail sites. It’s a trick to get you to pay twice so they can steal twice the card details. Before you check out, make sure the URL starts with “https” (don’t skip the -s). My trick: Save money with the Upside app.* Use promo code KIM so they know I sent ya.

💪 Swole is the goal: Young men are flooding social media with the perks of testosterone replacement therapy, aka steroids. Are better endurance, bigger muscles, less fat and more dates too good to be true? Yes. Side effects include hair loss, acne, blood clots and, yup, things not working downstairs. Still, prescriptions are up 20% in the last three years.

Another example of AI doing the work of humans: Big retailers are using AI combined with real-time weather data to time ads and discounts. Take Walmart: This year, they dropped sunscreen prices a couple of weeks early after the AI algorithm noticed rain was all over the country. Normally, inventory analysts would do this work.

📦 Coming in hot: Amazon just got the FAA greenlight to fly new, smaller delivery drones that cross into pilots’ line of sight. First stop: Tolleson, a city west of Phoenix (not near me … yet). Fingers crossed this MK30 model is quieter than the others. Locals, no skeet shooting for prizes!

Speaking of Amazon: Bad news if you got a new Kindle Colorsoft — many people are complaining about the bottom of the color display having a yellowish tint. If you own one, contact their support for a refund or replacement. Replacements ship out next week.

Apple just dropped the update to test your hearing: You’ll need a pair of AirPods Pro 2 and an iPhone running iOS 18.1. Go to Settings > AirPods Pro > Take a Hearing Test. If hearing loss is detected, turn on hearing aid features under Settings > AirPods Pro > Hearing Assistance. FYI: The test takes about 10 minutes, and you’ll need to remain in a quiet room; otherwise, you’ll have to start over. Spoiler: This only works if you have mild to moderate hearing loss.

🎬 Plot twist: “Here” follows Tom Hanks and Robin Wright across a 60-year span, with de-aging done entirely by AI. A few years ago, this wouldn’t have been possible without Marvel-level budgets. Now? They’re pulling it off for $50 million. The trailer gave me goosebumps! At least there are still some scenes with real actors.

A walk outside (with my funny podcast!) goes a long way. Need more? All these finds are under $20.

🩻 I hope it can’t see me naked: Amazon’s Prime Video X‑Ray tool is in beta testing. AI creates spoiler-free summaries of a TV episode or season you’ve missed or need a refresher on. For now, it’s only on Fire TV devices. Where was this when I was watching “Succession”?

New to Google Chrome: The memory-hogger just got an efficiency update. Click the three dots (upper right) > Settings > Performance. You’ll see Memory Saver, which pauses tabs you’re not using. Your options are Moderate, Balanced or Maximum, so start with Balanced.

Page rage: You’re on a Windows PC and someone sends you an Apple Pages doc. Yep, you can open it. The easiest way is through iCloud for Windows. Steps here to set that up. If you don’t want to download anything, try a free online document file converter like Zamzar to turn the file into a Word doc.

📂 Mac quick tip: Here’s a shortcut to open folders. From your desktop, hit ⌘ (Cmd) then the down arrow. To go the other way, hold ⌘ and press the up arrow.

You’re never going to remember all your passwords: At least, not if they’re complex, strong ones like you need to protect your accounts. Stop writing them down and hitting “Reset password.” Try NordPass, and use this link to get 58% off.*

Wow, she sleighs it! Can you tell which is the real Mariah and which is wax? I say the one on the right is fake. (Yes, smarty, she misspelled “Tussauds.”)

One smart step for your Facebook account: Head to Settings & Privacy > Settings > Activity Log and take a look at your past activities (like election-related content). Remove likes, comments, searches, videos you’ve watched and even ad clicks from your history. Deleting old interactions gives your feed a reset. We could all use that now and then!

🤣 Since Facebook claims ownership of everything you post on their website, I think I should start uploading my bills.

✅ Don’t forget to check out today’s sponsor, Incogni. I’m so happy to hear from all of you who’ve reached out because Incogni’s working so well for you. Doesn’t it feel good to take back your privacy? Until tomorrow, stay your wonderful self. — Kim