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Happy Friday, {{first_name | friend}}. You know the drill. Coffee. This newsletter. World domination. In that order.
🧨 Remember when "logging off" was a thing you could do? Now, every tap, swipe and "Hey Siri, is this rash normal?" generates data. Texts, photos, searches, GPS pings, app activity. Your phone is basically a court stenographer for your entire life. And it doesn't stop when you put it down. Background refresh, Wi-Fi probing, Bluetooth beacons. It's working overtime in your pocket while you sleep.
All that invisible activity adds up to a LOT of data every single day. How much digital data does the average person generate per day? A) 0.5 GB, B) 1.7 GB, C) 5 GB or D) 10 GB? Lock in your guess. The answer's at the end.
February’s $7,000 giveaway means someone’s winning $250 today. If you see a big red box at the top that says “Claim your prize,” congratulations. If not, there are plenty of days left. Let’s talk about what’s happening in tech. — Kim
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TODAY’S DEEP DIVE
Who dis?
Image: Gemini
⚡ TL;DR (THE SHORT VERSION)
Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses have a hidden camera and five mics. It can ID you in 90 seconds using 3 billion profiles.
People are disabling the recording light and secretly filming women, dates, even sex.
There’s no federal law protecting your face. Here’s how to spot the glasses and protect yourself.
📖 Read time: 2.5 minutes
A stranger in line at Starbucks glanced at you. Normal, right? Nope. They’re wearing Ray-Bans with a tiny camera you’d never notice. In about 90 seconds, their phone shows your name, where you work and your last three Instagram posts.
You didn’t consent. You couldn’t opt out.
📷 What these glasses actually do
Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses look like sunglasses but pack a 12-megapixel camera and five mics. Say, “Hey, Meta, take a video” or tap a tiny button, and you’re rolling. A small white LED blinks when recording, but it’s invisible in sunlight. Over 7 million pairs sold in 2025.
Meta is putting facial recognition called Name Tag into the glasses. This would match your face against 3 billion people across Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, then serve up your name, your job, your socials.
A leaked internal memo says Meta plans to launch during a “dynamic political environment” when privacy groups are distracted. They’re literally waiting for nobody to be watching.
🗣️ TEXT/POST THIS STAT: Meta’s smart glasses can identify you by your face in 90 seconds. Over 7 million pairs sold last year. And a leaked memo shows they timed the facial recognition launch for when nobody’s paying attention. GetKim.com
🚨 It’s already being used
Two Harvard students built a tool using these glasses and facial recognition scrapers to identify strangers on the Boston subway. Name, address, phone number in 90 seconds. Even if you delete every social media account you have, your face is sitting in databases scraped from LinkedIn, Venmo, even old news articles.
At the University of San Francisco, a man wearing Ray-Ban Metas recorded women and posted the videos. One woman discovered she’d been recorded when a friend sent her a TikTok. By then, it had 23 million views and hundreds of sexually explicit comments.
Then there’s David Williams who met a woman on a dating app. They went back to a hotel. He secretly recorded the entire encounter through his smart glasses. The next day, she texted him, “thanks for a good time.” He replied by sending her the sex video. Ahem, the guy wore glasses to bed. That alone should’ve been a red flag. He pleaded guilty to voyeurism. Nutcase.
🛡️ How to spot them and protect yourself
Look for the LED. A small white light on the right frame blinks during recording. People are known to cover it with stickers or nail polish. Argh.
Check the frames. Ray-Ban Metas have slightly thicker temples than Ray-Bans.
Ask. You have every right to ask if they’re recording. If they get weird about it, there’s your answer.
Know your (lack of) rights. No federal law in the U.S. protects your face. Illinois has BIPA, the toughest biometric privacy law in the country, and it’s the only reason Meta’s paid over $2 billion in fines. Most states? Nothing.
📩 Send this to someone who … wouldn’t think twice about a stranger in sunglasses. Use the handy icons below.
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THE KIM KOMANDO SHOW
Don’t just listen! Watch!
Investigators originally said there was no footage. Nancy Guthrie’s Nest doorbell was disconnected, and she didn’t have a paid subscription. Then the FBI stepped in. I break down how they recovered the video from Google’s backend and what that means for your privacy.
🎧 Or search “Komando” wherever you get your podcasts. I’m everywhere.
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💸 Sink or save: Browse my Amazon storefront for more self-care staples.
Prices and deals were accurate at the time of publication.
WEB WATERCOOLER
🧬 DNA detective work: Federal authorities are using genetic genealogy to analyze DNA found at the home of Nancy Guthrie, Savannah Guthrie’s missing 84-year-old mother. The FBI has access to massive DNA databases, including GEDmatch, which helped catch the Golden State Killer in 2018 after decades. Your family tree became part of the evidence.
Trojan dog: Remember when Ring’s new big AI Search Party selling point was helping you find a missing dog? About that. Ring’s CEO Jamie Siminoff admitted in a leaked email that the feature wasn’t only for lost pets. Ring flipped it on by default and connected neighborhood cameras into an automated search network. Add features like Familiar Faces and Community Requests for police, and boom, decentralized surveillance state. Told ya.
🧰 Disaster recovery disaster: I hate when my data’s future is decided by some exhausted developer’s shortcut. Dell patched a critical flaw in RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines where login credentials were hard-coded into the product, the enterprise equivalent of writing your PIN on your debit card. That’s how IT rolls your systems back to a clean copy and gets the business running again. Basically, the parachute. A China-linked crew called UNC6201 has been exploiting it as a zero-day since mid-2024. Yikes.
Lyft, but supervised: Lyft Teen lets 13- to 17-year-olds ride alone in 200+ markets if a verified parent or guardian sets it up. Parents get real-time tracking, pickup and drop-off alerts, and can contact the driver. Teen accounts use PIN verification by default, plus optional audio recording if the teen enables the mic. Lyft says only drivers with strong safety records and yearly background checks qualify. Heard that one before.
50 shades of AI: Once upon a time, Claude was the hot pool boy in a smut book. Now he’s writing it. The New York Times wrote about a South Africa-based romance vet who used to crank out about 12 books a year. She hit turbo mode with Anthropic’s Claude. In 2025, she self-published 200-plus Amazon romances (paywall link), sold around 50,000 copies and pulled in six figures. She even prompted a full rancher-meets-city-girl novel in 45 minutes. If she could write one in braille, that would be a touching story.
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
Why Calcium isn’t the bone-saving hero you were told
When I was growing up, everyone believed drinking milk was the key to strong bones and preventing fractures. But that advice hasn’t held up.
A 2013 Harvard study found men taking more than 1,000 mg of calcium supplements daily were 20% more likely to have heart problems. It also showed calcium and vitamin D supplements don’t actually reduce fracture risk in older adults. So what should you do instead?
There’s a better approach. NativePath Collagen supports bone strength and helps fight age-related bone loss naturally. Skip the calcium overload, protein may be the real secret to stronger bones.**
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Individual results may vary.
THE CURRENT POWERED BY KIM KOMANDO
Trapped in a scam factory
WIRED senior correspondent Andy Greenberg got a late-night email from inside a Southeast Asian compound. The message: “I am a computer engineer being forced to work here. I want to help shut this down.” What happened next will blow your mind. Hear my convo with him.
🎧 Or search “Komando” wherever you get your podcasts. I’m everywhere.
DEVICE ADVICE
⚡️ 3-second tech genius: If your car is a 2020 or newer, I bet it has a free app you’re not using like myChevrolet, FordPass, myToyota, MyHyundai, you get it. You can lock and unlock your doors remotely, start your engine from bed on a freezing morning, check your tire pressure, get maintenance alerts and find your car in a parking lot. Some let you set speed alerts if your teen is driving. Your phone becomes a remote control for your car. Nice.
Your Mac can answer your iPhone calls: Walking across the house when your phone rings? If your Mac’s open, it can pick up for you. On your iPhone, go to Settings > Apps > Phone > Calls on Other Devices and toggle it on. Works for texts, too, including those onetime passcodes you need for logins. Head to Settings > Apps > Messages > Text Message Forwarding and pick your Mac. Now your laptop pulls double duty. Neat.
💥 Hackers want your family photos: Ransomware locks your computer and holds your memories hostage for thousands of dollars. I only partner with brands I personally use, and Carbonite is my safety net. It backs up everything to the cloud automatically. If you get hit, simply wipe the drive and click restore. Get 50% off reliable backup right now.*
⌨️ Windows shortcuts that actually save time: Your taskbar icons are numbered left to right. Press Win + 1 to open the first, Win + 2 for the second and so on. Instant launch. Want to snap an app to the top half of your screen? Win + Alt + Up arrow, then use arrow keys and Enter to place a second app below it. Need to find a file? Win + E opens File Explorer, then Ctrl + T opens new tabs in the same window. No more 15 windows cluttering your desktop.
🗣️ TEXT/POST THIS: Accidentally trashed a picture? Breathe. You’ve got 30 days before it’s gone for good. On Android, open Gallery > Menu > Recycle bin and tap Restore. On iPhone, open Photos > Collections > Recently Deleted and tap Recover. FYI, this is also where you go to permanently delete photos you don’t want lingering, like that accidental selfie from inside your pocket. GetKim.com
🕺 Kill the awkward silence between songs: Nothing ruins a playlist like a tiny pause that makes everyone stop dancing. Fix it. On Spotify, go to Settings and privacy > Playback and turn on Crossfade or Automix. On Apple Music, go to Settings > Apps > Music > Song Transitions and choose AutoMix or Crossfade. Try both to see which vibe fits. Your next house party will thank you.
WHAT THE TECH?
Image: Wini Camacho
🚗 Honey, I shrunk the Fiat
You know the bunch of clowns packed in a car shtick? This one’s the same, except the clowns are different personalities.
The Topolino XS is an ultra-minimal electric pod, about 8 feet long and 4.5 feet wide, with hundreds of customizable LED taillights, removable roof, glass and panels, so it flips between coupe, roadster and targa. It’s less “vehicle,” more Transformer succulent on wheels.
Unfortunately, it’s only a concept now, where parking is always easy and a speed bump doesn’t mean a trip to the ER. Watch it in action here.
LOGGING OUT …
🔜 Tomorrow: Hackers turned robot vacuums into roving spy cameras that shouted slurs and chased pets. An AI bot got rejected and wrote a full revenge blog post about the human who said no. Google caught someone firing 100,000 prompts at Gemini trying to steal its secrets. And TikTok is tracking you on websites you've never even opened the app for. Yeah, tomorrow's a wild one. See you then.
🌎 The answer is B) About 1.7 GB per person per day. Yep, that’s more than a full-length HD movie of you, apparently. If you burned all the data created globally in one day to CDs, the stack would reach the moon and back, twice. In 2025, the world created close to 200 zettabytes (1 zettabyte = 1 trillion gigabytes) of data.
And the craziest part? Most of that data is collected passively, without you ever knowing. Your phone, your smart TV, your car, your fitness tracker, even your fridge if it’s a smart one are all quietly reporting back. Byte me.
Nerd joke time: What do you call it when data goes on a difficult car journey? A hard drive. (I heard that groan. It’s OK, I did the same when I wrote that.)
👏 Every setting you change, every scam you dodge, every tip you share with someone you love? That’s you taking control. — Kim
Kim Komando • Komando.com • 510+ radio stations • Trusted by millions daily
🏆 THE KIM CHALLENGE: Forward this to ONE person who needs to hear it today. Pick the person who popped into your head while reading. You know who it is.
Photo credit(s): Gemini, Bob and Brad, Wini Camacho
Companies and products denoted by an asterisk (*) within this publication are paid sponsors or advertisements. As an Amazon Associate, the publisher earns from qualifying purchases. Statements regarding products denoted by a double asterisk (**) have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration; such products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. This newsletter is provided for informational and entertainment purposes only and does not constitute legal, financial, medical, or professional advice of any kind. Readers should consult with a qualified professional before making any decisions based on this content. The publisher disclaims all liability for any loss, damage, or injury resulting from the use of or reliance on the information contained herein.