📺 Yes, that smart TV is spying on you (turn off this secret tracking NOW)

Welcome to your Thursday, {{first_name | friend}}. In 2008, a guy in Australia decided to sell his entire life on eBay. And I mean everything: his house, his car, his job at a rug store, even an introduction to his friends. The auction started at $1.

People thought it was a joke. It wasn’t. The bids kept climbing, and when the auction closed, his whole life fetched a pretty shocking amount.

💰 How much did someone bid for this guy’s life, in Australian dollars? A) $1,500 (bargain basement), B) $38,000 (car money), C) $399,300 (small-house money) or D) $1.2 million (why, though?). Take a guess. The answer’s at the end, and yes, this really happened.

📣 Every time you open, reply or share, it reminds me why I started this. So thank you. If you’re up for it, pass this along to someone who’d vibe with it. One person at a time, this thing keeps getting better. — Kim

📬 Was this forwarded to you? Be the first to know, not the last to hear. Sign up now. It’s free!

⚡ TL;DR (THE SHORT VERSION)

📖 Read time: 2 minutes

I bet you never thought that while you’re watching TV, it’s watching you right back. The surveillance never stops, that’s one thing you need to know. But I always have your back.

Remember when TVs just showed you stuff? Those days are gone.

That beautiful 65-inch 4K you got on Black Friday for $400? It should’ve cost $1,200. The reason it was so cheap: You’re not the customer. You’re the product.

Every smart TV sold today has ACR (automatic content recognition) built in. It screenshots your screen every few seconds and matches those shots against a database. Cable, streaming, DVDs, gaming, even what’s on your laptop via HDMI. Then it sells that data to advertisers and data brokers.

They’re tracking every show and movie you watch, when and how long. Your Netflix and Hulu habits, even though you pay for those. What games you play. Which commercials you skip.

Combine that with your IP address and purchase history, and they’ve built a profile. They know you watch true crime at night, cartoons in the morning and fall asleep to HGTV.

Advertisers: Watch a Chevy commercial? You’ll see Chevy ads on your phone an hour later.

Data brokers: Experian merges your TV habits with credit card purchases, then sells access. Yup, another reason to use Incogni* to remove your info from data brokers. If you’re not in their databases, they cannot sell your info, just sayin’.

Political campaigns: They know whether you watch Fox News or MS NOW (formerly MSNBC) and target you accordingly.

Insurance companies: Some are using viewing data to assess “lifestyle risk.”

Think this is illegal? In 2017, Vizio paid $2.2 million to the FTC for tracking 11 million TVs without consent. Here’s the kicker: Samsung, LG, Sony and TCL still do the exact same thing. They buried the consent deep inside those legal terms they know you’ll never actually read.

Every brand hides these settings differently. Samsung calls them “Viewing Information Services.” For LG, it’s “Live Plus.” Vizio buries them in “Reset & Admin.” 

I’ve got a free step-by-step guide for every major brand. It only takes two minutes once you know where to look in your TV’s settings.

“I don’t care if they know I watch The Office reruns” misses the point. Your viewing habits reveal your income level, political leanings, health concerns and vulnerabilities. That profile gets sold, leaked or hacked. Unlike a credit card, you can’t change your behavioral patterns.

📲 Share the knowledge: Know someone who got a new TV? Forward this to them. Or use the share icons below so together we can protect the world!

It slaps bikinis on anyone. Including children. Gross. Then I talk to Kimberly from Los Angeles, who’s in an online relationship with a military man. Or is she? Plus, Google’s Play Store settlement, ChatGPT wants your health data and Jeff Bezos gets hacked.

Listen on Komando.com →

🎧 Or search “Komando” wherever you get your podcasts. I’m everywhere.

🫣 Apple caves to Google: You know how Siri was missing a little (maybe a lot) of oomph lately? After years of pretending it had an AI plan, Apple just copied Google’s homework. Starting this year, Siri will run on Google’s Gemini tech, finally catching up to Alexa and ChatGPT. It’s a “multiyear collaboration,” and rumor has it Apple’s paying $1B+ a year. If you listen really closely, you can hear Steve Jobs knocking over furniture in the afterlife.

Alright, alright, copyright: So Matthew McConaughey filed eight federal trademarks (paywall link) on himself. His voice. His face. Even a seven-second porch video. It’s a legal strategy to fight AI deepfakes before they happen. His legal 4D chess also makes sure he gets paid through AI instead of getting ripped off by it. I feel like we should all be trademarking ourselves at this point.

Teaching the bots: Everyone’s yelling AI takeover, but here’s the part they skip. The internet alone can’t teach AI everything, so real humans (like doctors, investors, engineers) are getting paid about $85 an hour to teach AI how professionals think. Not typing prompts but correcting its logic. One woman said it feels like mentoring a cocky intern. Finally, a job where talking back to your computer is billable. Sign up to get my weekly AI cheat sheet as soon as it launches.

🗑️ Zuck hits delete: Well, Meta cut 1,500 jobs in its metaverse division and shuttered three studios after blowing $70 billion. Their new plan? Pivot to wearables and AI-in-your-eyeballs smart glasses. Turns out people would rather spend $300 to look like a tech investor in Milan than hang out as a legless cartoon in Horizon Worlds. The Meta Ray-Bans, with over 2 million sold, are the new star. Meanwhile, the metaverse? It’s like your pandemic sourdough starter. It smelled weird, never really worked and quietly died.

🔒 End the forgotten password nightmare: Reusing passwords is a trap. One leak, and your bank, email and social accounts are exposed. I don’t play that game. I use NordPass to generate and store bulletproof logins. I only recommend tools I use myself, and this is total peace of mind for only $1.43 a month. Secure your digital life for 52% off now.*

😬 Owner of a jailbroken heart: A woman’s ex-boyfriend allegedly created fake AI-generated texts that looked like she was harassing him. She landed in a Florida jail for two days before anyone thought to verify whether the accusations were true. What? No one checked the evidence, just handcuffs straight to jail? It took eight months to clear her name. I really hope we’re not entering “screenshot = sentence” territory. Detection tools can’t keep up with AI anymore. If this can happen to her, it can happen to you.

Anxiety, depression and hostility. The data is clear on what social media does to kids. Here’s my take in this short podcast.

Listen on Komando.com →

🎧 Or search “Komando” wherever you get your podcasts. I’m everywhere.

⚡️ 3-second tech genius: On your next lunch break, type “play solitaire” into Google Chrome Incognito to unwind for a few minutes. You can also play other games like Minesweeper, Pac-Man or Snake. Cool part? No downloads, no sign-ups and no traces once the tab is closed.

Windows update alert: Microsoft’s rolling out a new security update that fixes bugs and improves stability. The patch addresses networking issues and a battery drain problem on some PCs using AI chips. If you haven’t been prompted yet, go to Settings > Windows Update > Check for updates. Let it install, then restart your PC.

🗂️ Change the default app: macOS guesses which app should open a file, but it doesn’t always get it right. If you want a file type, like JPGs, to always open in Photoshop instead of Preview, select the file in Finder and press Command + I. Under Open with:, choose the app you want, then click Change All. Problem solved.

Free for Roku owners: Yesterday, I recommended moving your streaming stick away from the TV to keep it from overheating and speed up performance. Reader Nancy told me that Roku will send a free HDMI extender cable to owners of the Roku Streaming Stick. Pretty cool. Thanks for the tip, Nancy!

🛜 Wi-Fi’s down, and you need internet right now: Your phone can save you. Plug it into your laptop with a USB cable, yes, the actual wire, and boom, instant internet. iPhone: Settings > Cellular > Personal Hotspot. Android: Settings > Mobile Hotspot > USB Tethering. Way faster than a regular hotspot, and your laptop won’t kill your phone battery. But don’t stream 4K and blow through your data plan.

We’ve all had the same intrusive thought: The Roomba is stuck and beeping again, the pool is right there, and gravity exists. That urge was innovation arriving early.

Meet the Beatbot AquaSense 2 Ultra, a $2,800+ AI-powered robot that maps your pool, scrubs the floor, walls and waterline, skims the surface and even clarifies the water. 

It filters everything, cleans huge pools, works anywhere and resurfaces before diving dramatically, waiting to be admired like a productive, waterproof seal.

Coming tomorrow: John Wayne will read your PDFs, and Maya Angelou could narrate your documentary. These celebrities may no longer be alive, but their AI-cloned voices are here to stay. Tomorrow, I’ll explain how this is legal and ask what you think. Is this a cool way to keep legacies alive or just plain creepy? Be sure to answer my poll then!

💰 The answer: C) $399,300. In 2008, Ian Usher from Perth, Australia, put his entire life on eBay after a divorce. Everything, his three-bedroom house, car, motorcycle, jet ski, job and introductions to all his friends. The listing went viral.

Here’s the twist. The sale fell through when the top bidder couldn’t get the money together. Neither could the runners-up Ian contacted. But Ian still sold his house (with a plain old real estate agent), created a bucket list of 100 goals and spent the next year-plus traveling the world, skydiving, running with bulls and eventually finding love again. He wrote a book about it called A Life Sold: What Ever Happened to That Guy Who Sold His Whole Life … on eBay? 

You can buy someone’s life, but you can’t buy their personality.

One for the road: I’ve decided to sell all my John Lennon memorabilia on eBay. Imagine all the PayPal! (lol)

🌟 You survived 100% of your worst days. You’re undefeated. — Kim

Kim Komando • Komando.com • 510+ radio stations • Trusted by millions daily

Love this newsletter? Forward to a friend

Photo credit(s): ChatGPT, SunTrok, Beatbot

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.