🔍 Your apps are tracking you even with GPS off

Well, look at that, it’s a fabulous Friday, {{first_name | friend}}. 😊 In today’s episode of “Tech Companies Doing The Most,” I’m talking about one of the most surprising patents I’ve heard lately. 

🍌 In 2016, Amazon patented something bananas that will likely come to fruition. Can you guess what it was? A) A floating warehouse in the sky, B) Underground drone tunnels, C) Robotic shopping carts or D) Self-unboxing boxes? See if you’re right by checking the answer at the end. Don’t slip up!

🥩 Forward this newsletter to that one friend who thinks Amazon Prime is a cut of steak. After all, it’s a rare opportunity to get this quality of tech know-how for free. — Kim

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

Think Bluetooth is just for headphones and car calls? Think again. It’s one of the sneakiest ways apps track you, and most people have no clue it’s happening. 

Even when GPS is off, your phone is constantly “sniffing” for nearby devices like AirTags, smartwatches and fitness trackers. That’s normal. 

Here’s where it gets shady: Some apps piggyback on that signal to figure out where you are, how long you stay and who else is around. I’m talking about fitness apps, shopping apps, airline apps, even flashlights and wallpaper apps. (Yep.) 

Retail stores can use this data to detect when you walk by or how long you linger near a display. Creepy and totally preventable.

Plenty of popular apps request Bluetooth access, not to connect to a device but to build a profile of where you go and who you’re near. The good news? You can shut it down in seconds.

▶️ On iPhone:

▶️ On Android:

This has nothing to do with pairing your earbuds. It’s about passive location tracking done without GPS and often without your knowledge.

Even if an app isn’t malicious, this level of data collection adds up. It fuels ad targeting, influences your search results and even shows up in the prices you’re shown online.

If you’re not actively using Bluetooth with an app, it doesn’t need access. You’ll still get your texts, music and podcasts, just without handing out a digital breadcrumb trail.

Bluetooth is named after a 10th-century Viking king, Harald “Bluetooth” Gormsson, who was known for uniting Denmark and Norway just like Bluetooth tech unites different devices.

King Harald had a dead tooth that looked blue, hence the nickname. When engineers were developing a short-range wireless standard in the ’90s, they used “Bluetooth” as a code name, and it stuck.

The Bluetooth logo is a combination of the Viking runes for his initials: H (ᚼ) and B (ᛒ). Wow, right?

And just because… How does a pirate set up a Bluetooth speaker? Parrot with his phone. 🦜

Use the icons below to spread the word with your family and friends. I bet they don’t know any of this.

Your accounts have an expiration date. George, your AI host, reveals how long Gmail, iCloud, Dropbox and others keep your data before hitting delete. Plus, Amazon Prime’s crackdown and YouTube’s Family Plan changes.

Listen on Komando.com →

🎧 Subscribe on your favorite platform:

Hate scrubbing? Same. With eight brush heads, a digital display and a long handle, this makes tackling grime feel less like CrossFit.

📱 Phone screen cleaner (40% off): It’s like a lint roller for your tech. No sprays or wipes, just roll away the smudges.

🧼 Washing machine descaler (15% off): Because a clean washer = clean clothes. 4.6 stars and 137K+ reviews.

🚗 Car cleaning gel (11% off): Yes, it’s slime, but it’s also a dust magnet. More satisfying than popping bubble wrap.

💚 Refrigerator deodorizer (11% off): Way better than baking soda. Drop it in, and get a decade of freshness. So smart.

✨ The sparkle doesn’t stop here: I’ve got 25 more little game changers waiting for you on my Amazon storefront.

🛑 Don’t trust that form: Listen, if a Google Form ever asks for your bank info or logins? Close it immediately. Scammers are churning these out because they look clean, official, even hosted on Google’s real servers. Stanford staff fell for one already. Think of it this way: Forms are for pizza orders, not your Social Security number.

Ring of suspicion: Oura announced a Texas plant to make rings for the Department of Defense. TikTok spiraled into conspiracy theories about Palantir “stealing” user data and Oura suing rivals into extinction. The CEO even hopped on TikTok to debunk them. 

🤖 Murder chic: Shein accidentally used an AI model that looked exactly like accused murderer Luigi Mangione to sell shirts. The listing sold out before Shein yanked it offline, blaming a “third-party vendor.” Yikes.

📺 Dolby Vision 2 announced: The next generation of TV picture quality is coming, going beyond HDR. It’ll use “Content Intelligence” (AI) to adapt your TV to what you’re watching and the room’s lighting. Think clearer dark scenes, sharper contrast, richer colors and higher brightness. Hisense will get it first.

Walmart vs Amazon, round 92: Walmart+ just lobbed a grenade at Prime with its new offer of free Peacock streaming for members, starting Sept. 15. That’s Real Housewives, NFL and SNL, bundled into Walmart’s $98 plan, cheaper than Peacock’s $109.99 annual price. You can also swap between Peacock and Paramount+ every 90 days.

✈️ Board to be wild: “Airport theory” videos on TikTok dare you to show up 15 minutes before boarding. Maybe you’ll get lucky with TSA PreCheck or a delay, but odds are you’re dropping $400 on a rebook and crying at a Holiday Inn. Most clips are staged. Real advice? Two hours domestic, three for international.

📱 Talk to the dead: By 2030, visiting graves will be outdated. A Cambridge researcher predicts AI avatars of dead loved ones will be in our phones, ready for conversation 24/7. From Replika chatbots to funeral apps that let you “attend” your own service, the “digital afterlife industry” is creeping in. Btw, I’m going to share a story about this with you here on Sunday and ask for your advice.

Stuck in a bad convo? Your phone can bail you out with a fake call on demand. Here’s how to set it up to escape awkward chats, dates or meetings with ease.

Listen on Komando.com →

⚡️ 3-second tech genius: On YouTube, press Shift + > to speed things up or Shift + < to slow them down. Each tap shifts playback by 0.25. I use it for podcasts and slo-mo replays.

🤳🏻 Instagram finally has an iPad app: It’s different from the phone version. The app opens straight into a feed of Reels, with a new Following tab to see posts in chronological order. Comments show beside videos, and the DM page displays your inbox next to chats. Download it here, and drop me a follow for more tips.

My secret to speedy, safe devices: I use TotalAV to keep my devices safe and running fast. It blocks viruses, cleans out junk and even stops hackers before they strike. Get your first year for just $19 today!*

🌍 Fly in Google Earth: Did you know Google Earth has a free built-in flight simulator? Download Google Earth Pro on desktop and launch it with Ctrl + Alt + A (Windows) or ⌘ + Option + A (Mac). Pick your aircraft and starting point (or an airport), then take off. You can fly using either a mouse/keyboard or a joystick.

🍲 Not sure what’s for dinner? Tell a chatbot what’s in your pantry. I prompted: “I have rice, canned beans, onion, garlic, cumin and olive oil. What can I make?” It came back with two options: Simmer everything with broth for a bean-and-rice stew, or keep it dry and pan-fry for a burrito filling. Same ingredients, totally different meals.

You might be paying for subscriptions you don’t even remember. Rocket Money tracks them all and helps you cancel what you don’t need. The first time I used it, I saved $435. Give it a try and see how much you save!*

📚 Reading help on Kindle: Struggling with long pages? Kindle has a special font that makes words easier to follow. Open any book, tap near the top and select the Aa icon. Under Font > Font Family, choose OpenDyslexic. FYI: You can also adjust Boldness and Size here to suit your eyes. Cool, right?

18%
The slice of students who question the value of college education due to AI. For the other 82%, tuition is still worth the price of ramen and crippling debt. Students treat AI more like a nerdy tutor than an academic hit man. Half say it muddies their thinking, a quarter say it sharpens it. 

80,000
That’s how many AI-powered cameras Flock has watching U.S. streets. The $7.5B startup’s small surveillance-tech empire is peeking at plates, bumper stickers and dents on cars from Atlanta to Anaheim. Think Big Brother, but solar-powered and subscription-based. Cops say it’s helped nail everything from ATM gangs to would-be shooters, but privacy watchdogs are freaking out.

46%
The higher your hemorrhoid risk if you linger on the toilet like it’s a spa day. Doctors now say “three minutes max,” which means your bathroom isn’t a binge-scrolling sanctuary, it’s a ticking rectal time bomb. “One more video” is how civilizations fall … and colons, too.

🌟 Star me up

Google’s giving you the aux cord for Top stories. 

A new “preferred sources” button means you can finally tell Search, “Stop showing me random sites, and give me the good stuff.”

Here’s how to use it:

Think of it as pinning your favorite friend to the top of the group chat. I’ll keep your feed smart, sharp and not written by a bot named “NewsDude77.”

🌝 The answer: A) A floating warehouse in the sky. That’s right, Amazon filed a patent for a drone mother ship back in 2016, officially called an “airborne fulfillment center” floating at 45,000 feet. Drones would zip back and forth between this blimp and your doorstep like airborne Uber Eats, if Uber Eats served noise-canceling headphones and LED dog collars.

🎈 I tried starting a floating newsletter once … but it never took off. (I’ll see myself out.) 

This is America’s #1 tech newsletter, wishing you a great day. Tomorrow, I’m talking about robot vacuums that suck (in a good way), apps that don’t, and how to avoid falling for the hot robot that can’t clean.

See you back here then. There’s always more to explore. 🗺️ — Kim

📣 Don’t keep me a secret: Send your friends to GetKim.com

Photo credit(s): Midjourney, PFYPTU, Google

Companies noted with an asterisk (*) sponsor my national radio show. Also, as an Amazon Associate, we earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.

This newsletter and its content are intended for informational purposes only. They are provided without warranty of any kind. You shouldn’t construe anything provided here as legal, health, medical, technical, tax, investment, financial or any other kind of advice.

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