😱 Your face, scanned

It’s Wednesday, {{first_name | friend}}. Your brain feels fried before coffee, but here’s the thing. Even fully charged, it barely sips power.

⚡ About how many watts does the human brain use at rest while at ohm? A) 5 watts, like a charging smartwatch, B) 20 watts, a common incandescent bulb, C) 100 watts, a small desk fan on medium, D) 400 watts, a gaming PC pushed hard? The shocking answer is at the end. Spoiler: Your nephew’s TikTok addiction uses more electricity than his actual thoughts.

🏷️ Your personal life is for sale. Right now, hundreds and hundreds of data brokers are making money selling your home address, phone number, politics and even health records. They sell it to scammers and advertisers without your permission. I use Incogni to wipe my info from their databases automatically. Take back your privacy and get 60% off with code KIM60.* More below.

Before we jump in, heads up: Someone reading this just won $250. If that’s you, scroll up and grab it. If not, keep opening these emails. Your turn could be coming. Now let’s dive into the tech news and tips you need today.

🚲 We’re building momentum here, and it’s thanks to readers like you. Want to help keep it rolling? Send this to a friend. — Kim

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⚡ TL;DR (THE SHORT VERSION)

📖 Read time: 3 minutes

Never owned a Ring. Never agreed to Amazon’s terms. Doesn’t matter. Walk past your neighbor’s house, and your face gets scanned, uploaded and stored.

Ring’s Familiar Faces has a great pitch. Tag friends and get alerts like “Mom at Front Door.” It’s off by default, but most people turn it on without understanding what it does. When they do, it scans everyone. Kids. Mail carriers. You getting your steps in. 

Want to avoid it? Wear a hat. Per Ring’s own support docs, hats and scarves block recognition. That’s how janky this is.

Even if you’re never identified, your faceprint is kept for six months. You’re archived in a digital lineup, waiting to be matched. That includes minors.

This feature requires Ring Home Premium, Amazon’s priciest plan. Your neighbor is paying a premium to surveil you.

Ring’s Video Descriptions AI makes it creepier. It generates searchable text like “two men in hoodies near white truck” or “hottie in a sports bra.” Any neighborhood becomes a searchable surveillance network.

Ring partners with over 2,600 police departments. In 2025, they integrated Community Requests directly into Axon Evidence, the same software cops use for body cams. Ring also teamed up with Flock Safety, used by ICE, the Secret Service and thousands of local departments. 

Fair’s fair. Ring footage has solved burglaries, found missing kids and identified hit-and-run drivers. It alerts you when your kids get home or flags a stranger at the door.

The tech isn’t evil. The question is who controls the data. If you own a Ring, use it responsibly:

Pro tip: Ring doorbells can warn people when they get too close by saying, “Hi, you are currently being recorded,” through its built-in speaker. To turn this on, open the Ring app, tap More (three dots) on the camera > Settings > Smart Responses > Motion Warning. 

Today it’s doorbells. Tomorrow it’s drones, delivery vans and smart fridges. Combine Ring with Flock’s license plate readers and AI that can search for a red jacket and white sedan, and you’ve got a private surveillance network. What a world.

🏘️ Send this to anyone with a Ring camera. They probably have no idea what it’s actually doing. Most people think this only affects Ring owners. It doesn’t. It affects everyone who walks past one. Use the share icons below to post this on social media or email it to a friend.

🚪 Before you scroll down, what does 007’s doorbell sound like? Dong. Ding Dong.

ICYMI, this week's show is wild. Google coughs up $68 million, one scammer sells the same two cars 47 times before getting caught, and I unpack the most insane corporate revenge scheme I've covered in years. Watch on my YouTube channel, the live caller reactions are priceless.

📺 Watch my show right now on YouTube! It’s a fun time! →

🚩 The grooming pipeline: This is how it happens. A Florida sheriff says two sisters, 12 and 15, allegedly met a 19-year-old man on Roblox last summer, then took the convo to Snapchat, where it turned into constant messaging and gifts, like food showing up at their home. The girls disappeared Saturday evening, and deputies tracked the man’s car. Georgia State Patrol pulled him over early Sunday. The girls were physically unharmed, thankfully. The suspect from Omaha is now jailed in Georgia. Share this with anyone you know who has kids playing Roblox.

Mega merge: Elon collects companies like my uncle collects power tools. SpaceX is buying xAI (paywall link), the startup behind Grok. Musk wants AI, rockets, satellite internet and media all under one roof. Why? He says AI data crunching will be cheaper among the stars and wants to put data centers in space. Great, the whole planet will live next door to one. A source said the deal values xAI at $250B and SpaceX at $1T, making it the most valuable private company ever.

📘 Don’t let the AI revolution leave you behind. Your competitors are already using it to work faster and smarter. If you feel overwhelmed by the buzzwords, you need NetSuite’s free “Demystifying AI” guide. It explains exactly how to use this tech to boost your bottom line. If your business revenue is in the seven figures, download the free guide today.*

Epstein’s Rolodex goes public: The DOJ dropped what looks like the last batch of Epstein files, around 3.5 million pages, required by a 2025 transparency law. Tech billionaires pop up constantly (paywall link): Reid Hoffman 2,658 times, Bill Gates 2,592, Peter Thiel 2,281, Elon Musk 1,116, plus Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Zuckerberg and Bezos. Being in a file doesn’t mean someone committed a crime. It could be gossip, links or duplicates. That’s one hell of a Rolodex.

Waymo’s not special: We’re entering the era of only slightly overpriced robot rides. Obi simulated 94,000 trips in the Bay Area. Waymo averaged $19.69. Still higher than $17.47 for Uber and $15.47 for Lyft, but it’s almost neck-and-neck with Uber on mid-length rides. Analysts say the novelty’s fading, so Waymo may keep shaving prices as competition heats up. Or maybe people miss awkward small talk. Meanwhile, Waymo’s coming to over 20 cities after raising $16 billion. 

Your browser’s safe word: AI is everywhere, like it’s glitter and somebody knocked over the jar. Well, Mozilla is handing Firefox users a broom. At the end of the month, they’re adding a settings panel with one switch, called Block AI enhancements, that will turn off all of the browser’s AI features, plus stop future AI add-ons and pop-ups. Consent. What a concept.

🫁 Lungless, still alive: I thought having no lungs was a pretty firm deal-breaker. Not at Northwestern. A 33-year-old showed up with influenza B, then a nasty drug-resistant pseudomonas infection that basically turned his lungs into soup and sent him into septic shock, kidney failure and even full cardiac arrest. Surgeons removed both lungs, then kept him alive 48 hours with a custom, completely artificial lung circuit, long enough to get donor lungs and finish a double transplant. Breathtaking. Literally.

Craig Dubitsky is the founder of Hello Products (sold to Colgate) and the strategic mind behind the iconic EOS lip balm spheres. Now, he’s the cofounder of Happy Coffee, alongside Robert Downey Jr. I ask Craig how a 12-person team gets product into 17,000 stores and how NetSuite saved his operations when hypergrowth literally broke their systems.

Listen right now on Komando.com →

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

⚡️ 3-second tech genius: Gotta be smarter than hackers. They can use your phone’s sharing feature to send malicious files. Don’t let them. On iPhone, swipe down for Control Center > AirDrop > Contacts Only. On Android, swipe down for Quick Settings > Quick Share > Contacts Only. FYI, in places like airports or malls, turn it off completely. You’ll save battery, too.

Hide sensitive apps: Before you hand your phone to someone, get banking apps and others you don’t want to share out of sight. On iPhone, long-press an app > Require Face ID > Hide and Require Face ID > Hide App. It’ll move to the Hidden folder at the bottom of the App Library. On Android, go to Settings > Security and privacy > Secure Folder > Add apps.

💸 Speaking of apps: Those $9.99 charges are killing your budget. You sign up for a trial, forget about it and suddenly you’re down $200 a year. It happens to everyone. I use Rocket Money to find every single recurring charge instantly. It even cancels the junk for me. I saved $478 a year doing this. Stop the leaks and keep your cash.*

The “STOP” trap: Most unexpected texts that tell you to reply STOP to unsubscribe are scammers trying to confirm your number is active. Reply, and they know you’re a live person they can send phishing links to later. Do this instead: On iPhone, open the Messages app, tap the conversation, then the person’s icon at the top > Info > Block Contact. On Android, open Messages, long-press the conversation, then tap Block and Report as spam.

Keep your friends close: Sick of strangers adding you on Facebook? Open the mobile app > Settings > How people find and contact you > Who can send you friend requests? and set it to Friends of friends. Helps with those annoying impersonation scams, too, since they’ll need to be connected to your social circle first.

📍 GPS giveaway: Don’t give every app your exact location. Maps or Uber, sure. Others only need your general area. On iPhone, go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services, select the app and turn off Precise Location. On Android, open Settings > Location > App permissions, choose the app and turn off Use precise location.

The vodka brand Svedka is dropping $7 million on a 30-second big game ad built almost entirely by AI. Same studio behind Coca-Cola’s fever dream Christmas ad that creeped everyone out. This time, Fembot and her new pal Brobot glitch out after one martini and rediscover real human connection. We’ve all been there.

The message? Put down your phone and connect IRL. The irony? Robots made by robots telling you to unplug. Talk about a spirited performance.

🔜 Tomorrow: I’m pulling back the curtain on why you don’t actually own those movies on your Apple TV, Prime account or the games in your library. (Hint: A massive company almost deleted 1,300 shows people bought last month, and yours could be next.) Keep an eye on your inbox tomorrow. I’ll show you how to take your digital sovereignty back before it’s too late.

Don’t forget to look for that red winner’s box at the top of every newsletter. Tomorrow’s $250 winner might be you. Open your email to find out!

💡 Answer: B) 20 watts. That’s all it takes to run your brain at rest, about the same as a dim light bulb. Despite managing memories, dreams, awkward social flashbacks from 2009 and Wordle guesses, your brain hums along using 20–23 watts, according to the NIH and neuroscience literature. Training one large AI model? That can burn as much electricity as 100 U.S. homes do in a year.

Fun fact: Whenever I turn on a light, I say out loud, “Hey there, watt’s going on?” My family still shakes their heads when they hear it. Try it and see if you get the same reaction.

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🧐 AI is only as smart as the person asking the questions. — Kim

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

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Photo credit(s): ChatGPT, Lohas LED, Svedka

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.