Security – Daves Computer Tips

Your Devices Are Spying On You!

John Durso — Mon, 04 May 2026 04:27:29 +0000

A few months ago, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton won a major agreement with Samsung Electronics America, Inc. to stop collecting data without prior consent. Many consumers are unaware that their smart TVs and streaming devices are essentially spying on them. Manufacturers use a form of data collection called Automatic Content Recognition (ACR). This technology is placed on smart TVs…

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One Simple Browser Setting To Enhance Security

Jim Hillier — Fri, 01 May 2026 07:21:20 +0000

You’ll all be aware of the “HTTP” and “HTTPS” prefixes for URLs. HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) was the standard for many years, but these days HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) is the new standard. As the name suggests, HTTPS adds a layer of security via encryption, which protects the privacy and integrity of data exchanged between the web browser and a website.

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Has Security Software Won The Battle Against Malware?

Jim Hillier — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 06:10:30 +0000

For years, malware purveyors and antivirus developers have played a game of whack-a-mole, and now it seems that antivirus software has well and truly come out on top. I remember years ago when malware infections were so prevalent that there were specialist sites set up to help users identify the various types of malware and come up with solutions. For example, who remembers HijackThis?

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How To Manage Your Google Profile Visibility

Jason Shuffield — Thu, 19 Mar 2026 04:33:57 +0000

If you were here last week, I talked about how to remove third-party apps from your Google account. If you missed it, you can find it here: How To Remove Third-Party Apps from Google This week, I want to stick with the Google subject and teach you more. What are you teaching us this week? Good question. I’m going to show you how you can manage who sees your Google profile.

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How To Remove Third-Party Apps from Google

Jason Shuffield — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 04:21:20 +0000

Last week, we covered how to enable clipboard alerts on Samsung. If you missed that one, you can find it here: How To Enable Clipboard Alerts on Samsung This time, I wanted to show how you can remove third-party apps that you have connected to your Google account. You might not realize that when you connect an app to a website, it has access until you delete it from your Google account.

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How To Enable Clipboard Alerts on Samsung

Jason Shuffield — Thu, 05 Mar 2026 05:16:56 +0000

Last week, I covered how you can blur your home on Google Maps. If you missed that one, you can find it here: How To Blur House On Google Maps I want to stick with the subject of privacy and security. This time, we will give you a safety tip for your Samsung Android phone. You might know that apps might try to look at your clipboard without your permission. No one wants anyone accessing parts…

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AnyTech365 AntiScam Ultimate Overview & Giveaway

Richard Pedersen — Thu, 29 Jan 2026 21:39:22 +0000

This contest has now expired. Winners will be notified by email. Congratulations to the Winners and Thank You to everyone who participated! AnyTech365 has kindly offered our DCT readers a chance to win one of five licenses for their AntiScam365 Ultimate programs. These are one-year/one PC licenses and are currently each valued at $80.00 (US). “AnyTech365 AntiScam Ultimate combines full…

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How To Stop ChatGPT Using My Data

Jason Shuffield — Thu, 22 Jan 2026 05:05:56 +0000

Last week, we covered How to Create a Shortcut on your Android phone from Google Chrome. If you missed that, you can find it here: How To Create Shortcut On Android This week, I wanted to jump off this subject and talk about ChatGPT. ChatGPT has been taking over the world in the last few years. Many people use it for their jobs or personal projects. I know many companies even use it for…

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How To Stop Gemini From Reading Screen

Jason Shuffield — Thu, 01 Jan 2026 05:04:20 +0000

Last week, we covered how to adjust Facebook Display Settings. If you missed that article, you can find it here: How To Adjust Facebook Display Settings This week, I want to cover something on privacy. Not on Facebook, but a Google AI feature called Gemini. I want to bring this up because I received a notification that Google turned on Gemini, and it would automatically capture information on…

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Patch My PC

Terry Hollett — Tue, 23 Dec 2025 05:15:50 +0000

I recently ran WinGet to update the apps on my computer. It ran OK with one small snag. WinGet Breaks 4K Downloader Plus I was made aware of a program called “Patch My PC”. Thanks, Mindblower. A search shows it’s been covered before in past articles. Read: Top Notch Free Software Updater How To Patch My PC So I decided to try out the latest version. I downloaded the portable…

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Update Your Phone’s Emergency Address

Jim Canfield — Wed, 19 Nov 2025 05:01:14 +0000

In a previous article, I mentioned that some of my clients experienced poor phone coverage. Their problems varied from issues occasionally popping up to major issues where their calls went directly to voicemail, low or spotty volume, and messages arriving late. I showed that the phones could use Wi-Fi Calling, which usually fixed the issue. However, when using Wi-Fi Calling…

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Turn Off Activity History For Privacy

Terry Hollett — Tue, 11 Nov 2025 05:03:11 +0000

After watching some YouTube videos, I discovered that Microsoft keeps a log of your activities in a file called “ActivitiesCache.db”. I thought it was only for Windows 11, but I also found the file on all of my Windows 10 computers. The path to the file on my system is C\Users\Terry\AppData\Local\ConnectedDevicesPlatform\L.Terry\ActivitiesCache.db It’s a hidden file, so you have to show…

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How To Disable Data Sharing On Roblox

Jason Shuffield — Thu, 09 Oct 2025 17:20:29 +0000

If you missed it last week, we covered how to hide suggested reels on your Instagram app. Here is the link: How To Hide Suggested Reels On Instagram This week, we are going to change gears and look at Roblox. My kids and my wife play on this platform together. Yes, I do too, and I have been doing some research on it. What I recently found out is that Roblox sells and shares your data by…

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How To Stop Phone From Watching You

Jason Shuffield — Thu, 28 Aug 2025 17:31:34 +0000

If you were here last week, we discussed how to enable certain settings on the Chrome app. You can find out about that article here: How To Activate Essential Chrome Mobile Settings I wanted to keep on the subject of keeping you safe on your mobile device. In my research, I have now found out that your phone might be watching you through your camera app, too. Plus, it could be sending that…

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