And just like that, Mother’s Day is tomorrow, May 10th, which is too soon for most online purchases to arrive in time. That said, you aren’t alone if you waited too long to pick up a gift this year, and you definitely aren’t alone in feeling guilty for considering digital gifts instead of something your mom can unwrap. But here’s the thing: digital gifts can still unlock memorable experiences, be it movies, games, or music. They can also let your mom choose exactly what she wants, making them both convenient and versatile.
Technology
Roblox is changing online safety with AI
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If you’ve ever wondered how platforms keep up with millions of users at once, this is where things get real. Roblox has over 144 million daily users. That scale creates a massive challenge. Harmful content does not always show up in obvious ways. Sometimes, it is the combination of things that creates the problem. Now, the company is rolling out a new system designed to catch exactly that. But first, it helps to understand what Roblox actually is.
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MEXICAN ILLEGAL ALIEN ALLEGEDLY USED ROBLOX CURRENCY TO SOLICIT EXPLICIT CONTENT FROM KIDS UNDER 10
Roblox rolls out a new AI system that analyzes entire scenes in real time to detect harmful content across its platform. (Brent Lewin/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
What is Roblox
Roblox is an online platform where people can create, share and play games built by other users. Instead of being a single game, it is a massive ecosystem of user-generated experiences that range from simple obstacle courses to complex virtual worlds.
What makes Roblox different is how much control users have. Players are not just consuming content. They are constantly creating it in real time through avatars, text and interactive environments. That constant creation is exactly what makes moderation more complex.
A smarter way to spot harmful content
Most moderation tools look at one thing at a time. A message. An image. An avatar. That approach can miss the bigger picture. Speaking exclusively with CyberGuy, Matt Kaufman, Roblox’s chief safety officer, explained the shift clearly:
“We already moderate all of the objects in a virtual world, but how they come together and interact has long been a challenge. Our new real-time multimodal moderation system looks at an entire scene simultaneously from the user’s point of view – including 3D objects, avatars, and text – capturing all of these elements together in a specific moment to assess whether the combination of content types breaks our rules.”
This is called multimodal moderation. Instead of analyzing pieces in isolation, it looks at everything together in real time.
Why older systems were missing the problem
Here is the issue platforms have faced for years. Something can look harmless on its own. But when combined with other elements, it can become harmful or violate rules.
Kaufman puts it this way: “Traditional AI moderation systems, which moderate one object at a time, can lack context and miss combinations that could be problematic in ways that the individual items are not. This model understands the relationship between different objects and how they come together to catch nuanced violations that standard filters may miss.”
That missing context is exactly what bad actors have been exploiting.
What this new AI actually catches
This system focuses on scenarios that previously slipped through. Think about games where users can draw freely or customize avatars. A drawing alone might seem fine. An avatar alone might seem fine. But together, they could create something inappropriate.
Kaufman explains how the system handles that: “The system can detect combinations of objects that may violate our community standards. For example, some games allow free-form drawing. This real-time multimodal moderation system would look at the drawing, avatar, and 3D setting together and assess it holistically, in order to catch and shut down servers with violating content.”
Right now, the rollout is already targeting problematic avatars and inappropriate drawings.
LOUISIANA SUES ONLINE GAMING PLATFORM ROBLOX FOR ALLEGEDLY ENABLING CHILD PREDATORS
Roblox officials say the new system aims to proactively protect children while maintaining gameplay for compliant users. (Riccardo Milani/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images)
The scale is bigger than you think
This is not a small tweak. It is operating at a massive scale. Roblox says it is already shutting down about 5,000 servers per day for violations.
Kaufman says that reflects the reality of the platform: “With 144 million users connecting and creating on Roblox every single day, our safety systems must be as agile and dynamic as our creators themselves.”
He also adds an important reality check: “No system is foolproof against bad actors, so we are committed to doing our best to stay ahead of those attempting to bypass safety protocols, and we are working to scale this new multimodal system to capture and monitor 100% of playtime.”
What changes for everyday Roblox users
If you or your kids use Roblox, this system will likely work in the background without you noticing. But it changes how quickly harmful behavior gets stopped.
“When problematic behavior repeatedly occurs in a single game instance, this new system is designed to automatically detect and shut down those specific servers in real time, greatly reducing the number of users who might be exposed to that behavior.”
That last part matters. Instead of shutting down an entire game, it targets only the problem.
“By targeting only the violating server rather than the entire experience, we can help prevent violations from reaching more users while allowing well-intentioned players to continue their sessions uninterrupted.”
What this means for parents
For parents, this is a big shift toward proactive safety. Instead of waiting for reports, the system acts in real time.
Kaufman explains: “We want parents to know that we aren’t just reacting to reports – we are proactively building some of the most sophisticated AI moderation systems in the world to help protect their children in real time.”
There is also an important layer of protection during gameplay: “We can now evaluate a combination of problematic text, 3D drawings, or avatar movements in real-time and shut down that specific server immediately – often before a child ever encounters it.”
Still, Roblox stresses that technology alone is not enough. “No system is perfect, and we encourage parents to talk to their children about online safety.”
Ways parents can help keep kids safe
Even with advanced AI moderation, a few simple steps can help you stay one step ahead and keep your child safer online.
1) Talk about what your child is doing online
Ask what games they play and who they interact with so you stay involved.
2) Encourage reporting anything that feels off
Remind your child to report behavior that seems inappropriate or uncomfortable.
3) Check privacy and safety settings together
Review account settings to limit who can chat or interact with your child.
4) Set clear boundaries for gameplay
Agree on rules around screen time and which types of experiences are allowed.
ROBLOX CEO RESPONDS TO SCRUTINY OVER CHILD SAFETY: ESTABLISHING THE ‘GOLD STANDARD’ FOR SAFETY
Roblox targets nuanced rule-breaking by analyzing avatars, text and environments together instead of in isolation. (JasonDoiy/Getty Images)
How Roblox avoids false positives
One concern with any AI system is getting it wrong. Roblox says it is actively working to improve accuracy over time.
“We have a continuous evaluation loop set up to measure false positives from the multimodal moderation system, and we are training the system with that feedback to help it catch those types of examples in the future.”
User feedback also plays a role. “Our creators and users are often the ones to spot new trends emerging… This type of reporting is the most effective way for users to help protect the community.”
AI plus human oversight still matters
Even with automation, humans are still involved.”We already use a combination of AI and a team of safety experts to review content uploaded to the platform before it is ever shown to users.”
The new system adds another layer, not a replacement. “This real-time multimodal moderation system is an additional layer and is fully automated in its evaluation of the entire scene.”
What about privacy and fairness?
Any system this powerful raises questions about privacy and overreach. Roblox says it is limiting how data is used: “Our systems and processes are designed so that data collected for safety is used only for safety purposes.”
On fairness, the company points to ongoing training and transparency: “We are focused on ensuring our safety systems are both highly effective and fair.”
They are also giving creators more visibility: “We have introduced a new chart in the creator dashboard that allows developers to see exactly how many of their game’s servers have been shut down.”
Where this is heading next
This system is just getting started. One future focus is detecting recreations of real-world events that may cross the line.
Kaufman explains why context matters here: “Standard filters might see a specific building or a line of text in isolation and not recognize a violation. However, real-time multimodal moderation can understand the relationship between an environment, the way avatars are interacting within it, and the accompanying chat.”
There is also a push to go beyond shutting down servers: “We’re working on ways to identify specific bad actors so we can remove them without disrupting the experience for the vast majority of our well-intentioned players.”
Kurt’s key takeaways
This is a major shift in how online platforms approach safety. Instead of reacting after something goes wrong, Roblox is trying to stop harmful behavior before most users ever see it. That is a big promise, especially at this scale. At the same time, it highlights a deeper question about the future of online spaces. As AI becomes more involved in moderating behavior, the balance between safety, fairness and freedom will only get more complicated.
So here is the question worth thinking about: If AI is now deciding what crosses the line in real time, how much control are we comfortable handing over to it? Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com
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Below, we’ve curated a list of some of the best digital goodies that folks at The Verge have used or gifted. The list is curated by interests, too, so you can find the perfect present whether your mom is into the arts, exercise, or something else entirely. That way, you’ll at least be able to gift something more thoughtful than an Amazon or Walmart gift card — even if those are still totally viable options in our book.
Gifts for film and TV buffs
Whether your mom is a movie buff or an avid sports fan, there are a number of subscriptions that’ll grant her access to a wide range of content. Below are some of the most popular, as well as a few catered toward anime diehards, horror lovers, and those looking for something more niche.
$25
You can buy Disney Plus gift cards in increments of $25 up to $500. They’re usable toward Disney Plus subscriptions and bundles that include access to Disney Plus and Hulu, which start at $12.99 a month. That way, the family can stream everything from Andor and Paradise to The Bear and Percy Jackson.
- A gift card to a major streaming service like Netflix (Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart), Peacock (Peacock), or Paramount Plus (Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart) is a good gift that’ll cater to all kinds of passions. With a Netflix account, your mom can binge Stranger Things and Bridgerton, while Peacock provides access to shows like The Paper, Parks and Recreation, and Downton Abbey. A Paramount Plus subscription, meanwhile, lets her dive into Survivor 50, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, and the entire Taylor Sheridan universe — including newer series like Landman and The Madison.
- A Criterion Channel gift card grants access to more than a thousand classic and contemporary Hollywood, international, arthouse, and independent films. It also features programming that spotlights directors, stars, genres, and themes, including a “15-minute-a-month film school.”
- For the anime lovers in your life, a Crunchyroll gift card provides access to hundreds of anime shows and films shortly after they air in Japan, including Jujutsu Kaisen, Blue Lock, and Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury. They can even use the gift to purchase Crunchyroll’s extensive collection of anime figures, vinyl records, and clothes.
If you’re not sure which type of games your mom prefers, you can gift her an Xbox, PlayStation, or Nintendo subscription. Not only will these memberships grant them access to free digital games, but they also include perks such as online multiplayer and cloud saves, among other incentives.
$69
Giving the gift of Game Pass unlocks hundreds of great games to play, whether your recipient is a console or PC gamer. If you’re gaming on an Xbox, it also allows for online multiplayer.
- If your mom owns a PlayStation 5, a PlayStation Plus membership grants them access to free titles and discounts every month, lets her play games online, and allows her to access cloud-based backups. PlayStation Plus memberships start at $9.99 a month, and you can subscribe directly via PlayStation or buy a subscription with a PlayStation Plus gift card, which is available at Amazon, Best Buy, and Target in denominations starting at $10 and going up to $250.
- Nintendo Switch or Switch 2 lovers, meanwhile, might enjoy an annual subscription to Nintendo Switch Online, which starts at $19.99 a year (Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop). The membership lets your mom play more than 150 retro games released during the NES, SNES, and original Game Boy eras. She can also play online with friends, access cloud saves for games, and listen to her favorite Nintendo tunes via the Nintendo Music mobile app.
- If you’re willing to fork out extra money, you can also buy an annual Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscription. In addition to offering all the same benefits as the Switch Online membership, it also grants access to Game Boy Advance, Sega Genesis, and Nintendo 64 games, as well as DLC content for select titles. One of the latest additions is that the Switch 2 Editions of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom are included as free downloads for members. Individual annual plans cost $49.99 (Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart), while a family plan — which allows for up to eight accounts — is available via gift card at Amazon, Target, and Best Buy for $79.98.
- Alternatively, you could buy a gift card to a store like GameStop (GameStop), which is helpful if you don’t know which console your mom prefers, or if you want to give her the option of buying accessories and games.
Gifts for the adventurers and globe-trotters
Is your mom in dire need of a screen break? Fortunately, the internet is filled with travel-oriented gifts, ranging from the obvious — like airline gift cards — to national park passes.
$80
The America the Beautiful pass grants entry to all 63 national parks, from the Grand Canyon to Yosemite, along with over 2,000 recreation sites across the country.
- A GetYourGuide gift card provides an easy way to take advantage of guided tours and fun tourist attractions at various destinations around the world, allowing your mom to swim with sharks in Cape Verde or explore volcanoes like Italy’s Mount Etna (when it’s not erupting).
- For aspiring polyglots, a Rosetta Stone membership makes it easy to learn French, Arabic, Japanese, and other languages from the comfort of home. In addition to lessons, memberships come with helpful extras, including speech recognition tech to get the accent just right.
- Finally, a gift card to a rideshare service like Lyft (Amazon, Best Buy, Target) or Uber (Amazon, Best Buy, Target) — the latter of which is also good toward Uber Eats — will come in handy if she ever needs a ride to the airport and you’re (gasp!) unavailable to take her.
Gifts for health and wellness fans
For health and wellness enthusiasts, many services offer a wealth of streamable fitness classes to help them get fit at home. Other gifts can help your giftee practice self-care and lighten their load with meditation or massage. Below, we’ve listed out a range of options that’ll help your mom take care of both her body and mind.
$13
Peloton’s monthly subscription offers thousands of streamable fitness classes revolving around a variety of different workouts, ranging from strength training to stretching. It’s a service that’s available to everybody, so you don’t need to own a Peloton device to use it.
- A gift card for Headspace, a popular mindfulness app, offers members access to hundreds of expert-taught meditations, each designed to help her relax, sleep better, and improve her mental health. A gift subscription will run you $38.99 for three months, or you can save by getting 12 months for $68.99.
- If your mom prefers in-person classes to virtual ones, a gift card toward a ClassPass subscription will let her try thousands of gyms and fitness studios in her local area, not to mention nearby salons and spas.
- If your mom is too busy to prepare healthy meals every day, a gift card to Blue Apron, HelloFresh, or any meal prep service that offers a healthy selection of meal kits will be very welcome.
Whether mom is a diehard foodie, a wine connoisseur, or a caffeine addict, the internet is filled with subscriptions and gift cards for all types. Below are just a few of our favorites.
$90
With a subscription to Eater’s Wine Club, your giftee will automatically receive either two, four, or six bottles of wine carefully chosen by an Eater expert every month. Past boxes have showcased wines from all over the world.
- A Sur La Table gift card (Sur La Table, Kroger, Staples) is a great gift for the beloved chef in your life. Your mom can use it to buy whatever she needs for the kitchen, as well as to take online cooking classes in which live instructors help students make everything from chicken piccata to tiramisu. Classes start at $39 per household and last 90 to 120 minutes.
- If your mom has a sweet tooth, Goldbelly’s monthly ice cream subscription allows her to enjoy up to six pints of ice cream or 24 ice cream sandwiches a month, all of which are sourced from small creameries all over the country. It’s a pricey subscription, however, with a three-month plan going for an eye-watering $298.95. You can explore other subscription types, too, from BBQ to New York City staples, or get a gift card so your mom can order whatever she’d like.
- Counter Culture roasts delicious bags of coffee sourced from all around the globe. If you’re lucky enough to find them in local stores, well, lucky you! For coffee lovers looking to try their next great bag of beans, grab a gift card that can pay for a one-off order, or enroll in the company’s subscription service that sends coffee to you as frequently as you’d like.
- Sometimes, it’s better to leave the cooking to somebody else. If your mom is a foodie, a gift card to a food delivery service like DoorDash (Amazon, Best Buy, Target) lets her nab some crab rangoons from her favorite Chinese restaurant without leaving home.
Whether your mom is a musician or just loves to unwind with music, there are plenty of digital gifts catered toward her interests. We all know about Spotify gift cards (Best Buy), but there are also other streaming services that you can gift as a subscription, some of which we’ve highlighted below.
$25
Apple Music is a great gift for casual listeners, offering more than 100 million ad-free songs alongside support for spatial audio and Dolby Atmos. There’s no designated gift card for Apple Music, so you’ll have to buy a regular Apple gift card, but that’s not a bad thing, as it means they can also use the card to buy the latest set of AirPods.
- If you think that your mom might want to learn how to play the guitar, a Fender Play subscription can help them do so thanks to a continuously updated catalog of hundreds of instructor-led video lessons. You can gift them six months for $49.99 or 12 months for $149.99.
- Lastly, a Ticketmaster or StubHub (Amazon, Best Buy, Staples) gift card is a present that lets your mom buy a ticket to see her favorite musicians perform live.
Obviously, you could just gift a bibliophile a book, and they’d probably be happy. But what if you want to give them more than one option? In that case, a gift card to her favorite bookstore or a subscription to something like Kindle Unlimited — which grants members access to millions of ebooks and select audiobooks — is a good idea. That said, we’ve rounded up some of our favorite alternatives below.
$15
An Audible Premium Plus subscription grants instant access to thousands of audiobooks and podcasts, as well as one premium audiobook a month.
- For fans of Marvel and DC comics, as well as manga like Fairy Tale, a Comixology Unlimited subscription is perfect. For $5.99 a month, your mom will be able to enjoy over 45,000 comics and graphic novels, not to mention more than 2,400 manga titles from her phone or tablet. Subscribers also get discounts on select digital books.
- You can also gift your mom a Book of the Month membership, which currently starts at $59.99 for a three-book plan. The company curates a small selection of five to seven bestsellers and classics for members every month, making it easy to choose something to read quickly.
- If your mom prefers to pick up books from a brick-and-mortar bookstore, a gift card to Barnes & Noble (Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Best Buy) might be a good idea. For those who want to support local bookstores, there’s also a gift card for Bookshop.org.
- For those who prefer traditional newspapers and magazines, you can gift a subscription to The New York Times or The Washington Post, or publications catered to specific interests, like Cosmopolitan and National Geographic.
Movie buffs and bibliophiles are easy to shop for, but what do you get the creative mom? It’s actually not that hard — just buy her something to help her create, whether that’s an online course or access to a new tool. Below are a few subscriptions and gift cards that creators will love, all of which you can buy at the last minute.
$69
A subscription to Skillshare grants subscribers access to over 34,000 online classes related to graphic design, painting, photography, film, music, coding, and more.
- A MasterClass membership — which normally starts at $10 a month but is currently 50 percent off for all tiers — provides access to classes taught by world leaders and other subject matter experts, including screenwriters, musicians, and business experts. Going for a Masterclass Plus or Premium subscription allows concurrent viewing on two or six devices, respectively, and also unlocks offline viewing.
- An Adobe Creative Cloud subscription ($69.99 a month) is a great gift for aspiring and experienced creative professionals alike, one that provides access to popular tools such as Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, and InDesign. Adobe doesn’t support gifting subscriptions, so you’ll need to create a new account or log in to an existing account your mom may have. You can also purchase digitally redeemable Creative Cloud subscription codes from partner retailers like Best Buy, which is currently selling a 12-month plan for $406.99 (about $373 off) right now.
- If you think your mom might be interested in coding, a subscription to the coding educational platform Codecademy ($29.99 a month) can help her build her portfolio with online courses, a community, fun events, cheat sheets, and other resources. There’s even a $39.99-a-month plan for those looking to change career paths, which offers all the above, plus technical interview help.
- For giftees into arts and crafts, a Craftsy membership (normally $123 a year) grants access to more than 2,000 live and on-demand classes led by experts covering everything from baking and cake decorating to woodworking and painting. Members also get to connect with other crafters in the Craftsy community and attend live events.
Gift cards for pretty much anyone
$25
Amazon gift cards start at $25 and can be used toward purchases across a variety of departments. They’re also good for various Amazon services, including Amazon Prime Video, Audible, and Amazon Music Unlimited.
- Sometimes the best gift card is one that’ll give your mom a ton of options, especially if you’re having a hard time figuring out what she wants. Gift cards from major retailers like Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, and Target are perfect in these situations, namely because they’ll let your mom choose whatever she likes from a wide range of departments.
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Have you already tried removing your personal information from data broker sites? Maybe you Googled your name, didn’t like what you saw and spent the afternoon filling out opt-out forms on sites like Spokeo, Whitepages and BeenVerified.
That took real effort, and it wasn’t wasted. Still, it doesn’t mean you’re fully protected. The problem comes down to how data brokers operate. Their system isn’t intuitive, and common misconceptions leave people exposed without realizing it.
For retirees with decades of public records, property ownership and family connections, the gap between feeling safe and actually being safe can cost tens of thousands of dollars.
After years of covering scams, one pattern keeps showing up. The most targeted victims are not people who ignored the risks. They are people who took action and believed it was enough. Let’s fix that right now.
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HOW TO REMOVE YOUR PERSONAL INFO FROM PEOPLE-SEARCH SITES
Data broker listings often include sensitive details like your address, phone number and relatives, making removal a critical first step. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
Myth #1: “I already opted out, so my data is gone”
This is the most dangerous myth of all. And it’s the one I hear most often from retirees who’ve already taken steps to protect themselves.
Here’s the reality: there are hundreds of data broker companies operating in the United States. When you submit an opt-out request to Spokeo, you’ve removed yourself from one of them.
The others? They never heard from you. They’re still listing your name, your address, your phone number, your relatives and your estimated net worth — right now, as you read this.
And even the site you opted out of? It will likely relist your information within weeks or months. Data brokers pull from public records — property filings, voter rolls, court documents — that are constantly updated. Every time those records refresh, your profile can quietly reappear.
Unless you repeat them regularly, manual opt-outs don’t protect you in the long term. They buy you a temporary gap in coverage on a limited number of data broker websites.
You can use Incogni’s free scanner to check the biggest data broker sites for your information. You may be surprised by how much is still out there.
Myth #2: “My family members’ data doesn’t affect me — or vice-versa”
This one is painful because it involves the people you love most. Data broker profiles don’t just list you. They list your household. They list your relatives. And they map the connections between all of you.
When your daughter opted out of data broker sites, she removed her own profile. But your profile still lists her as a relative, with her current city, her approximate age, and her connection to you. That’s enough.
A scammer calls you: “Grandpa, it’s me. I’m in the hospital. Please don’t tell Mom-she’ll worry. Can you wire me $1,200?”
Scammers may already have your granddaughter’s name and understand your exact relationship to her. They know she’s your granddaughter, not your daughter, and that detail makes the call feel real. That level of accuracy is what triggers panic and lowers your guard. In some cases, they can even clone her voice using AI.
This is called the grandparent scam. It has evolved from a clumsy, random cold call into a precision-targeted operation built on data broker research. According to the FBI’s Annual IC3 Report, both the losses and number of victims of elder fraud have been climbing steeply over the last three years, with average losses in 2025 reaching $38,500.
10 SIGNS YOUR PERSONAL DATA IS BEING SOLD ONLINE
Taking simple steps early, like removing your data and freezing your credit, can reduce your risk during the most vulnerable time. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
Myth #3: “My information isn’t interesting enough to target”
I understand why this feels true. You’re (probably) not a celebrity, don’t have a massive social media following, and have lived a private life.
But here’s what a scammer sees when they pull up your data broker profile:
A paid-off home (public property records show no mortgage). A Social Security income estimate. An address you’ve held for more than 20 years. The names of your adult children and their addresses. A spouse or late spouse. And those specific details that answer every security question your bank still uses: mother’s maiden name, previous address and the city you were born in.
To a criminal, that profile is a goldmine. In fact, personal information is implicated in 72% of elder fraud cases.
Retirees represent the single most targeted group for financial fraud in the United States. Not because older Americans are more naive. It’s because their data broker profiles are richer than anyone else’s, built over 60 or 70 years of public records.
Myth #4: “If I haven’t been targeted yet, I must be safe”
Let me offer a different perspective. You haven’t been targeted yet. Or, more likely, you have been targeted, and the attempt simply didn’t land. A phishing email went to spam. A suspicious call got hung up on. A text message felt off in some way and you ignored it. Does any of that sound familiar? Here’s what hasn’t changed: your profile is still there, still searchable, and regularly being updated.
Data brokers don’t delete inactive profiles. They maintain them, refresh them, and sell access to them repeatedly. The question isn’t whether your information is available to scammers. It is. The question is whether the right scammer has found it yet-and whether they’ve decided the payoff is worth the attempt.
Some data brokers have been caught red-handed packaging large datasets and selling them directly to scammers for elder fraud.
Retirees with home equity, retirement accounts, or Medicare benefits are especially attractive targets. A scammer doesn’t need to reach 100 people. They need to reach one person at the right moment after a loss, during a health scare, when the grandchildren are mentioned and their research pays off.
THE DATA BROKER OPT-OUT STEPS EVERY RETIREE SHOULD TAKE TODAY
Removing personal data from data broker sites can reduce exposure to scammers and help protect finances and privacy. (Phil Barker/Future Publishing)
Myth #5: “This is a tech problem for younger people to worry about”
Your grandchildren grew up online. Maybe you didn’t, but that doesn’t mean digital threats can’t touch you. But data brokers don’t care when you were born. They care what you own, what you’ve signed and what public records document about your life. And for most retirees, those records go back further and run deeper than anyone else’s:
- Property deeds filed when you bought your first home in 1978
- Divorce proceedings from three decades ago
- Probate records from when you inherited property
- Business registrations
- Political donor records
- Decades of address changes.
All of that is legally collected and ends up in data broker databases. And all of it makes your profile more complete-and more dangerous-than your grandchildren’s. This isn’t a tech problem. It’s a paper-trail problem. And the paper trail you’ve left over a lifetime is the most detailed (and valuable) one in the household.
So what’s the solution?
The only real answer is regular, repeated data removal for you, and ideally, your entire family.
Submitting a few opt-out requests once is not enough. Your information keeps resurfacing as public records update, which means you have to stay on top of it. That can involve revisiting sites, sending new requests and checking where your data appears over time.
Some people choose to handle this manually, while others use automated services that send ongoing removal requests across hundreds of data broker sites. The key is consistency, because this system does not stop collecting or refreshing your information.
Think of it like a leak that keeps coming back. You can scoop water out now and then, or you can stay ahead of it with a system that keeps working in the background.
If you want a clearer picture of your exposure, you can run a scan to see where your personal information shows up online. That gives you a starting point and helps you understand how much work it really takes to stay protected.
See my tips and best picks on Best Identity Theft Protection at Cyberguy.com
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Kurt’s key takeaways
Protecting your personal data starts with action, but real protection takes more than a few opt-out forms. Submitting requests to a handful of data broker sites only limits exposure temporarily, and those same sites can relist your details as public records refresh. Retirees face a greater risk because their profiles hold decades of information that scammers can easily connect across family members. In many cases, scammers reach out but fail to succeed due to timing or suspicion, not because your data stays hidden. Staying protected requires consistent effort, since data brokers keep collecting and updating information behind the scenes.
If your personal data can resurface at any time, how confident are you that it is not already being used against you? Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com
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If you’re tired of running your vacuum multiple times just to get the dirt and debris out of the carpets in your living room, Dyson’s 360 Vis Nav is worth a look. It’s one of the more powerful robot vacuums currently available, and now through May 11th (or while supplies last), it’s on sale at Woot for an all-time low of $279.99 ($919 off) with a full two-year warranty.
The last-gen 360 Vis Nav offers a whopping 65 air watts of suction, allowing it to pull dirt, dust, and pet hair from carpets impressively well. In her brief time testing the robovac, my colleague Jennifer Pattison Tuohy said the Dyson “demolished a pile of dry oatmeal in seconds,” adding that she briefly worried it might even suck up the tassels on her large rug (it didn’t). By comparison, many robot vacuums — including Dyson’s new $1,200 Spot + Scrub AI — require multiple passes to fully eradicate the same kind of mess on your floor.
What’s more, the robovac’s small, D-shaped design and the location of its ultra-fluffy brush allow it to dig into edges and corners more effectively than many of the more roundish robot vacuums, while its lower profile lets it easily get under most beds and sofas. The roomy 500ml dustbin also means you likely won’t need to empty it too often, while Dyson’s built-in handle and terrific quick-release button make removing said bin a relatively simple task when it’s time to do so.
While it is undeniably powerful, it’s worth noting that the 360 Vis Nav lacks a few features found on some of its more modern rivals. Although its navigation worked well enough during our testing, it lacks AI-powered obstacle avoidance and doesn’t come with a self-emptying dock. Battery life is also relatively short at around 65 minutes per charge. Nonetheless, if your top priority is quickly removing dust, dirt, and pet hair from carpets without multiple passes, the Dyson remains an option worth considering, especially at this discounted price.
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