Welcome to a tech-terrific Tuesday, friends! Let’s kick things off with our trivia. Which one word is most frequently corrected for typos by Microsoft Word's spellchecker? Is it … A) Accommodate, B) Definitely, C) Separate or D) Receive? You’ll find the answer at the end.

🥰 Keep this newsletter free! Click the link to check our sponsor, Bark. They make a tamper-proof phone your kid will actually like. Wish this was around when my son was young! — Kim

The Halloween season is the perfect time to talk about the state of digital privacy … because it's not boo‑tiful.

Tinder should include this, too

Mozilla, the company behind Firefox, has another big project I keep an eye on: Its *Privacy Not Included buyer's guide. And now, their latest way to measure digital privacy is its Annual Consumer Creep‑O‑Meter.

The Creep-O-Meter takes a hard look at the most popular consumer tech devices and assesses the good, the bad and the downright ugly. Mozilla uses a scale from one to 100, with 100 being the worst.

Overall, Mozilla gives our current state of digital privacy a score of 75.6 out of 100. In Creep‑O‑Meter terms, that's "very creepy." Think of the neighbor who uses doll arms to decorate for Halloween.

The (few) privacy winners

Mozilla's research team looked at 172 products. These apps and items passed the test:

• Signal app: This messaging app doesn’t push ads or track your data. Signal relies entirely on user donations to keep it free.
• Sonos One SL speaker: The SL smart speakers don't have a built-in microphone and are strictly for playing music.
• Wysa chatbot app: Unlike other mental health apps, this one won't sell your data or make money from your personal info. The privacy policy is refreshingly clear.
• PocketBook Reader: This eReader company collects technical and usage data to provide recommendations but doesn't collect any personally identifying information.
• Garmin fēnix: This watch line is one of the best in terms of handling privacy and security, compared to other personal data fitness trackers.

DIY creep factor

Head to the Mozilla Creep‑O‑Meter to see if the products in your household help or hurt your digital privacy.

To get started, select which popular products you own from the list. Click See Results for a custom score based on how well (or how poorly) your selections protect your personal information.

We tested it by choosing Telegram, the Apple Watch and the Google Nest video doorbell. The results? We crushed it with a "You're off the grid" rating! Now, all that's left is to buy that plot of land in the middle of nowhere.

👀 Head to my site to see the list of biggest privacy losers. Spoiler: You won’t be happy if you drive a Nissan or have an Amazon Echo.

Be a tech hero and share this important alert with your family and friends. They’ll think, “Dang, if I win the lottery, I'll give them half!” Use the handy share buttons below.

My husband, Barry, has nine grandkids (and one more on the way). Believe me when I say tech and cybersecurity come up all the time, especially now that one of those kiddos is a teenager. That's why we set Elizabeth up with a Bark Phone. It's the most secure option out there.

Barry says it best: “It’s a relief knowing my granddaughter's phone activities are monitored for her safety. Bark helps ensure our precious one remains safe and responsible.”

No more messing with apps or parental control settings kids get past. The Bark Phone has it all built in for just $49 a month.

⚓ A Navy ship with no crew: This is really something. The Navy deployed two unmanned surface vessels to Japan for the first time to patrol China and the Pacific. The big deal is that these robo-vessels function without a single sailor. China is investing in them, too, so the U.S. military needed to show two can play that game.

Just the facts: First, this has nothing to do with politics, so don't even think of dropping me a note. Here's what went down. Donald Trump Jr. shared a video on X purportedly showing Hamas fighters murdering Israeli civilians. An X Community Note attached to the tweet said the video was old and not from Israel. Now, it's been verified the graphic video is real. Those social media fact-checkers need more training.

🙏🏻 Baby monitor saves the day: A mom noticed her 6-month-old son’s right eye was glowing in the monitor’s videos. She took him to the doctor and found he had a rare cancer called retinoblastoma. Thankfully, it can be treated if caught early. Baby Benny’s making a full recovery.

Let Grandma choose your online date: Tinder launched a new matchmaker feature that lets your friends and family suggest dates for you. Would-be cupids can't send messages on your behalf, thankfully. Better save the embarrassing stories for after getting to know each other.

Helicopter kids: Gen Z wants their parents to know where they are by letting them track their phone locations. Teens feel safer with apps like Find My and Life360, which can alert loved ones in case of a kidnapping or other dangerous situation. I can look up and see my son’s location and he can do the same with me. It’s nice, really.

Elon Musk is 12: He said he would give a billion dollars to Wikipedia if it changed its name to "Dickipedia." The feud isn't new; he's said the open-source encyclopedia is losing its objectivity. Yet another example of Musk making a decent point and following it up with head-shaking comments.

👨🏻‍👧🏻‍👧🏻 Move over, Dr. Spock: Parents are now turning to AI for advice — specifically, ChatGPT. It can help with your kid's math homework, give you a healthy family meal plan and write emails to teachers. Parents say they're "too stressed out." Yeah, it comes with the territory.

Straight from sci-fi: It sounds like the plot of an Aldous Huxley novel, but it's true. Futurist Ray Kurzweil trained an AI model on the letters, essays and musical compositions written by his late father so he could "talk" to him from the grave. They had a conversation, but that wasn't enough. Now, he thinks nanotechnology can bring his dad back to life. Sounds scary, but I want to see how this ends.

Every morning, brush your teeth to my Daily Tech Update. You get fresh breath and fresh tech know-how in a minute.

Choose your platform below to listen:

Instagram just got privacy tech Facebook has had for years. You can now block the platforms’ parent company, Meta, from watching what you do once you close Instagram and move on to other apps and sites.

• Open Instagram, then tap the silhouette (profile icon) in the bottom right corner.
• Select the three-line More menu > Settings and privacy > Accounts Center.
• Select Your information and permissions.
• Tap Your activity off Meta technologies. Here, you can see what info IG is getting.
• For each one, you need to choose Disconnect specific activity.
• You should also remove your history. Tap the Clear previous activity button to do that.

“Kim, I feel like they could’ve made it easier.” Yes, you’re right. It’s almost like they don’t want you to go through all those steps.

I’ll “collie” you later.

The answer: A) Accommodate. When you say the word aloud, it might not sound like it’s spelled with two M's and two C's, which can lead you astray when you're trying to spell it.

Calling all parents and grandparents. If you have a kid in the family, check out Bark, a smartphone with parental controls and monitoring software more powerful than an iPhone or regular Android. Your support of our sponsors makes this free newsletter possible.

Be sure to rate this newsletter below. I’ll be back in your inbox later with another issue of the best tech newsletter in the USA! — Kim