👋 The weekend means a brand-new episode of The Kim Komando Show. Spend some time with me and you’ll be the smartest person in the room. Find your local radio station that broadcasts my show here. Catch the podcast version on Apple Podcasts or Spotify to listen on your schedule.

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew was questioned by U.S. lawmakers at a congressional hearing this week over the app’s invasive privacy practices. Here’s why I saw the whole event as a sham.

Yeah, you need to delete TikTok. Here’s another Chinese app to watch out for: Pinduoduo. The e-commerce platform was removed from the Google Play store over security concerns. 

👾 Versions of Pinduoduo in Chinese app stores (Google Play isn’t available in China) were found to contain malware. Google blocked the app from downloads here in the U.S. while it conducts an investigation. 

I recently brought up another e-commerce app, Temu, which has prices that seem too good to be true — and, indeed, they are. 

Here’s a shocker: Temu is owned by PDD Holdings, which also owns Pinduoduo.

Between dubious sales tactics and terrible BBB reviews, my advice is to avoid Temu as well as Pinduoduo. If you have these apps installed, get rid of them now, whether you’re using an iPhone or Android phone. 

• To delete an app from your Android phone, long-press an app, then tap App Info > Uninstall. 
• If you have an iPhone, touch and hold an app, then tap Remove App > Delete App > Delete.

It’s happened to everyone: You’re discussing a product or TV show, then you see an ad for it. Is your phone listening to everything you say?

Your phone knows precisely where you’ve been over the past few days, weeks and even months. If it’s been a while since you looked at your phone’s location settings, do it now.

🍎 Check this hidden location setting on your iPhone:

• Click Settings, then Privacy.
• Select Location Services, then scroll down to System Services.
• Choose Significant Locations to see the record of where you’ve been and toggle it off.

🤖 Here’s how to adjust location settings on an Android:

• Open Settings, then scroll down and tap Location.
• To stop all tracking, you can toggle Use location off.
• If you don’t want to remove all permissions, tap App location permissions.
• For each app, tap it to choose your preferred setting: Allow all the time, Allow only while using the app, Ask every time or Don’t allow. You can also decide whether an app sees your precise location or an approximate location.

📍 There’s a lot more tracking happening inside your phone. Read my column to put a stop to it all.

Texts from unknown numbers are usually junk. If you have an iPhone, you can hide them from your main Messages list with a few steps. If you do this, pop in every now and then to make sure you didn’t miss a message you actually wanted.

• Go to Settings > Messages.
• Turn on Filter Unknown Senders.

Bonus tip: If you get a message from an unknown number identified as spam or junk, report it to Apple. In the message, tap Report Junk, then Delete and Report Junk.

🤖 Android friends, I didn’t forget about you. These five settings drastically improve your privacy.

🎧 Now, if you love short tech tips, check out my daily 60-second Digital Updates on Apple, Google, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Just search for “Komando.”

We’ve officially entered spring and nature is in full bloom. This may or may not include your own yard, which probably needs some sprucing up after the long winter.

• Gardening tool set (11% off): This 8-piece set includes a trowel, pruner, rake, gloves and a foam kneeling pad so you can tend to your greens in comfort. 
  
  
• Heavy-duty garden cart (11% off): There’s a reason this cart is named the Gorilla. It can hold up to 400 pounds of gardening gear and has removable sides for oversized hauls. 
  
  
• Hydroponics growing kit (25% off): This hydroponics system yields plants 20% faster than soil planting. Choose your mode — veggies, fruits or flowers — to grow whatever your heart desires. 
  
  
• Decorative LED turtle (42% off): Bring some light to your yard with this handmade solar-powered turtle statue. Its seven colorful LED lights will run for up to eight hours on a charge. Cute, right?
  
  
• Scentless mosquito repellent (16% off): Nothing ruins a relaxing time outside faster than mosquitoes. This scent-free mosquito repeller creates a 15-foot zone of protection and is powered by replaceable cartridges that run for 12 hours.

Do you trust your weather app? Like any other app, the quality can vary greatly from one to the next. Here are three weather apps used by pro meteorologists.

Fake eyelash remover or party drug? Uh, both
A music festival in Australia recently banned eyelash remover glue from its fairgrounds. Wait, what? People are using the substance as a party drug, so Amazon followed suit and removed it from its site this week. It comes down to an ingredient called GBL, which your body processes in dangerous ways. Ingest it and you could lose consciousness. Some people have even gone into comas or died. Although neither police nor reporters have shared the name of the brand, you can avoid purchasing it by checking the ingredient list for gamma-butyrolactone, or GBL. And it’s especially worth checking for this substance if you have young ones around.

👃 Audi has a nose for what customers are looking for
What’s one of the best things about getting a new car? That’s right — the smell. And one company is taking that sentiment all the way to the bank. Audi’s “Nose Team” of scientists smells over 500 interior components in each model to make sure they give the proper olfactory sensation. It takes a carefully engineered blend of chemicals and materials to hit that ideal new car smell. Think it’s silly? Imagine this: You get into a brand-new car and are hit with strong, unpleasant odors. Even if you love everything else about the car, would you still buy it? I’m willing to bet no.

Every once in a while, the computer you rely on can fail you. No, it’s not the hardware or the software — it’s malicious viruses or even ransomware that take over your system. Don’t leave your files unprotected. Defend your data with IDrive.* Save a whopping 90% when you sign up at IDrive.com and use the promo code “Kim” at checkout.

Tech trivia answer: The answer is B., 9:41 — The time Steve Jobs unveiled the first iPhone. This excellent trivia question first appeared in my podcast, Kim Komando Today. Give the latest episode a listen here or in your favorite podcast player. While you’re there, be sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode. 💖

Who else can relate?