Unveiling AI’s Dangers: Tips for Securing Your Data and Privacy in the Digital Era

Jen Hardy [00:00:02]:
Welcome to the fabulous over 50 podcast where we encourage, empower, and inspire gen x and boomer women to live the lives of our dreams. Today, we’re following up with yesterday’s podcast episode about AI. And today, we’re gonna talk about some of the negative sides and basically things to watch out for. I know a lot of people lose sleep over this sort of thing, but I’m going to give you the tips that you need to take the edge off so that you can just relax. Alright? So because, you know, I don’t know about you, but I I love gadgets. I’ve always been in attack even since I was a kid. I even remember when we brought home that shiny new Apple 2 computer. Little did we know that it was a dud, but it seems so cutting edge at that time, and we were so excited for that black screen with the green dots all over it.

Jen Hardy [00:00:53]:
I don’t know if you guys remember those. Oh my gosh. But today, we’ve transformed our gadgets from mere tools to almost sentient companions that could give your pet a run for its money. And, you know, I’m really waiting for a very realistic pet because if I could have a dog that did not poop or pee, I would be very excited. Anyway, there’s a fine, sometimes not so great line between convenience and dependency, where these smart devices are learning our habits faster than we are learning theirs. And we’re sliding into an era where your coffee machine not only knows your preferred brew but also can question your life choices if you reach for that 3rd cup. So when we talk about privacy, it should mean that user data is not collected and processed and stored on a massive scale on remote servers and shared with third parties users didn’t consent to. One thing that I wasn’t planning on talking about today because technically it’s not AI, but kind of is, things like Facebook.

Jen Hardy [00:02:02]:
Okay? They admit freely that they are collecting all of your information and selling it to businesses and something that I need you to understand. I desperately need you because a lot of people don’t understand this. Your private chats, your private groups, those don’t mean that no one else can see them. It just means your friends can’t see them, but Facebook can see them and yes, they can take your information from your private groups and the private things you say in your chats and sell that to businesses. You need to know it’s not just Facebook, but it’s something to really be careful. You don’t want that on your phone. You don’t want it in your house listening all the time. You need to anyway.

Jen Hardy [00:02:50]:
Well, you don’t need to. You can do what you want. But my 2¢ is just be careful. Okay. So now I’m off my soapbox, and I’m back. Okay. So they need to collect some data, not Facebook, but in general, our gadgets, right, to improve services, but the amount of data currently being collected. And let’s just stick with Google and Apple for just a minute.

Jen Hardy [00:03:15]:
It’s pretty extensive. And it’s not too hard for these companies to cross cross reference the different data points, and they can come up with a complete picture of who you are and what your life is like. So for example, using your IP address, that’s from your computer, your IMEI number from your phone, and account information, Google can figure out who you are. And, if they cross reference your GPS data, they learn where your home is, where you work, other locations you visit, where you frequently go, all these kind of things. And does that really matter? Well, I mean, a lot of people say, well, I’m not doing anything wrong, so it shouldn’t matter. But, you know, that’s up to you. So also collecting data from Internet access point like your home Wi Fi, they can figure out who your loved ones are, how many members there are in your family, what they’re doing on their computers, and so on and so on and so on based on the the devices that are connected to your home Wi Fi. So this collection and cross referencing of data can reveal a lot.

Jen Hardy [00:04:23]:
As you can imagine, every single thing you do while you have a tech device in your hand, Sometimes not even what you’re doing on the device, just what you’re talking. Have you ever been, on, say, Facebook, and then you’re talking to someone like, oh, man. I got the most comfortable comforter from Costco. That was, some alliteration there. And I love it so much, and then you look down and there’s an ad on Facebook for a blanket. Yeah, that’s not an accident. Just gonna say. So if we wanted to, we could go down a horrible rabbit trail of scary problems with AI, but we don’t need to do that today.

Jen Hardy [00:04:58]:
Today, I’m going to tell you three things to be aware of and how to keep your family safe. Because if I’m not part of the solution, I’m part of the problem. Right? So if you wanna know more than these three things, you can Google it, which kinda proves my point that everything you want is online out there. But we’re gonna move on. Okay. The three things we’re gonna talk about are number 1, public Wi Fi that’s not secure. Number 2, voice and image cloning. And number 3, security cameras and smart speakers in your home.

Jen Hardy [00:05:34]:
Okay. So number 1, public Wi Fi. I can’t begin to tell you. You know, when you’re out in public and they offer free Wi Fi, you have to understand that they are allowed to go into your phone and collect things. They can collect your contacts, they can collect your personal information, They can get all kinds of things. And if you don’t believe me, you can Google it. It’s a whole thing. So but that aside, if you’re on public Wi Fi and it doesn’t have the little lock thing on it, you really don’t wanna go on that unless you don’t have anything personal in your phone at all Because if it doesn’t have the little lock, it’s not secure.

Jen Hardy [00:06:14]:
Alright? So what could happen? Well, there’s something called MITM, which is man in the middle attacks, and it’s one of the most common threats on networks like that. And, basically, it’s a form of eavesdropping. So if a computer makes a connection to the Internet, data sent from point a, which is like the computer, to point b, which is the website or whatever, and an attacker can get in between those. And so what you thought was private, it isn’t private anymore. There’s also malware, right, like viruses and all that kind of stuff. And through unsecure Wi Fi, one of those can get into your phone or your computer. Just something to be careful of. Okay? So there’s something called snooping and sniffing.

Jen Hardy [00:06:58]:
So I know that sounds like a, hunting dog. I don’t know. Wi Fi snooping and sniffing is what it sounds like though. Cybercriminals can buy software kits and eavesdrop just like the man in the middle. And then the last one that we’ll talk about today is malicious hot spots, and I didn’t even know about these until I was looking this up. So this is I’m I’ve learned something too. So what they do is they trick you into connecting to what you think is a real network. So let’s say you’re let’s say you’re staying at the Goodnight Inn.

Jen Hardy [00:07:32]:
Okay? G o o d n I g h t. Goodnight Inn. But you go to click on Wi Fi, and it says goodnight, g o o d n y t e n. And you’re tired. You just got there. You traveled all day. So you click on it. You think you’re, you know, at the hotel’s Wi Fi, but you’re not.

Jen Hardy [00:07:50]:
You’re at some criminal’s Wi Fi, and then you get on your bank account, do all these other things, and, well, you know, things go from there. So be careful. So I’ve got some do’s and don’ts to keep you safe because I’m not here to scare you. I’m here to educate you because the more educated we are, the less likely we are for these things to happen. Okay? So what you need to do is turn off the little thing that allows your Wi Fi to auto connect to networks. You don’t need to be connecting to every person’s network that’s out there. Okay? Now while you’re on public Wi Fi, you’re not going to log into an app that is sensitive information, your health, your banking, any of that kind of stuff. While you’re on public Wi Fi, turn off your Bluetooth if you’re not using it because they can connect with whatever you’re connecting with Bluetooth.

Jen Hardy [00:08:42]:
You also don’t wanna access websites that have your sensitive information. Okay? Whatever that is. And you don’t wanna log in to a network that isn’t password protected. It seems easy. I don’t wanna have to enter in a password. I just wanna get on the Wi Fi. Well, that’s fine. I actually have a work phone for that.

Jen Hardy [00:09:01]:
And so this particular phone is not connected to my Apple account or any other account, and it just has all the things on it that I know are trying to get my information. Facebook and TikTok and all that stuff, they’re they’re all on there. They can get each other’s information. I don’t have any of my contacts. I don’t have any of my personal information. That particular phone with that particular account just has everything for this. I can log into an insecure Wi Fi. It doesn’t matter.

Jen Hardy [00:09:29]:
Unsecure, whatever. It was insecure. It feels bad about itself. But, anyway, what should you do while on public Wi Fi? Disable file sharing? Only visit websites that have HTTPS. And that’s something that really kind of is important all the time. If it doesn’t have that little s on the end of it, it means that they don’t own a security certificate. And trust me as someone who owns websites, it’s a really important thing to have to keep everyone safe. Do when you’re on public Wi Fi, log out of the accounts that you’ve logged into when you’re done using them.

Jen Hardy [00:10:06]:
Sometimes you’re gonna have to log into things, and I get it. That’s fine. Just log out so that they can’t stay in there. And if you’ve never used a VPN or heard of 1, it’s the most incredible thing and it’s a virtual something network because my husband’s the techie more than me, believe it or not. We have Surfshark, and what we can do is it hides our IP address when we’re on our computer. And the fun thing this is the fun thing. You can pretend like you’re anywhere. So we like to watch Australian TV.

Jen Hardy [00:10:35]:
So we set our home computer, VPN, that we’re in Australia, and then we get to watch their television. It’s the coolest thing. Okay. So VPN, Surfshark. It’s amazing. Now the second thing we’re gonna talk about is voice and video cloning. This is something I just learned about, and it’s a little freaky. So for podcasters, we’re all learning AI and all these different things and all these different voice things, and there’s this really cool thing called 11 Labs.

Jen Hardy [00:11:03]:
And we can talk into it, and then it learns our voice. And some podcasters are giving it a script and having it read their podcast. Personally, I don’t do that because I want to talk to you, and I want to have my tone and my inflection and everything, but it’s a thing. There’s also different software that can learn exactly how you look, and it puts it out there in movies. I mean, you’ve seen this, like, people who have passed away like Carrie Fisher was in the last Star Wars movie. She has not been alive for several years and there she was. And if you didn’t know that, you would think, wow, she was there. But it’s the AI that can do this.

Jen Hardy [00:11:38]:
So what’s happening is somebody can clone your child’s voice, your grandchild’s voice, whatever. And then what they do is they call you and they have they call you using that voice. And they say, oh my gosh, mom. I was just in a car accident. I need you to send me money. Oh my gosh, mom. I ended up getting on a plane and traveling over to wherever yesterday. I didn’t tell you because I just wanted to take a quick trip, and now I need $10,000 to get home.

Jen Hardy [00:12:06]:
You hear their voice. You think it’s then you send them money, and then they call you after you’ve sent it. They’re around the corner on their way to your house for dinner. So what you need to do, and and this is a need for real. We’ve had one of these for 30 years. It doesn’t cost you any money. It is a family code word. Okay? I’m not gonna tell you what ours is, defeats the point.

Jen Hardy [00:12:26]:
But every family needs a code word anyway because you just do. What if there’s a problem and you need to say, hey. This is really wrong. Something here is wrong. We need to go home, but you can’t say it in front of people. You use the code word. So you need a code word because that way, if somebody calls and says, hey. I ended up going to Haiti last week, and I’m still here and I wanna get home and I can’t get home, mom.

Jen Hardy [00:12:52]:
And And you’re like, wait a minute. When did you go what? You say, what is our code word? And if they don’t know it, you know it’s a scammer. So I’m telling you right now, come up with something that your whole family will use, explain to them they cannot share it, defeats the point. It’s going to save you. I I’m telling you. You’ll use it. Alright? Now the last thing that we are going to talk about is drum roll please. Smart speakers.

Jen Hardy [00:13:22]:
Alright. So there’s a article that I’m gonna link to in the show notes from Norton. They’re a security company and they talk all about this. So I’m I’m paraphrasing their article because they have the good information, and I wanna make sure I give them credit. Okay? There’s a few things that we know about smart speakers. Everyone knows. 1 is they’re always listening. 2, they can connect a bunch of your different devices together making your life easy, which isn’t that why we use them.

Jen Hardy [00:13:52]:
Right? But it’s important to limit the information you’re giving your smart speakers because what they don’t know can’t hurt you and you really do need to keep part of your life private. Because, you know, is your chatty little speaker an open door for digital mischief makers? It is. They’re always all ears. They soak up your little sweet nothings and secret spaghetti sauce recipes only to potentially spill the beans too. Who is it? Did you ever hear about the one voice assistant that became the ultimate gossip? The one that overheard a couple’s, you know, private whisperings and, guess what? Told someone in their contacts. Okay? Now come on. How embarrassing is that? But there are more because they’re so interconnected that you never know. And, you know, they don’t understand nuanced conversation or to, you know, taking things out of context or whatever.

Jen Hardy [00:14:54]:
So you really need to keep your things safe. And, of course, I’m going to help you. I’m not just gonna make you worry. So there’s 10 commandments for Fort Knox ing your smart speaker. Smart speaker. Say that 10 times fast. Okay. Number 1, choose your friends wisely.

Jen Hardy [00:15:13]:
Okay? So you want to be careful about what you do. Do you want your smart smart speaker to control your locks? Do you want it to be in your bedroom next to your bed? You know, just kinda decide exactly where you want them and what you want them to do. Number 2, erase the evidence. Your device remembers every time you asked it to play that silly song that you can’t stand. Right? So it can forget it though. So you’re gonna go into settings and hit delete. Anything that you don’t want it to remember, you can make it delete. And then if you still have questions, you can write to the company and they have to send you all of the things that they know about you.

Jen Hardy [00:15:57]:
It’s the law. Number 3, zip your lips. Some things are better left unsaid especially around your overly attentive companion. Alright? So passwords, pins, all that kind of stuff. Remember that these things can remember everything. And then what if, you know, uncle Bobby, you know, that one uncle Bobby, he comes over and he asks it, what’s so and so’s bank password, and it tells him because you just don’t know. Okay? Now if you’re not using your speaker for some reason, give it the silent treatment. Mute it, unplug it, do whatever.

Jen Hardy [00:16:29]:
Same thing in your bedroom. There are certain times maybe those things shouldn’t be on. I’m just saying. You’re also gonna wanna lock down your shopping cart because if you end up getting a truckload of gummy bears because your nephew decided to tell Alexa that it wanted a bucket load, then, you know, or you can set a purchase pin. Okay? Keep it secret. Keep it safe. Keep it away from all the people. You’re also gonna wanna watch your inbox because your smart speaker could go on a shopping spree.

Jen Hardy [00:17:00]:
Sometimes they do. If you’re like, oh, man. I need I wish I had a truckload of bananas. You know, it might make a little order and get you a truckload of bananas. So you also wanna keep it professional. Your speaker can do your banking, but you need to decide, do you want it to? Right? You may wanna just keep that between you and your computer, which is another whole thing, but we’re gonna go with that. Alright. You also, as above, want to use a secure Wi Fi network because letting your speaker mingle with every device and network in town is like throwing a heart house party and leaving the front door wide open, telling everyone to come in.

Jen Hardy [00:17:41]:
So please please, for all that is good, make sure you’re using safe Wi Fi. We’ve already talked about that. And voice recognition isn’t just for spy movies anymore, as we have all we already heard as well. But you can train your speaker to know you’re the only one that can ask it to do things. And if you do that, then your little nephew can’t order the whole thing of gummy bears. Alright? Now, we’re gonna talk about something that, is the bane of my existence, passwords. We need big long passwords. We need a different one for every account.

Jen Hardy [00:18:18]:
And if you don’t have one, Apple is certainly gonna tell you. I have 232 passwords that need to be changed, and I have good passwords. But Apple is just constantly telling me that I’m not doing a good job, which also means that Apple knows what all my passwords are, and then we go to the beginning of the circle, don’t we? Anyway, you’re gonna treat your speaker’s account like a treasure chest. Okay? You’re gonna lock it down with a password that is more cryptic than ancient hieroglyphics. You want to lock that sucker down. And if you can do 2 factor, okay, even worse than all these passwords, I am so sick of 2 factor because I have to sign into my email. And to get into my email, it wants to send me something to my phone. And then but then I use Google Voice.

Jen Hardy [00:19:00]:
So then to get into Google Voice online, it wants to send me something to another email, and then that wants to send something to another phone. And before you know it, I’ve 2 factored my way all throughout my house. Picking up different things and trying to do it let me tell you what. It’s making me a little nuts. But the reason is because I wanna be safe. So there you have it. Your smart speaker, your protected WiFi, whatever could be the potential gateways for cyber shenanigans. Nobody wants that.

Jen Hardy [00:19:30]:
Ain’t nobody got time for that. So make sure that you’re locking it down. You’re keeping it safe. And, you know, every once in a while, look up some news about, you know, how to keep myself safe online, how to keep myself safe from AI because it’s right now, it’s a beautiful, helpful, amazing thing. But we do have to keep our eyes open and be wary because people are smart, but we’re training it to be smarter. So that’s just my 2¢. And I just want you to know that our next episode is going to be so light and so happy and so friendly with one of the greatest people I’ve ever interviewed. And I’m so excited about having her on.

Jen Hardy [00:20:16]:
You are gonna learn all about fashion and not fancy pants fashion, although she does know some fancy patch fashion. But such an amazing sweet woman. And we’re gonna learn how to keep our whites white. That was a question, and she quickly had the answer. And it’s so easy, and you’re gonna love it. So stay tuned and stay fabulous.