Spotify frequently adds new features, packing the app with everything from AI-powered playlists to stories about the music you're listening to and the artists who contributed. But Spotify also has a range of simpler settings designed for making tracks sound better and personalizing your playlists—so if Spotify is your preferred music service, you should try these tips, tricks, and hidden methods to maximize your listening experience.

Use folders to organize your playlists

If you have dozens of playlists in your Spotify library, it can be tedious to locate what you want to listen to or to remember everything you've created over the years. Playlist folders allow you to organize by category, genre, or any theme you want to use. Folders must be initiated on desktop or via the Spotify web player, but they'll appear on all of your devices once synced. Open Your Library and click the Create button at the top, then select Folder. You can rename the folder, add playlists to it (drag and drop, right click, or use the three dots next to said playlist), or create additional folders within folders.

Exclude items from your taste profile

Spotify's algorithm generates personalized recommendations—like your Discover Weekly, Daily Mix, and Release Radar playlists—based on what you listen to and how often you listen to it. It also uses this data for summaries like Wrapped, so if you don't want certain tracks or playlists included, you can exclude them from your taste profile. This is a useful feature if you frequently use lo-fi beats while working or white noise to sleep—or, in my case, playlists for teaching yoga that don't represent my regular listening. To exclude a playlist or track, tap the three dots and choose Exclude from your taste profile or Exclude track from your taste profile.

Enable volume normalization to prevent abrupt shifts

If you find yourself manually adjusting the volume between songs on your playlists to compensate for some songs sounding louder than others, you can enable volume normalization to have Spotify do that work for you. This setting balances soft and loud tracks so the volume sounds consistent as you listen. Tap your profile picture in the app, go to Settings and privacy > Playback, and toggle Enable Audio Normalization on. You can also select the volume level based on your listening environment: loud, normal, or quiet.

Use 'Equalizer' to customize audio frequencies by genre

Another Spotify setting for customizing sound is Equalizer, which allows you to adjust the bass and treble levels in music and podcasts. You can do this manually across six bands, or you can select one of the genre presets, such as Dance, Jazz, or R&B. To use the EQ feature, tap your profile photo and go to Settings and privacy > Playback > Equalizer.

Use 'Smart Reorder' to sort songs by beats per minute

One of Spotify's newest features automatically sorts songs on your playlist by beats per minute (BPM) and key. Smart Reorder, which is related to the Spotify Mix feature, is designed to make song transitions sound seamless. (Like many of the platform's best features, Smart Reorder is available only to Premium subscribers.) Open any playlist you've created and tap the Mix button. Then tap Edit, scroll down to select Smart reorder, and tap Save to confirm your changes. Note that you can't undo the reorder back to the original, so you may want to create a copy before using this feature.

Download lyrics for offline playback

Spotify recently added support for offline lyrics, which means that when you download music, you'll get the lyrics for those tracks (if available) as well. Lyrics are downloaded automatically, so you don't need to enable any additional settings. Simply tap the download button on any song to add it to your library. Note that this is only available to Premium subscribers, as users on the free plan can listen to podcasts, but not music, offline.

Start a 'Jam' and listen collaboratively with others

Spotify has a couple of collaborative listening features that allow you to create playlists with friends. When you start a Jam, anyone in close proximity can add to your playlist in real time—an easy way to DJ without needing to swap devices or playlists. Jams are great for parties and events, and they're supported on both Android Auto and CarPlay for road trip listening. If you have Spotify Premium, you can start a Jam by tapping the device icon > Start a Jam. Anyone on the same wifi network can join the Jam, or you can invite others via QR code, shared link, or by bringing your phones close together.

Alternatively, you can invite collaborators to your personal playlists. This feature allows you to curate playlists with friends asynchronously and over time, as anyone with access can add, remove, or reorder tracks and listen from their own devices. To add friends to a playlist, tap the three dots at the top and select Invite collaborators.

Start a private listening session to hide activity from followers

If you have guilty pleasure music that you don't want others to know you listen to, you can do so through a private session, which hides your activity from anyone who follows you. History from your private listening session is also excluded from Spotify's Made for You recommendations. Sessions end automatically after six hours unless you disable them sooner or restart Spotify. To start a private session on mobile, go to your profile and tap Settings and privacy > Privacy and social and toggle Private Session on. On the desktop app, select your profile and click Private session.

Add local files for content Spotify doesn't have

Spotify has millions and millions of tracks to choose from, but if there's something missing, you can upload local files from your device and add them to your playlists. You'll first have to enable the feature from your profile under Settings and privacy > Apps and devices > Local audio files, then you can choose your file source, such as another app or folder on your device, to add tracks to the Local Files folder. Reddit users note that this feature can be finicky, and you may need to adjust specifics like the file name and metadata to make it work.

Use advanced search to narrow your results with seven hidden tags

If a basic Spotify search doesn't turn up the results you're looking for, use advanced search tags to narrow them down or filter by year, genre, or keyword. Spotify supports a handful of tags:

• year:

• genre:

• label:

• track:

• album:

• artist:

• tag:

You can also combine them, such as genre:pop year:2005, and use NOT, AND, OR operators to curate your search even further.

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Google has packed its flagship Pixel phones with a long list of useful features for everything from privacy to productivity, and rolls out more with its frequent Pixel Drop updates. It can be hard to keep up with all that's available—plus, many of the best features are disabled by default. If you have one of Google's smartphones, here are 10 ways to maximize everything your Pixel has to offer.

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Use App Pinning to keep people from snooping on your phone

Before you hand your Pixel over to someone else—whether you're letting a stranger make a call or showing photos to a friend—enable app pinning to prevent that person from navigating around your device. This privacy feature keeps users in the pinned app so they can't open your messages, snoop your search history, or find other personal information. The only way to escape a pinned app is with your PIN, pattern, or password. To pin an app, go to Settings > Security or Security & location > Advanced > App pinning and toggle on Use app pinning and Ask for PIN before unpinning. Then, open the app you want to pin, swipe and hold to open your Overview, tap the app's icon, and tap "Pin."

Use "Private Space" to hide sensitive data

Another way to keep your personal information away from prying eyes is by placing it in a Private Space—a hidden section of your Pixel that requires separate authentication to open. Private Space holds sensitive apps (akin to having a separate phone within your phone) and hides them from quick search, launcher, and recent views. Private Space also disables foreground and background activities, including notifications.

To set up Private Space, go to Settings > Security & privacy > Private space and either authenticate with your device screen lock PIN or set up a new PIN if you don't have one. Tap Set up > Got it and follow the prompts to set up a new lock for the space. You can either add apps when Private Space is open (tap Install) or touch and hold an app then tap Install app in Private space.

Use Circle to Search for live translation while you scroll

Android's AI-powered Circle to Search tool lets you search within an app simply by circling, highlighting, or tapping an image, text, or video. It can also translate text on websites and social media posts continuously as you scroll down a page or between posts without any additional input or having to relaunch the feature. To activate translation, long press the home button or navigation bar to launch Circle to Search, then tap the Translate icon > Scroll and translate.

Use Hold for Me for customer service calls

Don't waste hours of your life on hold with customer service when your Pixel can do it for you. With Hold for Me, Call Assist will hang out with the elevator music, detect when a representative is on the line, and alert you that it's time to pick up the call.

To enable Hold for Me, open your Phone app and go to More > Settings > Hold for Me. You'll also have to turn the feature on for each call—when you're placed on hold, tap Hold for me > Start. When the "Someone's waiting to talk to you" prompt appears, tap Return to call. Note that Hold for Me is available for users in Australia, Canada, Japan, the UK, and the U.S.

Use "Take a Message" for real-time missed call transcripts

Your Pixel can also help manage your missed and declined calls with Take a Message, a voicemail alternative that shows you a real-time transcript on your home screen. This allows you to screen the call and decide whether to pick up before the message is complete—you can join the call in progress at any time. The feature also creates AI-generated call notes and next steps (such as reminders or a single click to return the call). According to Android Authority, custom Take a Message greetings for individual callers may also be in the works.

To enable this feature, open your Phone app and tap More > Settings > Take a Message and toggle the setting on. Take a Message is supported on Pixel 6 and higher in Australia, Canada, Ireland, the UK, and the U.S.

Use Quick Tap to turn the back of your Pixel into a button

There is a whole host of gestures you can set up on your Pixel to check notifications, find and open apps, or activate Google Assistant. Quick Tap is one such option that turns the back of your phone into a "button" that can be customized to run a number of different actions with a double tap. Taking a screenshot and activating the flashlight are common ones, but people also use Quick Tap to launch things like Google Lens, Wallet, or Snapchat.

Connect your Pixel to an external monitor with desktop mode

Google recently rolled out a feature for all users on Pixel 8 and newer that allows you to connect your device to an external monitor, essentially turning it into a desktop PC. Simply plug your phone in via USB-C, and you'll get apps in moveable windows plus an onscreen dock. You'll likely want to add a few PC peripherals (Bluetooth keyboard and mouse) to your arsenal if you don't already have them to maximize the desktop experience.

Use your Pixel as a webcam

When plugged into your computer (or TV, tablet, or laptop with USB Video Class support), your Pixel also doubles as a webcam. All you need is a data-supported USB cable. Tap the notification labeled Charging this device through USB and select "Webcam" under the Use USB for menu. You can still use your phone as normal when in webcam mode, though the stream will pause if you get a video call or open an app that uses the camera. Note that Pixels cannot be used as webcams for other Pixels.

Enable advanced voice typing for seamless voice-to-text

Standard voice-to-text features get the job done when you need to talk instead of type, but Pixel's on-device AI takes voice typing up a notch, capturing speech (including grammar and punctuation) quickly and accurately. Gboard on Pixel is "context aware," meaning it can understand voice commands and corrections, place punctuation based on natural speech patterns, and even insert emojis. You must enable advanced voice typing (available on Pixel 6 and up) in any app you can type with. Tap where you enter text, then select Settings > Voice typing at the top of the keyboard. Then, toggle Advanced voice typing features on.

Optimize battery life with adaptive preferences

Getting your phone's battery to last as long as possible requires some adjustments. Pixel has a handful of adaptive settings that use AI to identify your usage patterns and minimize power requirements accordingly. Adaptive Battery (under Settings > Battery > Battery Saver) reduces background power to apps you use less, while Adaptive Brightness (Settings > Display > Adaptive Brightness) automatically adjusts screen brightness based on context. Finally, Adaptive Connectivity will switch between 5G networks, which require more power, and 4G LTE depending on whether you're streaming or just enough speed for basic functions.

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Apple Maps may not be everyone's top choice for navigation—even those committed to the Apple ecosystem—but the app has come a long way since it's initial rocky rollout, and has plenty of features that make it worth using. Beyond the basics, you'll also want to consider some of its lesser-known settings to get the most out of Apple Maps on both mobile and desktop.

Enable "Visited Places" to save locations (even if you didn't use Maps to get there)

"Visited Places" is a new feature with iOS 26 that passively tracks your location and stores places you go—even if you don't use Maps to get there. If you want to keep tabs on your previous pit stops, you can view them later in the "Places" menu (tap Places > Visited Places when you open Maps). The data is stored on your synced devices and is encrypted end to end, so even though your device is technically tracking you, you're the only one who can access the information. If you prefer that it didn't, you can toggle the feature off and on under Settings > Apps > Maps > Location. You can also delete locations by tapping Clear History in the Visited Places list.

Download offline maps for when you’re out of service

Offline maps are critical for navigation when you don't have a cellular or wifi connection. Apple introduced support for offline maps with iOS 17, which lets you download a map section complete with place cards, turn-by-turn directions for multiple transit types, and estimated time of arrival. To save a map for offline use, touch and hold on the map until a pin marker appears, then tap "Download." Select the area, then tap "Download again." To access it later, tap your profile photo or initials and open the Offline Maps menu. You can also edit the name and area or delete saved maps.

Add and organize places of interest in a shareable guide

Apple Maps has a built-in planning feature that allows you to save locations to a collection for future reference. You can share these guides with others, too. For example, you could put together lists of favorite places or sightseeing itineraries for a group trip. To start a guide, open "Your Guides" (there will already be a "Favorites" collection) and tap the "plus" sign to create a new collection. You can add locations from place cards by tapping the three horizontal dots > Add to Guides and share using the Share icon.

Save your parking location so you never lose your car

If you tend to forget where you leave your car in big and busy parking lots, Apple Maps can save the location for you. The app drops a pin when you disconnect your device from your car's Bluetooth or CarPlay, but you'll have to set it up first. You'll need to have Location Services and Significant Locations turned on (under Privacy & Security > Location Services > System Services) and enable "Show Parked Location" under Settings > Apps > Maps. When you need to get back to your vehicle, choose "Parked Car" below Siri Suggestions in Maps.

Plan hikes in parks and on trails

Maps isn't the best app out there for outdoor adventuring, but it does have topographical maps and detailed hiking routes for U.S. national parks, and you can even download them for offline use. Simply search a national park and scroll down to the "Hikes" section on the info card to browse, or type “hikes in [national park name]” to bring up a list you can filter by length, route type, and elevation gain. When you select a hike, tap "Add to Routes" and toggle "Download Route" on.

Create custom walking and hiking routes

You can also make your own routes on roads, paths, and trails and save them to Apple Maps to return to later. To start a custom route, such as a city tour or road run, drop a pin on the map, then tap the three horizontal dots followed by "Create a Custom Route." Tap other points on the map to connect them, then select whether to complete your trip by going in reverse or closing the loop. Finally, tap "Save Route," and you'll have a custom path to follow whenever you'd like.

Send directions from your Mac to your iPhone

Some things are easier to do on desktop, like creating a multi-stop route and selecting the best turn-by-turn directions. But what happens when you want to use those directions on your iPhone? Maps actually has two options for sending directions from your Mac to your iPhone. The first is to share directly; the other is to use Continuity, which allows you to start on one device and pick up on the other.

Either way, you'll need to search a location and click "Directions," then choose your preferred route from the suggestions. You can adjust your mode of transportation and starting and ending points as needed. Click the "Info" icon, then tap "Share" below the turn-by-turn list. Now, select "Send to iPhone," which will deliver a notification to your device. Tap this, and Apple Maps will launch on your iPhone with the directions loaded. Note that you'll need to have time-sensitive notifications and badge alerts on your Lock Screen enabled for this to work.

With Continuity, you can load directions on Maps on your Mac, then open the app switcher on your iPhone and tap the Apple Maps link at the bottom. To make sure this works for you, both your Mac and iPhone should be signed into iCloud with the same Apple Account, wifi and Bluetooth should be enabled on both, and "Handoff" should be turned on—though Apple says it is by default.

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Use this setting to change your preferred mode of transportation

If you always use Apple Maps for one transportation type, you can change your preferences so the app will show routes and estimated travel times for that method first. For example, if you don't own a car, you probably don't need to see driving directions by default—you can choose walking, cycling, or public transit as alternatives. Change this under Settings > Maps > Preferred Type of Travel.

Use this setting to avoid highways, hills, and stairs

Maps may give you the turn-by-turn directions it deems the best, but that doesn't mean it's the best route for you. You can tell the app to avoid certain types of roads or obstacles along your route, such as highways, toll roads, and busy streets. For cycling directions, you can try to avoid hills, and for walking, stairs. On the Directions pane, tap "Avoid" and toggle these features on or off.

Compare ride-share pricing from Lyft and Uber without leaving the app

Maps has integrations with ride-sharing apps like Lyft and Uber, so you can check for available rides to your destination and compare prices without leaving the app. (You can't book in Maps, though. You'll be redirected to the ride-share app once you select your ride.) After searching for a location, tap Directions and select the ride-share icon on the far right. Note that you must be logged into ride-share services on your device for the integration to work.

It probably goes without saying at this point, but your conversations with AI chatbots aren't private—everything you type or upload to Gemini, ChatGPT, and other models might be read and used in a variety of ways. If you wouldn't send a document or repeat information to someone you don't know, you shouldn't include it in a chatbot prompt either.

Researchers at Stanford reviewed the privacy policies of the six U.S. companies that developed the most popular AI chatbots, including Claude, Gemini, and ChatGPT, and found that all of them use chat data by default for training purposes. Some retain said data indefinitely, and most merge it with other information collected from consumers, such as search queries and purchases. In most cases, you can opt out of having your data used to train LLMs, but chats can also be read by human reviewers, and long-term retention policies increase the risk of your stored information being leaked in a breach.

If you're going to use an AI chatbot, these are the things you should avoid sharing:

• Login credentials: Obviously, you should never paste prompts with usernames and passwords into a chatbot, including documents that contain login credentials. AI is also abysmal at generating secure passwords—use the tools in your password manager instead, or better yet, opt for a passkey if available.

• Financial data: AI chatbots aren't financial experts, and you shouldn't upload documents or use data related to your specific finances in prompts. This includes bank statements, credit card numbers, investment information, account numbers and balances, etc. Sharing financial details anywhere that isn't secure increases the risk of theft, fraud, and targeting by scammers.

• Medical records: AI chatbots also aren't medical professionals and shouldn't be relied upon for medical advice. You probably don't want your medical records to be used to train LLMs—plus, uploading them exposes them to potential data breaches.

• Personally identifiable information (PII): AI prompts should never include information like your name, address, email, phone number, birth date, Social Security number, passport number, or any other data that could be used to steal your identity. (Financial information and medical records are also considered sensitive PII.)

• General health information: In addition to keeping your sensitive medical records private, you should avoid giving chatbots seemingly benign information about your health that could be used to profile you. For example, the Stanford report notes that it's possible for AI chatbots to infer health status from a request for heart-friendly dinner recipes, which could eventually be accessible to insurance companies. This also includes information related to topics like sexual health, medication use, and gender-affirming care.

• Mental health concerns: Another thing your chatbot isn't is a therapist. AI has been unhelpful at best and harmful at worst when it comes to mental health. Even with updates intended to protect users in crisis, chatbots aren't a replacement for real, human support.

• Photos: AI image editing is popular, but that doesn't mean it's without risk. You may not want your personal photos used for training purposes, and image metadata contains information like your GPS location. At the very least, avoid uploading images of people (especially minors), and consider stripping EXIF data before sharing.

• Company documents: AI may be useful for summarizing documents, creating presentations, drafting emails, and completing other work-related tasks more quickly, but you should use caution when uploading files containing sensitive company information to a chatbot. Your employer may even have a policy prohibiting it.

The bottom line is that you should be cautious what you share with AI chatbots—assume everything in your prompts is stored and could be read by someone else. Avoid anything that is personal or identifiable, and enable all available privacy settings (such as data sharing and training opt-outs).

WhatsApp is finally getting a long-awaited privacy feature that allows you to display a username rather than your phone number, which will remain hidden from other users. This feature has been in the works for more than a year, with few details released as to its functionality and ETA. While it's still not rolling out to all users just yet, we now know a little bit more about how it will work.

According to WABetaInfo (and as reported by 9to5Google), WhatsApp is set to launch usernames to a very limited number of accounts as part of a phased rollout. This means that you may not have access to this update now—but you should consider the switch as soon as it becomes available to you.

How to add a username to WhatsApp

Once the username feature is widely available, you should see the option in your WhatsApp profile settings (go to Settings and tap your profile name and photo). On the pop-up, you can choose to create a WhatsApp username or select your existing Facebook or Instagram username instead. According to WABetaInfo, WhatsApp has a handful of rules for new usernames:

• Usernames can contain only lowercase letters, numerals, periods, and underscores.

• Usernames must include at least one letter.

• Usernames cannot start with "www." or end in a domain (such as .com).

• Usernames must be be 3–35 characters in length.

Usernames on WhatsApp must also be unclaimed across other Meta platforms—so even if a username appears available on WhatsApp, you won't be able to choose it if someone else is using it on Facebook or Instagram. If you have an existing username on either of the latter, consider the potential privacy implications of making your accounts easy to identify across platforms before linking that same name to WhatsApp.

Along with a WhatsApp username, you'll also be able to set up a four-digit code, which other users will need to enter when they message you for the first time. Username keys allow you to limit communication to trusted contacts.

Millions of Android users are now eligible to claim some cash from Google as part of a $135 million settlement. If you have a qualifying device, you could receive up to $100 once the final approval hearing is completed in June.

What is this Android settlement about?

This settlement is part of a class-action lawsuit filed earlier this year alleging that Google collected unnecessary data from Android users over cellular networks in the background and without permission—even when Google apps were closed and location sharing disabled. Google denied any wrongdoing but agreed to a $135 million payout along with a commitment to implement additional disclosures shown during Android device setup.

Who is eligible for a payment?

The settlement provides benefits for anyone in the U.S. with a mobile device running Android OS through a cellular network between Nov. 12, 2017 and the final settlement approval date sometime this year. Note that this does exclude wifi-only devices. Residents of California who are part of the Csupo v. Google LLC also are ineligible for payouts are part of this suit.

The exact per-user payment has yet to be determined, as it depends on how many people are eligible for the settlement. Payouts are capped at $100, though the total could be significantly less if the estimated 100 million class members receive equal amounts.

How to claim your Android settlement payment

If you are eligible for payment from this settlement, you should receive a personalized notice by mail or email. The email subject line is "Class Action Notice of Settlement —Taylor v. Google LLC." We've found it in spam, so check that folder if you believe you qualify and haven't received notice. Then, go to the settlement website and enter your notice ID and confirmation code to select a preferred payment method.

If you don't go through this process, the settlement administrator will still try to send your funds automatically—however, there's a risk you may not receive them. Since payments will be issued regardless, the only deadline, May 29, is to object or exclude yourself from the settlement class. The final approval hearing is scheduled for June 23. For questions about the settlement or payouts, contact info@federalcellularclassaction.com.

Few things are more stressful when flying than a security screening line that is far longer than expected. In recent weeks, due to the partial federal government shutdown that left Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers without pay, travelers at major airports encountered wait times of up to four hours to clear security. (As of April 2, these bottlenecks have largely eased.)

During "normal" times, it's easier to determine how early you actually need to arrive, but if you want to find the sweet spot between spending pointless hours at the airport and missing your flight, you should keep an eye on current security wait times, which are available across multiple apps and websites. A reminder, of course, that times are subject to change quickly.

The MyTSA app uses real-time information on wait times

TSA has its own app for iOS and Android that provides estimated wait times for airport security lines. MyTSA uses real-time information (when available) along with historical data, so you can see current estimates as well as standard wait times by day of the week and hour of the day. The app also shows open PreCheck lanes and FAA delays. You can add your most-traveled airports to the main dashboard. Note that during shutdowns, MyTSA may not be updated as frequently, so you should consider a backup and note current recommendations for airport arrival times.

United's app now has wait times for its U.S. hubs

United Airlines recently added security wait times to its iOS and Android app, but only for its U.S. hubs:

• Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD)

• Denver International Airport (DEN)

• Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH)

• Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)

• Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR)

• San Francisco International Airport (SFO)

• Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD)

The app shows wait times for both standard security lanes and PreCheck. United says that these estimates are updated throughout the day based on data collected by the airline. Anyone can use the app, as United's hubs see plenty of traffic from other airlines, but it won't be helpful for those traveling through other airports.

Delta allows you to see some TSA wait times on its website

Delta's app doesn't have a security wait time feature built in, but Delta customers can see current wait times at Delta hubs on the airline's website. The following airports are supported:

• Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL)

• Detroit Metro Airport (DTW)

• John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)

• LaGuardia Airport (LGA)

• Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)

• Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport (MSP)

• Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC)

• Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA)

Current wait times are provided for specific checkpoints at each airport, including standard and PreCheck lanes—data appear to be pulled from individual airport websites. For SLC, Delta also has estimated hourly wait times, which show the highest traffic typically occurring between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. as well as 3 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Some airport websites will list wait times on their sites

Some larger airports list current or estimated wait times on their own websites, so you can search the name of your airport plus "security wait times" to get information about specific checkpoints and lanes. Smaller airports typically don't have this real-time data, so you're better off using the MyTSA app.

These third-party TSA trackers can help determine wait times

There are numerous websites that combine historical data, information published by airports and federal agencies, and crowdsourced estimates to show approximate TSA wait times. Community submissions may be especially helpful during government shutdowns, when TSA isn't reporting live wait times. A few options include Qsensor (which shows smaller local and international airports), TSA Wait Times, AirlineAirport, and USA Today's TSA tracker.

Tax time is high season for scammers, who target taxpayers with fraud campaigns ranging from IRS impersonation to "ghost" preparers that take your money and run. In fact, the IRS publishes its annual "Dirty Dozen," a list of the tax scams consumers should be especially aware of. And this year's list reveals that, as with romance scams and scams targeting travelers, AI is making tax scams appear more sophisticated—and harder to spot.

AI is facilitating tax scams

One of the IRS' top scams for 2026 is AI-powered impersonation by phone: fraudsters are using AI tools for voice cloning and caller ID spoofing so recipients believe they are talking to a legitimate IRS representative. These forms of impersonation are so good that it's difficult to distinguish between what's fake and what's real. Scammers may call you about your tax bill and demand payment, or tell you that your information is being used in a crime and ask you to verify sensitive details.

Of course, AI facilitates other forms of impersonation, spoofing, and phishing. It's easy to set up an AI-generated fake website (such as for the IRS or other organizations that provide tax prep or support services) that looks nearly identical to the real thing, and which scammers can use to harvest personally identifiable information and login credentials. The same goes for other communication, such as text messages and notices sent via email or snail mail.

AI isn't just an external threat. Researchers at McAfee found that 30% of taxpayers plan to use an AI tool like ChatGPT to help them prepare their taxes. Not only will a chatbot potentially provide incorrect (if relatively harmless) information to users, it could also put personal data at risk in the event of a data breach.

How to spot AI-powered tax scams

Taxpayers may be particularly vulnerable to these scams because the possibility of getting into trouble with the IRS is especially scary, and fraudsters capitalize on this fear. People may be more likely to act on an urgent message that comes with the threat of financial penalties, wage garnishment, or a lien being placed on their home. And since AI can make communication sound more human—and both believable and trustworthy—than an actual human, the typical scam red flags like poor grammar and odd language aren't reliable indicators.

First and foremost, remember that the IRS almost always initiates contact by mail and will not call taxpayers to demand payment or threaten arrest. The agency also does not leave prerecorded messages. Legitimate notices sent by mail are informational and should contain specific references to your tax return rather than vague demands for money. It is possible you will receive a call or even an-person visit from the IRS, but these occur in specific cases and only after multiple mailed notices.

Because AI scams can be so difficult to spot, you should be wary of all communication related to taxes. You can set up an online IRS account through ID.me and view any notices and letters you've been sent to verify they are legitimate. As always, never comply with any demand for money or information without confirming who you are talking to—because it's almost certainly not the IRS.

Netflix's April lineup is packed with something for everyone. There are new installments of reality series Million Dollar Secret (April 15), Netflix's answer to NBC's The Traitors, and Temptation Island (April 10). Comedy series Running Point (April 23) also returns for a second season, with Kate Hudson starring as the president of her family's pro basketball franchise.

Big Mistakes (April 9) is a new crime comedy series created by Dan Levy, who stars alongside Taylor Ortega as one of a pair of siblings who get blackmailed into participating in organized crime. And Kevin Hart has a new comedy competition series: Funny AF with Kevin Hart (April 20) incorporates real-time audience voting to find the next stand-up comedy star.

The new film Apex (April 24) is an action thriller starring Charlize Theron as a grieving woman in the Australian wilderness being hunted down by Taron Egerton. Finally, the April documentary slate is long: there's This is a Gardening Show (April 22), narrated by Zach Galifianakis, and A Gorilla Story: Told by David Attenborough (April 17), as well as the musical docs Noah Kahan: Out of Body (April 13) and Lainey Wilson: Keepin' Country Cool (April 22). Trust Me: The False Prophet (April 8) is a true crime series that looks at Warren Jeffs's FLDS sect in Utah. Netflix is also dropping a handful of episodes of its Untold sports docuseries.

Here's everything else coming to Netflix in April, and everything that's leaving.

What's coming to Netflix in April 2026

Available soon

• If Wishes Could Kill—Netflix Series

Available April 1

• Eat Pray Bark—Netflix Film

• The Giant Falls—Netflix Film

• It Takes a Village—Netflix Film

• Love on the Spectrum: Season 4—Netflix Series

• Sarah Millican: Late Bloomer—Netflix Comedy Special

• The Age of Adaline

• Along Came Polly

• American Gangster

• Atonement

• Bohemian Rhapsody

• Everest

• Happy's Place: Season 1

• Hotel Transylvania 2

• Kindergarten Cop

• Lucy

• Madagascar

• Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted

• Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa

• Mission: Impossible

• Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol

• Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation

• Mission: Impossible II

• Mission: Impossible III

• Money Talks

• Penguins of Madagascar: The Movie

• Smokey and the Bandit

• Smokey and the Bandit II

• St. Denis Medical: Season 1

• The Wiz

Available April 2

• Agent from Above—Netflix Series

• Alkhallat+: The Series: Desert Rules—Netflix Series

• The Bad Guys: The Series: Season 2—Netflix Family

• The Ramparts of Ice—Netflix Series

• Sins of Kujo—Netflix Series

• XO, Kitty: Season 3—Netflix Series

Available April 3

• Bloodhounds: Season 2—Netflix Series

• Feel My Voice—Netflix Film

• Gangs of Galicia: Season 2—Netflix Series

• High Tides: Season 3—Netflix Series

• Maamla Legal Hai: Season 2—Netflix Series

• The Truth and Tragedy of Moriah Wilson—Netflix Documentary

Available April 7

• Beast (2022)

• Sheng Wang: Purple—Netflix Comedy Special

• Untold: Chess Mates—Netflix Documentary

Available April 8

• Trust Me: The False Prophet—Netflix Documentary

Available April 9

• 18th Rose

• Bandi—Netflix Series

• Big Mistakes—Netflix Series

• IF

Available April 10

• Scream (2022)

• Temptation Island: Season 2—Netflix Series

• Thrash

• Turn of the Tide: Season 3—Netflix Series

Available April 11

• A Quiet Place Part II

• Tyson Fury vs. Arslanbek Makhmudov—Netflix Live Event

Available April 12

• At Home With The Furys: Season 2—Netflix Series

Available April 13

• America: Our Defining Hours

• American Godfathers: The Five Families

• The Booze, Bets and Sex That Built America

• Halloween Ends

• The Men Who Built America: Frontiersmen

• Noah Kahan: Out of Body—Netflix Documentary

Available April 14

• Crooks: Season 2—Netflix Series

• Untold: Jail Blazers—Netflix Documentary

Available April 15

• Fake Profile: Season 3—Netflix Series

• Made with Love—Netflix Series

• Million Dollar Secret: Season 2—Netflix Series

• The Law According to Lidia Poët: Season 3—Netflix Series

Available April 16

• BEEF: Season 2—Netflix Series

• Dandelion—Netflix Series

• Ronaldinho: The One and Only—Netflix Documentary

Available April 17

• 180—Netflix Film

• A Gorilla Story: Told by David Attenborough—Netflix Documentary

• Alpha Males: Season 5—Netflix Series

• Roommates—Netflix Film

Available April 18

• Denial

• We Are All Trying Here—Netflix Series

Available April 19

• Him

Available April 20

• CoComelon Lane: Season 7—Netflix Family

• Funny AF with Kevin Hart—Netflix Series

Available April 21

• Unchosen—Netflix Series

• Untold: The Shooting at Hawthorne Hill—Netflix Documentary

Available April 22

• Lainey Wilson: Keepin' Country Cool—Netflix Documentary

• Santita—Netflix Series

• Sold Out on You—Netflix Series

• This Is a Gardening Show—Netflix Documentary

Available April 23

• Flunked—Netflix Series

• Running Point: Season 2—Netflix Series

• Stranger Things: Tales From '85—Netflix Series

Available April 24

• Apex—Netflix Film

Available April 26

• Supernova:Genesis—Netflix Live Event

Available April 27

• Straight to Hell—Netflix Series

Available April 29

• Je m’appelle Agneta—Netflix Film

• Should I Marry A Murderer?—Netflix Documentary

Available April 30

• Man on Fire—Netflix Series

What's leaving Netflix in April 2026

Leaving April 1

• The American President

• Best in Show

• Best in Show

• Big Momma's House

• Big Momma's House 2

• The Bucket List

• Cheaper by the Dozen

• Cheaper by the Dozen 2

• Crazy, Stupid, Love.

• District 9

• Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat

• Dr. Seuss' The Lorax

• Ford v. Ferrari

• Free Solo

• Friends with Benefits

• Ghosts of Mississippi

• Kicking & Screaming

• Man on Fire

• Misery

• Molly's Game

• Only the Brave

• Pineapple Express

• Pitch Perfect

• Pitch Perfect 2

• Rio

• Rio 2

• Rumor Has It...

• Zero Dark Thirty

Leaving April 7

• Queen of the South: Seasons 1-5

Leaving April 16

• Van Helsing: Seasons 1-5

Leaving April 17

• Black Sails: Seasons 1-4

Leaving April 21

• Casino Royale

• Diamonds Are Forever

• Die Another Day

• Dr. No

• For Your Eyes Only

• From Russia with Love

• GoldenEye

• Goldfinger

• The Man with the Golden Gun

• Never Say Never Again

• No Time to Die

• Octopussy

• On Her Majesty's Secret Service

• Quantum of Solace

• Skyfall

• Spectre

• The Spy Who Loved Me

• Tomorrow Never Dies

• The World Is Not Enough

• You Only Live Twice

The U.S. government is banning the importation of new routers made overseas, meaning consumers will no longer be able to purchase devices from many popular manufacturers. On Monday, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) added all consumer-grade routers produced abroad to its "Covered List" of communications equipment that poses an "unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States or the security and safety of United States persons." The agency specifically cited the exploitation of foreign-made routers in the Volt, Flax, and Salt Typhoon cyberattacks.

But the thing is, the vast majority of routers are manufactured overseas. So where does that leave you?

What does the FCC router ban cover?

The FCC's order bans the import of "all consumer-grade routers produced in foreign countries." While there is no list of specific companies or devices covered by this ban, at least 60% of home routers in the U.S. are estimated to come from China—and almost none are made here, a notable exception being Starlink's Wifi router. (The ban also covers routers designed by U.S. companies but manufactured abroad.)

There could be exceptions to the ban in the future, as the federal government will grant "conditional approval" to companies that provide details about their operations, including information about corporate structure, manufacturing and supply chains, and plans to "establish or expand" production in the U.S. But that's all up in the air at this point.

This isn't the first step the federal government has taken to ban devices made by companies with foreign ties, including routers. Late last year, several agencies, including the Departments of Commerce, Homeland Security, Justice, and Defense, proposed a ban on future sales of TP-Link routers following a review that began during the Biden administration. Other bans include sales of antivirus software made by Russia's Kaspersky Labs and telecom devices from Huawei and ZTE. The FCC also recently banned foreign-made drones for similar security reasons.

What the ban means for your router

The FCC's action does not affect existing routers, so if you have a device made by a foreign company, you can keep using it as normal. If you're currently in the market for a new router, there's no rush—retailers will also continue to be able to sell and import all routers previously approved for sale through FCC's equipment authorization process.

However, since the ban covers the majority of companies that make routers U.S. consumers buy, in the future you won't be able to upgrade to a newly released device from foreign manufacturers like TP-Link and Netgear unless those models receive conditional approval from the FCC.

When setting up any new internet-connected device, don't stick with the default settings. Doing so introduces security risks, and it's also a less-than-optimal way to use the features available to you. If you have a Ring camera or doorbell, there are a whole host of changes you can make to minimize annoyance and maximize privacy.

Snooze Motion Alerts when you're outside

Motion alerts are among the most useful features of any security camera, but you don't need a notification to your phone when you are the one moving around your property. You can snooze alerts in certain situations, such as when you're outside doing yard work or hosting a party. Global Snooze pauses alerts for all cameras and doorbells for a set duration, while Alerts Snooze allows you to pause notifications from a specific device. When Snooze is enabled, you'll still get Doorbell Rings and Priority Alerts.

In the Ring app, tap the motion icon, choose the snooze duration, and tap Start Snooze. For a single device, tap the More icon on the camera you want to snooze and tap the bell icon to turn Alerts Snooze on or off.

If you have monitoring via Virtual Security Guard, you can turn on Motion Snooze for enrolled devices to temporarily pause that service.

Optimize Motion Zones to exclude certain areas

Another way to curate motion alerts is to customize your Ring camera's Motion Zones—for example, to exclude busy streets with lots of cars driving by as well as private, low-traffic areas you don't need to monitor. You can add up to three motion zones per device under your camera's Settings > Motion Settings > Camera Motion Zones. Tap Add Zone, drag the edges of the zone boundaries within your camera's view, and hit Save.

Set up Smart Alerts to reduce unnecessary notifications

In addition to narrowing motion zones, you can choose whether you receive motion alerts and/or recordings specifically for people, vehicles, and packages while minimizing notifications from other sources of movement. (Not all Ring devices are compatible with all three Smart Alert categories, and you'll need a Ring subscription to use these features.) To enable Smart Alerts, go to your device's Settings > Motion Settings > Smart Alerts, then tap Enable Feature > Continue and choose your preferred alerts.

Customize your Neighborhood Area for relevant alerts

Neighbors is an online community through which Ring users can share footage and receive updates for their area. It is the broad umbrella for controversial features like Community Requests and Search Party (which I'll get into below), but it could be useful for keeping abreast of issues in your neighborhood—like fire or other safety alerts—even if you don't make your camera's content public. You can customize your area so you're only getting relevant alerts, especially if your neighborhood is more active on the app. Go to Menu > Neighbors > Settings > Customize Neighborhood to adjust the boundaries of your area.

Turn off Community Requests from law enforcement

Community Requests is a Neighbors feature through which law enforcement can ask users to share video from their Ring devices. While Ring says that footage isn't shared automatically, and law enforcement doesn't have access to live feeds, many users still have privacy concerns related to this type of collaboration. (Note that Ring also had a short-lived partnership with Flock Safety, which would have made it easier for law enforcement agencies to request Ring camera footage using Flock's software.)

You can simply ignore Community Requests in your Neighbors feed, or you can turn these requests off entirely under Neighborhood Settings > Feed Settings. Deselect Community Requests and hit Apply.

Opt out of Search Party's surveillance

Ring launched its Search Party feature in a Super Bowl ad earlier this year, ostensibly to help users find lost dogs in their neighborhood. Search Party uses AI to identify pets in your Ring's field of vision and pools the footage with other cameras. Obviously, this functionality comes with significant privacy concerns, not least of which is whether and how your footage could be shared with law enforcement to surveil people rather than pets. You can disable Search Party entirely under Control Center > Search Party. Choose the blue Pet icon next to each camera.

Disconnect from Amazon Sidewalk's wireless network

Amazon Sidewalk uses your Ring device—and others in your neighborhood—to create a mesh network so said devices stay connected to the internet even if your wifi is weak or goes down. Amazon says that this feature provides security (because you'll still get important alerts) and extends the range for other devices like smart lights, smart locks, and pet locators. But you may not want to use your bandwidth for this purpose nor introduce potential privacy concerns to your home network. You can disable Amazon Sidewalk in the Control Center on your Ring app.

Disable third-party provider sharing

Like many apps and services, Ring shares certain information with third parties for purposes like personalized ads. While the company says it does not sell users' personal data, in 2020, researchers at the Electronic Frontier Foundation found that the Ring app was packed with third-party trackers that were sending personally identifiable information to analytics and marketing firms.

In response, Ring added an opt-out feature, so you can adjust your settings to keep this information private from third-party providers. In the Ring app, go to Menu > Control Center > Cookies and Third Party Service Providers and turn off Third-Party Web and App Analytics Cookies and Personalized Advertising.

Enable end-to-end encryption to protect your Ring footage

If you want maximum privacy for your Ring footage, consider enabling end-to-end encryption (E2EE), which prevents anyone except you from accessing your recordings. This adds an extra layer of protection against hackers as well as Ring itself (including compliance with law enforcement requests), as videos are hidden behind a passphrase and can be viewed only on your enrolled mobile device. You'll also need a (paid) Ring Protect subscription. The major downside is that you lose access to a pretty sizeable list of features, including 24/7 video recording and Person Detection. To set up E2EE, go to your Control Center > Video Encryption > End-to-End Encryption.

Set up local storage for more space and better privacy

With a Ring Protect subscription, Ring will store your videos in the cloud for 180 days, which you can shorten to as little as one day if you are concerned about someone gaining access to your footage (and E2EE isn't enabled). Unfortunately, without a Ring Protect subscription, there's no easy option to store videos from your camera, and you will probably want to save recordings for at least some period of time. You can set up local storage to a MicroSD card through Ring Edge, though you'll need to invest in a Ring Alarm Pro Base Station. This gives you more control, more space, and more privacy. Of course, another alternative is to look for a camera that offers local storage to begin with.

If you are planning spring or summer travel, you may want to slow down and pay close attention to the process. Scammers have a lot to gain by targeting travelers: The Federal Trade Commission tracked more than 58,000 reports of travel, vacation, and timeshare plan fraud in 2024 totaling $274 million in losses. And AI is helping them get away with it.

How scammers are targeting travelers

Some of the most common travel scams involve impersonation: of people, brands, and listings. For example, fraudsters will post fake vacation rental listings and collect payment (sometimes by pressuring you to use wire transfers or peer-to-peer apps) and leave you stranded with no place to stay or stuck in accommodations way worse than what you booked and paid for. On the back end of a trip, a dishonest host may try to make fraudulent damage claims and pressure you into paying hundreds or thousands of dollars for something you didn't do.

Scammers will also impersonate travel agents and booking platforms, allowing them to collect sensitive personal information and money before you clock the fraud. Booking.com is a common target for scams. Multiple campaigns have used a spoofed version of the site to spread malware—another known as "I Paid Twice" targeted both Booking.com and Expedia.

Other travel scams involve fake flight cancellation notifications (which direct you to rebook on a phishing website), fake customer service numbers promoted via both sponsored ads and legitimate business listings, and deals that are too good to be true.

AI facilitates travel scams

These days, even savvy consumers can fall victim to these travel scams. As travel expert and consumer advocate Christopher Elliott writes for The Seattle Times, AI has rendered traditional scam red flags practically obsolete. We can no longer rely on obvious grammar and spelling errors to differentiate between what's real and what isn't, as tools like ChatGPT and Gemini are capable of nearly flawless replication of human speech and generating authentic-looking content—like photos, rental listings, and entire websites—in almost no time.

According to McAfee, one of the most common ways AI has changed the travel scam landscape is via voice cloning. Threat actors can make deepfake calls using just a few seconds of voice samples pulled from promotional material or customer service recordings. You may not be able to differentiate between a fake airline representative, hotel staff, or travel agent and a real one, and fraudsters use this to get everything from passport information to credit card numbers.

AI also makes phishing attempts far harder to spot, as scammers can craft booking confirmations and other communication using authentic branding and perfect text. And fake booking sites (as described above), rental listings, and tour pages are nearly indistinguishable from real ones, thanks to AI-generated photos, videos, and reviews.

How to identify AI-powered travel scams

Thankfully, AI hasn't eliminated every scam indicator. Urgency should always raise alarms, as scammers count on targets responding to demands before having time to think. If you're being pressured to provide information or pay money or book before a deal expires, it might be a scam. Slow down and verify before taking action.

If you're asked to send money via crypto, wire transfers, gift cards, or apps like Venmo and Zelle, it's almost certainly a scam. Always book travel over trusted platforms using credit cards, which have fraud protection and can be tracked or disputed.

If a customer service rep contacts you about your trip, ask them to verify your booking details before providing any additional information. If they cannot confirm things like your reservation number or card on file, they are likely not legitimate. If you're unsure, hang up and call the hotel, airline, or travel agent using contact information obtained from an official source.

Finally, check travel websites carefully for subtle signs of a scam. Be wary of URL tricks like homograph attacks and typosquatting, which are used to spread malware. Legitimate businesses will also have contact information and privacy policies on their websites. Avoid getting to websites through search results and unsolicited emails and social media messages—instead, go directly through trusted communication or type the correct URL into the address bar.

Most of us believe that we would never, ever fall for a scam. We think we know the "tells," like poorly formulated communication that sounds urgent. Unfortunately, social engineering—tactics that prey on human emotions and instincts to get us to act against our own interests—can work on anyone.

Romance scams are a textbook example of emotional manipulation in which the perpetrator exploits a victim's feelings of loneliness, love, or desire for connection to build trust over the long term. Beyond the emotional toll, the financial consequences are significant: The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) reported $672 million in romance scam losses in 2024, and this number is almost certainly only a fraction of the real total.

Scammers are increasingly employing AI tools in romance scams, making these campaigns even harder to detect and therefore even more dangerous for targets. Experian predicts that AI-powered romance scams will be among the top fraud threats in 2026.

How a romance scam works

As McAfee describes in a recent report on the state of romance scams, this type of fraud is a long con. A romance scam typically starts with a "hook," like a DM, follow request, "wrong number" text, or match on a dating app. Once a scammer gets a response, they'll move into love bombing in an attempt to quickly build intimacy and trust while encouraging you to keep the relationship a secret. They'll take time to build credibility around their persona, which likely includes a job or lifestyle that prevents them from meeting you.

Next comes a minor request for financial support, which may escalate into opening an account, "investing" in a business venture, or co-signing a loan. Increasingly, these schemes involve fraudulent investments in cryptocurrency. (Another term for this is "pig butchering.") Once they've got what they want, scammers disappear, leaving victims to deal with the consequences.

Romance scams work because they don't start with obvious exploitation. Fraudsters build up trust over weeks and months, so it's more likely to feel like a real relationship than a scam until victims are already in too deep.

AI is making romance scams worse

AI is making romance scams even easier for fraudsters to run. In a review of recent research, Bitdefender notes that in order to build trust, scammers have traditionally had to devote significant time and attention to each individual target. While playing the long game in this way is often worth the effort—as the payoff is often significant—it limits the number of potential victims any one scammer could reach.

AI removes these barriers. Large language models (LLMs) are capable of maintaining natural conversations without the red flags of a scam, such as poor grammar and misspellings. AI can mirror personality, reflect emotion, and match tone, and it's less likely than a human to come off as pressured or rushed. Chatbots can retain and integrate personal details from earlier conversations, and it requires very little effort to sustain for a very large number of victims.

Automated chatbots are especially adept at handling the early stages of a romance scam, and humans are required to step in only at critical moments to offer reassurance or initiate a financial request. Because scammers can maintain many conversations at once, they can also test out different tactics and quickly refine based on what works best to keep victims engaged. As the Global Cyber Alliance puts it, AI adds "speed, scale, and consistency" to the traditional romance scam.

Research suggests that victims may actually find AI more trustworthy than a human. McAfee found that a third of American adults believe it's possible to develop romantic feelings toward an AI bot. Deepfake audio and video make these AI-powered scams even more credible, as victims can no longer rely on a scammer's refusal to actually speak with them as a red flag.

How to catch a romance scam

Even a well-trained chatbot has limitations. According to McAfee, the most common clues that you're interacting with a bot or fake profile include scripted or repetitive responses, instant (and perfectly crafted) replies, and photos that are obviously generated by AI. Other red flags include a contact who avoids voice and video calls as well as unusual requests early in the relationship.

To avoid getting wrapped up in an AI-powered romance scam, slow down. Be wary of perfectly crafted responses, which may indicate automation. Try asking unexpected questions or creating friction, which can throw a chatbot off. Remember that relationships shouldn't rely on secrecy or be contingent on financial support. Social media and dating sites are full of fake profiles, so seeing is not always believing.

Instagram will soon alert parents if their teen repeatedly searches for content related to suicide and self-harm on the platform. According to an announcement from Meta, these notifications will be available to parents in the U.S., UK, Australia, and Canada who supervise their teen's accounts starting next week.

As TechCrunch reports, this feature is being rolled out amid numerous lawsuits over how Meta and other tech companies have failed to protect kids and teens across their platforms.

How the new safety alerts work

Instagram will use teens' search activity to generate alerts. Searches that are flagged include "phrases promoting suicide or self-harm, phrases that suggest a teen wants to harm themselves, and terms like ‘suicide’ or ‘self-harm,'" according to Meta.

Parents will receive alerts via email, text, or WhatsApp as well as an in-app notification. The message lets parents know that their teen has "repeatedly searched" for content related to suicide or self-harm and includes resources for supporting teens.

Instagram already blocks searches associated with suicide and self-harm, directing users to resources instead. While users can post about their personal experiences, Meta's policies do not allow content that promotes or glorifies these topics, and Instagram hides related content from teens (even if it's from someone they follow).

Enable parental supervision on Instagram

To receive alerts, parental supervision must be enabled on your teen's account. Supervision allows parents to set app time limits, enable sleep mode, and monitor and manage things like account settings, followers, accounts followed, content topics searched, and app usage. Parental supervision is available for teens ages 13–17, and teens have to agree to participate.

To send a supervision invite to your teen, open the More menu in the bottom-left and click Settings. Select Supervision > Create Invite, review the information, and hit Continue. From here, you can copy the invite to send via any messaging app. Note that teens can decline supervision requests—the feature is opt-in for both parties.

At least 25 million people have had their personal information stolen in a major hack on business services company Conduent. The data breach itself isn't new—it was initially disclosed in January 2025, and Conduent has already notified millions of individuals whose data was compromised in the incident. However, the breach is now believed to be larger in scale than previously reported, possibly among the largest to affect healthcare.

Who is Conduent?

Conduent is a New Jersey-based business processing outsourcing (BPO) company that provides services like printing, payment, and document and claims processing to state and federal government agencies as well as large commercial and transportation organizations. According to the company's 2025 annual report, these offerings include disbursement of benefits, such as food assistance and child support, and administration of government healthcare programs (like Medicaid). For large corporations, services include workplace and unemployment benefits management.

Conduent was spun off from Xerox in 2017 and now employs around 51,000 people worldwide.

What happened with the Conduent breach?

In January 2025, Conduent suffered an outage that was later confirmed to be the result of a "cybersecurity incident." The disruption lasted several days, during which agencies across the U.S. were unable to process some benefit payments. While the breach was discovered in January, hackers reportedly gained access to Conduent's systems months earlier on October 21, 2024. The Safepay ransomware gang later took credit for the attack.

While Conduent confirmed in April 2025 that client information had been stolen in the breach, it didn't begin notifying affected individuals until October. According to those notices, the compromised data included names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, health insurance policy information, and medical information.

How many people were impacted by the breach?

The scope of the breach continues to grow, but the total number of individuals affected currently sits around 25 million. The greatest impact appears to be in Texas and Oregon, though residents in California, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and New Mexico have also received notices. (For reference, the total number of users impacted by the 2024 ransomware attack on Change Healthcare is now estimated at 190 million.)

What to do if you were affected

If you receive a notice saying your information was compromised, you should take every precaution to secure your identity: At a minimum, ensure your credit is frozen, and set up a one-year fraud alert on your credit files to prevent someone from applying for credit using your information. None of the notices we've seen have offered any type of credit monitoring or identity theft protection services to affected individuals, but you could utilize these services as well.

At this point—given the ubiquity of data breaches and information compromise—you should be keeping a close eye on your credit report and financial accounts at all times to quickly catch anything suspicious. If you do find fraudulent activity, report it to your bank and/or credit issuer immediately, and file an identity theft report.

Netflix's March slate kicks off with the live stream of the 32nd annual Actors Awards hosted by Kristen Bell—red carpet coverage begins at 7 pm ET on March 1 followed by the show at 9 pm. Netflix will also be hosting a live performance from BTS as part of their comeback tour (March 21 at 7 am ET) as well as the MLB Opening Night matchup between the Yankees and the Giants (March 25 at 7 pm ET).

Cillian Murphy reprises his role as British gangster Tommy Shelby in a new feature-length film. Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man (March 20) is set a few years after the series finale and sees Shelby return to Birmingham when his estranged son (played by Barry Keoghan) gets involved in a Nazi plot. Netflix will also get all four seasons of The Man in the High Castle (March 11), the dystopian drama series—originally created for Amazon Prime Video—set in a parallel universe in which the Axis powers won World War II.

The Dinosaurs (March 6) is a new docu-series from the team behind Our Planet that explores the rise and fall of the dinosaurs over the span of 150 million years. The series is executive produced by Steven Spielberg and narrated by Morgan Freeman.

Finally, Love Is Blind: The Reunion from season 10 will premiere on March 11 at 9 pm ET.

Here's everything else coming to Netflix in March, and everything that's leaving.

What's coming to Netflix in March 2026

Available March 1

• The Actor Awards Presented by SAG-AFTRA—Netflix Live Event

• Casino

• Chef

• Deepwater Horizon

• Desperado

• Fifty Shades Darker

• Fifty Shades Freed

• Fifty Shades of Grey

• The Green Knight

• Goosebumps

• Jurassic World

• Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

• Legion

• The Lego Movie

• Matilda

• Misery

• Ray

• Sicario

• Stephen King's Sleepwalkers

• The Swan Princess

• Trolls

• Zombieland

Available March 2

• Gabby's Dollhouse: Season 13—Netflix Family

• Hotel Mumbai

• Jurassic World: Dominion

Available March 3

• The Bling Ring

• Bruce Bruce: I Ain’t Playin’—Netflix Comedy Special

Available March 4

• Blue Therapy—Netflix Series

• Street Flow 3—Netflix Film

Available March 5

• A Friend, a Murderer—Netflix Documentary

• Ginger & Rosa

• Vladimir—Netflix Series

Available March 6

• A Man Called Ove

• Boyfriend on Demand—Netflix Series

• The Dinosaurs—Netflix Documentary

• Hello Bachchon—Netflix Series

• Still Shining—Netflix Series

• Strangers in the Park—Netflix Film

• The TikTok Killer—Netflix Documentary

• War Machine—Netflix Film

Available March 7

• BEASTARS FINAL SEASON Part2—Netflix Series

• Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale

• Nuremberg

Available March 9

• Clifford the Big Red Dog

• Sesame Street: Volume 2—Netflix Family

Available March 10

• Derrick Stroup: Nostalgic—Netflix Comedy Special

• Jobs

• ONE PIECE: Season 2—Netflix Series

Available March 11

• Age of Attraction—Netflix Series

• Louis Theroux: Inside the Manosphere—Netflix Documentary

• Love Is Blind: The Reunion—Netflix Series

• The Man in the High Castle: Seasons 1-4

Available March 12

• Love is Blind: Sweden: Season 3—Netflix Series

• Made in Korea—Netflix Film

• Virgin River: Season 7—Netflix Series

Available March 13

• Fatal Seduction: Season 3—Netflix Series

• That Night—Netflix Series

Available March 14

• Nobody 2

Available March 16

• The Plastic Detox—Netflix Documentary

Available March 17

• Mark Normand: None Too Pleased—Netflix Comedy Special

• The Ricky Gervais Show: Seasons 1-3

Available March 18

• Eva Lasting: Season 4—Netflix Series

• Radioactive Emergency—Netflix Series

• Season 2: Furies: Resistance—Netflix Series

Available March 19

• Jigsaw

• Saw

• Saw II

• Saw III

• Saw IV

• Saw V

• Saw VI

• Saw X

• Saw: The Final Chapter

• STEEL BALL RUN JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure—Netflix Series

• Tyler Perry's Beauty in Black Season 2 Part 2—Netflix Series

• Unicorn Academy: Secrets Revealed: Chapter 1—Netflix Family

Available March 20

• Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man—Netflix Film

• Pokémon Horizons: Season 3—Rising Hope Part 2—Netflix Family

• The Rise of the Red Hot Chili Peppers: Our Brother, Hillel—Netflix Documentary

Available March 21

• The Bad Guys 2

• BTS THE COMEBACK LIVE | ARIRANG—Netflix Live Event

Available March 23

• Anatomy of a Fall

• Inside: Season 3—Netflix Series

• Minions: The Rise of Gru

Available March 24

• Jeff Ross: Take a Banana for the Ride—Netflix Comedy Special

• Ready or Not: Texas—Netflix Series

Available March 25

• Heartbreak High: Season 3—Netflix Series

• Homicide: New York: Season 2—Netflix Documentary

• MLB Opening Night: Yankees vs. Giants—Netflix Live Event

Available March 26

• Caterpillar

• The Conners: Season 7

• Jo Nesbø's Detective Hole—Netflix Series

• Mike & Molly: Seasons 1- 6

• The Prosecutor—Netflix Documentary

• The Red Line—Netflix Film

• Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen—Netflix Series

Available March 27

• 53 Sundays—Netflix Film

• BTS: THE RETURN—Netflix Documentary

• The Parisian Agency: Exclusive Properties: Season 6—Netflix Series

Available March 28

• Anemone

Available March 31

• Aaron Chen: Funny Garden—Netflix Comedy Special

• Untold: The Death & Life of Lamar Odom—Netflix Documentary

What's leaving Netflix in March 2026

Leaving March 1

• A League of Their Own

• Ace Ventura: Pet Detective

• Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls

• The Amazing Spider-Man

• The Amazing Spider-Man 2

• As Good as It Gets

• Bad Teacher

• Battlefield Earth

• Boyz n the Hood

• Bram Stoker's Dracula

• Braveheart

• Brightburn

• Dante's Peak

• Franklin & Bash: Seasons 1-4

• Godzilla

• I Know What You Did Last Summer

• Little Women

• Pulp Fiction

• Stripes

• This Is 40

• The Ugly Truth

• The Wedding Ringer

• The Wolf of Wall Street

Leaving March 2

• The Hughleys: Seasons 1-4

Leaving March 5

• Forrest Gump

Leaving March 6

• Power Rangers

Leaving March 11

• Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret

Leaving March 12

• House of Gucci

• The Hustle

Leaving March 13

• The Talented Mr. Ripley

Leaving March 14

• Miracle in Cell No. 7

Leaving March 16

• Titanic

Leaving March 20

• Four Brothers

Leaving March 25

• Wrath of Man

Leaving March 31

• The Hurt Locker

If you order a new smartphone to be delivered to your home, you may be a target for scammers. Fraudsters are impersonating representatives from mobile carriers, calling customers and claiming that they've been sent the wrong device and need to return it.

Obviously, if you follow through, scammers get to keep your phone—they may either to sell it or activate it using your information to perpetrate identity fraud.

Scams centered on stealing high-value tech aren't anything new. In addition to regular porch pirating, thieves have been known to knock on doors, posing as couriers or company representatives attempting to recover a "wrongly delivered" item. Fraudsters have also used fake Find My alerts to gain access to lost or stolen iPhones.

How the phone return scam works

As an editor at ZDNET experienced, the scam begins shortly after your new phone is delivered. You may receive a call from a spoofed number, and someone claiming to represent your carrier will have specific information like your name, address, and device model. They'll tell you that there's been a mix-up and you need to send your phone back so you can receive a replacement. They may give you instructions to scan a QR code, print a label, and take the package to a shipping drop-off point. In some cases, targets have been promised gift cards for the inconvenience.

If you hesitate, scammers may employ a number of pressure tactics to get you to act. They'll tell you that delaying the return could cause issues with your device activation, billing, or warranty. They may continue to call with threats.

Like many scams, this one relies on social engineering: it manipulates emotions and instincts to get you to act against your best interest. Fraudsters impersonate a trusted brand and use detailed information about you to make their story more believable. They use timing to their advantage and promote a sense of urgency.

The phone return scam also has similarities to the brushing scam, in which victims receive a package containing merchandise they didn't order so that scammers can write a verified review or boost sales numbers or collect personally identifiable information once you scan a QR code (an added component known as quishing) to learn more about the item.

What to do if you get a call about your new phone

The solution here is to simply hang up. If you are concerned about your account or device, call your carrier directly (use the customer service number from a previous bill or go through the official app) and confirm the mix-up. Don't engage with QR codes or any instructions provided on unsolicited calls.

It may be alarming that a scammer has specific details about your order and calls right after your new phone is delivered. Unfortunately, a lot of your personal information is out in the open and available to bad actors, whether as the result of a data breach or some other form of compromise (such as malware that can read notifications). This is a good reason to keep an eye out for other indicators of identity theft and act quickly if you find anything suspicious.

If you receive a text from a random number offering you a job, it's almost certainly a scam, and you likely know to ignore and delete the message and move on with your life. But a message from a recruiter with a link to an employment application may give you pause—and fraudsters are hoping that you'll believe it just enough to hand over your personal information. Malwarebytes recently identified a phishing scam that uses fake Google Forms posing as job applications to harvest user account credentials.

How the Google Forms job scam works

This specific campaign involves a fake Google Forms site that impersonates the real thing. Links sent to scam targets—likely via email or LinkedIn—direct to forms.google.ss-o[.]com, which looks like a subdomain of the legitimate forms.google.com. (It isn't.) The "ss-o" may be a trust signal for "single sign-on" and fail to raise red flags for many users. Each target receives a personalized URL, which leads to a (fake) Google Form inviting the user to apply for a job.

As Malwarebytes found, the fake page uses the standard Google Forms colors, header, and disclaimers. The form itself is greyed out behind a pop-up prompting users to "sign in to continue." Again, this doesn't look particularly suspicious for a typical Google flow. But the sign-in button redirects to another domain that has been used in multiple phishing attacks to harvest credentials.

Fraudsters have long used Google apps to perpetuate phishing schemes. A 2025 campaign targeting students, faculty, and staff at U.S. colleges and universities used Google Forms that mimicked legitimate school communications to collect login credentials entered directly into the form itself. (Google warns you to never, ever do this.) And numerous attacks on Gmail users have leveraged shared Google Docs to direct victims to a fake sign-in page.

How to avoid phishing attempts on your Google credentials

As always, your first red flag for a scam is a link sent via an unsolicited job offer—even if that link goes to a seemingly legitimate site. Scammers have all kinds of tricks for spoofing URLs and using recognizable domains to gain your trust. Always hover over hyperlinks to see the actual destination before clicking, and look carefully for additions or misspellings in the URL.

Plus, you should probably be wary of any job application submitted via Google Forms. Do your due diligence in speaking with an actual human, and do not send sensitive personal information through Google Forms.

This is also a good reason to use a password manager, which won't allow you to fill login credentials on a fake site. If your password manager gives you a warning or prevents you from using autofill, don't override it.

While Android has automated, built-in backups for plenty of data, including photos, apps, and settings, local files have been excluded. In order to ensure you don't lose PDFs, documents, and other files stored on your device, you have to manually upload or copy them to the cloud or another location. But that's changing, at least in part: the February Google Play Services update comes with a new feature that will copy and upload your Downloads folder to Google Drive.

This is a meaningful update to Android's backup system, but it has some limitations. Here's what to know before enabling it.

How Android will back up your files after the update

As Android Authority describes, the local file backup feature applies only to items in your Downloads folder. It will not cover your device's entire internal storage. The backup will go to Google Drive as a static copy, meaning that files will not be continuously synced, and if you make changes in one location, they won't be reflected in the other. Backups will likely take place occasionally, such as when your phone is idle, charging, and connected to wifi.

Android handles videos and photos similarly with backups to Google Photos. Other device data, like your call and text history and system settings, are backed up to Google Drive.

How to check your Android backup settings

While automatic backups of local files are useful for anyone who doesn't already have a comprehensive backup plan (and if you don't, you should), they could potentially take up a significant amount of space in your Google Drive storage. If you keep lots of invoices, tickets, documents, or installers in your Downloads folder, you may want to be more selective about what you back up and where—especially if you already pay for extra Drive capacity and need it for other purposes.

Thankfully, file backups are disabled by default. To turn them on, go to Settings > Google Backup and select Downloads. You can also change your backup preferences for photos and videos and "other device data" from this menu. Note that this feature is expected to be rolled out gradually and may not be available on your device immediately.