Geeezzz …..
I recently switched from Hulu / Disney live streaming to UTube TV for a cost savings and smoother interface as well. There are plus and minus factors for both - but plan to stay with UTube TV (separate from the online UTube video site you are no doubt more familiar with). Happy with the product. However, I began receiving promotional emails and Ads from Google / UTube in my mailbox. Obviously, I welcome legitimate account information should they need to contact me, but can do without the garbage arriving daily..
So … I scroll down the latest promotional email and hit the “unsubscribe” tab at the bottom. That should fix everything. No?
No. Clicking “unsubscribe” led me to an account login page. I then had to enter my email, my Google password, and also had to solve a word puzzle to prove who I am and then had to receive a text message by phone and enter the code. Should solve things? No?
No.A page opened up with virtually every eavesdropping methodology known to man, but nowhere did I see an option to halt the unwanted emails. What was interesting is that by default they had enabled options to share my TV viewing history, my Google search history on every topic and any UTube videos watched - and the right to sell all this to whomever they wanted.
I disabled as much of the garbage as I could - but you can never be 100% certain. Then I reluctantly blocked their messages from arriving in my email account and relegated them to “junk” status. Hopefully, genuine account correspondence will still make it through.
As an aside, I’ve only recently realized that allowing
geolocation to remain active on a device is not smart. Talk about their ability to hone in on a
target ! The one exception where I need to enable it is when placing small wagers on DraftKings since there are state specific gaming regulations and DK is required to verify my location before I can play.
All this got me to wondering
who the Patsy at the poker table was?
Comments
I was looking for an authenticator app for better security when accessing financial sites yesterday. These apps are believed to be superior to phone based 2-factor authentication. (There’s been some discussion of this in other threads. But the question might make a good thread in itself.) Several good sources recommended Google’s authenticator app, although I shied away and chose another.
Google is a highly rated provider of internet based TV. It’s called U-Tube TV and competes with Hulu and all the other big players. You wouldn’t be able to watch your local channels with any internet based TV provider w/o enabling the location finder. If you’re scratching your head over that, realize that some of us are in geographical areas that make receiving over-the-air TV signals difficult to impossible. (low lying / coastal terrain with nearby tall hills, sand dunes or mountains in between you and the TV transmitter).
It may be difficult to use an authenticator not preferred by a site.
All have weaknesses. txt 2FA doesn't use encryption. Symantec VIP app resides on your phone. Google Authenticator access is via Google account/login. Any of these can be misused or hacked.
What do you do when you are locked out of the house? You call a locksmith. This happened once to me. The locksmith guy came, looked at my Driver License (when I called, he said that he will check IDs), and unlocked the door in 30 sec. If locksmiths can do this, crooks can do too.
It's becoming more like this for online stuff. Take reasonable precautions and don't attract the attention of professional hackers/crooks.
Really glad that I'm as old as I am...
I also started using Symantec VIP at Schwab several months ago.
The app works as expected and I haven't experienced any problems¹.
¹ I use the desktop app exclusively and have no experience with the mobile version.