Sandra Gutierrez

Figuring out how to cancel Amazon Prime is easy—as long as Amazon doesn’t convince you otherwise along the way. Follow these steps to get it done fast.

Home surveillance cameras may be providing you with a false sense of security, while letting others a peek into your private space.

Your iPhone and iPad’s charging sound is boring, but you can change it. Follow these steps to set up a simple automation that will make your device unique.

Reacting to something online is way more fun if there’s an animation involved. Apple seems to understand this, as it included hand gesture reactions in macOS Sonoma. They work on FaceTime, of course, but also on some other video call platforms, including Google Meet, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams. Now, if you have a compatible Mac, you’ll be able to celebrate your colleague’s promotion with a dramatic firework effect, or send digital hearts to your significant other without clicking or tapping a…

You are more than a data point. The Opt Out is here to help you take your privacy back. AMERICANS SPEND A LOT of time in cars. Whether you have a long commute, enjoy riding with friends as they drive around, or just like sitting in the parking lot for a bit of solo time, a car might feel like an extension of your home—an intimate space for you to sing out of tune or seek silence in the middle of your day. Unfortunately, if you’re in a car that was manufactured within the past few years, th…

Meta, possibly in an effort to convince people it’s a transparent company, just equipped Instagram with a new feature that lets users know what it learns about them through other websites. Unfortunately, getting that information is not as easy as Meta wants you to believe. Other than what you post and how you interact with the platform, Instagram’s parent company also gathers data about you through other sites and organizations that use the company’s products and services. That means that if…

Set up your appointment schedule on Google Calendar and have people you’re meeting pick a time and date that works for the both of you.

Don’t broadcast your spending. Follow these steps to change Venmo’s privacy settings and stop people from snooping on your transactions.

You are more than a data point. The Opt Out is here to help you take your privacy back. IN THE LAST DECADE, direct-to-consumer genetic tests like those from Ancestry.com and 23andMe have become ubiquitous in the US. These services cater to Americans looking for distant relatives, a missing piece of their history, or insight into their health. But if you can’t wait to swab your cheeks or spit into a plastic tube (or have done so already), you should know the privacy risks involved in putting y…

Sandra Gutierrez is the former Associate DIY editor at Popular Science. She makes a living by turning those “Wait, I can make that!” moments she has while browsing the internet into fully-fledged stories—and she loves that.