Bonus: Boost your privacy intelligence

Meet your personal privacy pilot  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  # Brought to you by: =​ Time for Bonus Intelligence — a single new useful tip or tool that'll work on whatever device(s) you're using! Remember: If you'd rather not receive these Wednesday emails, ​[you can easily opt out of them](=)without affecting the rest of your subscription. ✅ [​Got it — don't show this again​](=)​ This week's Bonus Intelligence issue comes to us from [JR Raphael]() of our excellent [Android Intelligence newsletter](). But it's still meant for you, too — whatever device you're using. That's what Bonus Intelligence is all about! -Chris By [JR Raphael](), author of [Android Intelligence](=) Wading around this wacky ol' web of ours can sometimes seem like making your way through a virtual landmine. Every app, site, and service these days has a sprawling privacy policy — or, phrased another way, a dense legal document detailing all the eyebrow-raising ways it wants to manhandle your information. Having these sorts of details available is obviously a good thing. The problem is that actually trying to read and decipher the privacy policies for every forkin' site and service you open would take you approximately 7,497 years to accomplish. And that's not even taking into account how often these things get quietly revised after you've read 'em. My friend, there is a better way. Let me show you. #top Your privacy intelligence booster So here it is: You can get the most pressing points around what any app or service wants to do with your data without ever reading a single silly privacy policy with the help of an awesome cross-platform tool. ➜ It's a smart little site called [Terms of Service; Didn't Read]( — or ToS;DR for short. ⌚ And it'll take you all of 20 seconds to figure out and use. ToS;DR (which I imagine being pronounced like "tossed her" in my head) relies on a community of reviewers who work tirelessly to translate tech company policies from mushy-mouthed mumbo-jumbo into simple bullet-pointed highlights any normal human can actually understand. The end result is like having your own personal privacy pilot to help navigate the web and get advance warning of any data-related turbulence ahead. All you've gotta do is search ToS;DR for whatever service you're using — or [grab its browser extension]( to get a convenient one-click way of pulling up the same info on demand whilst browsing the web from a computer — and you'll see a little somethin' like this: ​ - ToS;DR lists out the high points of every service's terms, in plain English, and gives you a link to see even more info along with a summary of when and how the terms have been updated over time. - Each item is color-coded to indicate its level of concern, and in many cases, you'll also see a rating that tells you at a glance how worried you should be by what the service is doing overall. - The browser extension will even go as far as to notify you when you make your way to a website with particularly terrible terms, if you want that type of proactive warning. However you use it, lemme tell ya: You'll almost certainly be surprised by some of the stuff you discover. PayPal, for instance, gets a grade "E" — meaning its terms of service "raise very serious concerns" — for such issues as sharing personal data with external organizations, hanging onto and even continuing to share your information after you've deleted your account, and reserving the right to track you even if you've opted out of tracking. ​ Yamma hamma. Now, that's good to know. 📌 You can access ToS;DR [in any web browser on any device]( or via the service's dedicated [desktop browser extensions](. 💰 The service is completely free to use. 🕶 And as [its analysis of its own privacy policy]() reveals, ToS;DR doesn't do anything alarming in terms of data practices. Whew! Some heavy but important stuff to chew over. Let's switch moods for a sec and think about some more lighthearted tech trends, shall we? #top SPONSORED MESSAGE Vinyl sales are making a huge comeback 📈 =​ Way back in the 70s, the music industry sold 500 million records every 👏 single 👏 year 👏. But by 2006, less than 1 million vinyl records were sold, thanks to CDs and MP3 players. …which is why the world was shocked when new vinyl sales hit 40 million in 2021 (and that’s not even including the used marketplace). Is it because of millennial hipsters, or maybe ‘cause artists make way more money on record sales? And does this mean you should dust off that old vinyl record player in your basement? ​[➜ Find out in this 4-minute breakdown from The Hustle.](=)​ Just how The Hustle newsletter delivers daily business news essentials, its YouTube channel makes you smarter with eye-delighting vids on everything from [catalytic converter theft](=) to [all-you-can-eat buffets.](=) And it’s totally free. ​[➜ Subscribe today + discover how many Spotify streams is equivalent to a single record sale!](=)​ [​FINISH THE STORY HERE ➜](=) #top This Week's Bonus Intelligence Quiz Without looking, which of the following tech entities seems like it'd have the worst rating for privacy practices? Remember: NO CHEATING! Anyone can look up info on the web. Stick with the spirit of the game and test your actual knowledge without searching. It's just for fun, anyway! [Wikipedia]( [Quora]( [Reddit]( [Apple Services]( Answer correctly before next Wednesday and secure your spot on the [Bonus Intelligence Leaderboard](=)! Last week's question and answer: Gmail launched with 1 GB of free storage in 2004. How much storage did Microsoft's Hotmail offer at the time? 2 MB. Gmail’s offer of a free 1 GB was unheard of at the time. Microsoft quickly moved to boost Hotmail’s free storage to 250 MB later that year.   You received this email because your address was signed up for the Windows Intelligence early preview. If you didn't mean to sign up or no longer wish to be subscribed, you can [unsubscribe or update your preferences here](=).