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How to stop your devices from eavesdropping on your conversations even when you're not using them
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Data is growing that Alexa, Siri, Cortana and smartphone apps are always listening to user conversations, either to improve A.I. verbal skills or for other, undisclosed reasons. If that makes you uncomfortable, here's what you can do. - photo by Chandra Johnson
Digital assistants like Siri and Alexa are milestones of modern convenience at the touch of a button or the utterance of a "Hey, Siri!" the assistants can play music, order pizza, answer a simple question or tell a joke.

But, as some media critics point out, these assistants also aren't secure, leaving users, who are often logged into the services via an app, vulnerable to hacking, identity theft and nebulous eavesdropping.

While many assistants most notably, Amazon's standalone speaker-based assistant, Alexa are voice-activated, calibrated to listen specifically for their names, it's unclear how much the assistants listen and how the conversations they overhear are used, if at all. It's widely known that Google keeps a dated archive of words and phrases users say. Facebook, too, listens at all times via smartphones.

To some, like Gizmodo's Alex Cranz, that insecurity is a trade-off for the enormous convenience of using a digital assistant even if it is something to be aware of.

"Alexa is burrowing itself deeper and deeper into owners lives, giving them quick and easy access not just to Spotify and the Amazon store, but to bank accounts and to do lists," Cranz wrote. "I, and many people in my generation and younger, do not value privacy. We willingly sacrifice it, often for popularity on social networks. And now for convenience sake within the Internet of Things."

But for others, like Slate's Will Oremus, the insecurity ups the creepiness factor on an imperfect platform. In a lengthy article dedicated to the topic, Oremus spoke of how Alexa interrupted a conversation between him and his wife with an impromptu, bizarre joke: "I held the door open for a clown the other day. I thought it was a nice jester."

"In retrospect, the disruption was more humorous than sinister," Oremus wrote. "But it was also a slightly unsettling reminder that Amazons hit device works by listening to everything you say, all the time."

Regardless of whether users are carefree about digital eavesdropping or totally creeped out by it, there's a relatively easy solution for smartphone users, at least.

To stop digital eavesdropping, simply disable an app's use of the phone's microphone under the phone's settings:

Apple

1. Go to the settings menu

2. Select the app in question (Facebook, Skype, etc.)

3. Turn off the microphone

Android

1. Go to the settings menu and select "Personal"

2. Select "Privacy"

3. Choose "Permissions"

4. Choose "Microphone" and turn it off

For Google users wishing to delete the recordings Cortana makes of conversations, users should visit history.google.com, tap the hamburger icon and select "Voice and Audio Activity" to review or delete audio files.
Its toxic: New study says blue light from tech devices can speed up blindness
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A new study from the University of Toledo found that blue light from digital devices can transform molecules in your eyes retina into cell killers. - photo by Herb Scribner
It turns out checking Twitter or Facebook before bed is bad for your health.

A new study from the University of Toledo found that blue light from digital devices can transform molecules in your eyes retina into cell killers.

That process can lead to age-related macular degeneration, which is a leading cause of blindness in the United States, according to the researchs extract.

Blue light is a common issue for many modern Americans. Blue light is emitted from screens, most notably at night, causing sleep loss, eye strain and a number of other issues.

Dr. Ajith Karunarathne, assistant professor in the UT Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, said our constant exposure to blue light cant be blocked by the lens or cornea.

"It's no secret that blue light harms our vision by damaging the eye's retina. Our experiments explain how this happens, and we hope this leads to therapies that slow macular degeneration, such as a new kind of eye drop, he said.

Macular degeneration is an incurable eye disease that often affects those in their 50s or 60s. It occurs after the death of photoreceptor cells in the retina. Those cells need retinal to sense light and help signal the brain.

The research team found blue light exposure created poisonous chemical molecules that killed photoreceptor cells

"It's toxic. If you shine blue light on retinal, the retinal kills photoreceptor cells as the signaling molecule on the membrane dissolves," said Kasun Ratnayake, a Ph.D. student researcher working in Karunarathne's cellular photo chemistry group. "Photoreceptor cells do not regenerate in the eye. When they're dead, they're dead for good."

However, the researchers found a molecule called alpha-tocopherol, which comes from Vitamin E, can help prevent cell death, according to Futurism.

The researchers plan to review how light from TVs, cellphones and tablet screens affect the eyes as well.

"If you look at the amount of light coming out of your cellphone, it's not great but it seems tolerable," said Dr. John Payton, visiting assistant professor in the UT Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. "Some cellphone companies are adding blue-light filters to the screens, and I think that is a good idea."

Indeed, Apple released a Night Shift mode two years ago to help quell blue lights strain on the eyes, according to The Verge. The screen will dim into a warmer, orange light that will cause less stress on the eyes.