AI has many problems, but also has promise. Today I’m going to focus on one particular problem that has some viable solutions: privacy. Chat bots like ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude all require your queries to be processed in the cloud. All the personal questions we ask are probably being logged against our identity and could be used to train future AI models or to present us with targeted ads. But there are alternatives that protect your data – I’ll give you a handful of solid options.

In other news: a Texas court has blocked the app store age verification law; Flock’s people-tracking cameras have horrible security; PornHub confirms data leak due to third party; stalkerware maker pleads guilty; Texas sues 5 TV makers over data collection; Wegman’s grocery using facial recognition in NYC; New York’s surveillance pricing transparency law goes into effect; DROP tool debuts in California for deleting broker data; two Chrome extensions caught stealing chat bot session text; ChatGPT rolls out new Health tool.

Article Links

1. Judge blocks Texas app store age verification law https://www.theverge.com/news/849752/texas-app-store-accountability-act-age-verification-injunction
2. Flock Exposed Its AI-Powered Cameras to the Internet. We Tracked Ourselves https://www.404media.co/flock-exposed-its-ai-powered-cameras-to-the-internet-we-tracked-ourselves/
3. PornHub Confirms Premium User Data Exposure Linked to Mixpanel Breach https://thecyberexpress.com/pornhub-data-breach-premium-users/
4. Founder of spyware maker pcTattletale pleads guilty to hacking and advertising surveillance software https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/06/founder-of-spyware-maker-pctattletale-pleads-guilty-to-hacking-and-advertising-surveillance-software/
5. Texas sues 5 smart TV manufacturers over data collection practices https://therecord.media/texas-sues-5-smart-tv-makers-over-acr-tech
6. Popular grocery store chain uses biometric surveillance on shoppers, raising privacy concerns https://www.aol.com/articles/popular-grocery-store-chain-uses-130056099.html
7. How New York’s Personalized Pricing Law Affects Consumers And Retailers https://www.forbes.com/sites/anishasircar/2025/12/03/new-yorks-algorithmic-pricing-law-what-it-does-and-why-it-matters/
8. This Tool Deletes Your Info From Data Broker Sites (If You Live in One State) https://lifehacker.com/tech/california-new-data-removal-tool
9. Two Chrome Extensions Caught Stealing ChatGPT and DeepSeek Chats from 900,000 Users https://thehackernews.com/2026/01/two-chrome-extensions-caught-stealing.html
10. Why I Won’t Be Giving ChatGPT Health My Medical Records https://lifehacker.com/tech/dont-give-chatgpt-health-your-medical-records
11. Tip of the Week: https://firewallsdontstopdragons.com/ai-chat-privacy/ 

Further Info

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Table of Contents

• 0:00:07: Intro
• 0:00:36: Listener survey
• 0:01:24: Dragon coin promo
• 0:02:11: News rundown
• 0:04:00: Court blocks Texas app store age check
• 0:09:52: Flock exposed its AI cameras to internet
• 0:21:04: Some PornHub user data leaked
• 0:26:22: Stalkerware maker pleads guilty
• 0:33:57: Texas sues 5 TV makers over data collection
• 0:39:39: Wegmans grocery is using facial recognition
• 0:44:33: NY personalized pricing law goes into effect
• 0:47:28: CA tool mass-deletes broker data
• 0:50:49: Two Chrome extensions steal AI chat records
• 0:54:56: ChatGPT unveils new Health feature
• 0:58:25: Tip of the Week
• 1:07:28: Wrap up
• 1:07:47: Patron podcast preview
• 1:08:23: Looking ahead