You have probably had your mobile number longer than your current address. It sits on old forms, in doctors’ files, in a hundred contact lists. For most of its life, it was just a way to be reached. Somewhere along the way, without anyone deciding it, that number became something else: the master recovery key … Read more
The call came from the school in the middle of a workday: Lily’s phone had been stolen. Frank called the police, and the officer asked three ordinary questions, the three every stolen-phone police report needs. What model is the phone? What is the serial number? What accounts were logged in? Frank is 42, an operations … Read more
Somewhere right now, companies you have never heard of are selling a file on your family. Data brokers assemble it from public records, loyalty programs, app permissions, and each other: names, addresses, phone numbers, home value, approximate income, who lives in your house, plus guesses about your health or politics inferred on top. Nobody asked … Read more