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Your AirPods Can Now Identify You to Police. Yes, Really.
The device on your wrist and in your ears was never built to be a tracking beacon. Now it might be one anyway. I need you to sit with this one for a second, because when I first heard about it, I honestly had to read it twice. There is now a technology that can identify you; not your car, not your license plate, you, through the Bluetooth signal coming off your AirPods. Your Apple Watch. Your fitness tracker. The wireless devices sitting on your body right now, quietly broadc
Michael Routhier
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Digital Rights
Being locked out of the internet is not an inconvenience, it is a civil rights issue. Drawing from original Tech 4 Grown-Ups research, these articles document how technology companies deliberately excluded older adults, and what that costs in health, income, and dignity. Because every person, regardless of age, deserves full participation in the digital world.
Meta Just Opted You Into AI-Generated Images. You Were Never Asked.
Your photos were never meant to become someone else's AI prompt. I want you to stop reading for a second and go check one thing. Is your Instagram account public? If it is, I need you to know what just happened to your photos, because I promise you, most people have no idea. Meta has rolled out a new feature called Muse, part of its AI image generation push, and here's the part that should stop you cold. Every public Instagram account has been automatically opted in. That mea
Michael Routhier
6 days ago5 min read
Your AirPods Can Now Identify You to Police. Yes, Really.
The device on your wrist and in your ears was never built to be a tracking beacon. Now it might be one anyway. I need you to sit with this one for a second, because when I first heard about it, I honestly had to read it twice. There is now a technology that can identify you; not your car, not your license plate, you, through the Bluetooth signal coming off your AirPods. Your Apple Watch. Your fitness tracker. The wireless devices sitting on your body right now, quietly broadc
Michael Routhier
Jul 87 min read
They're Selling Your Brain, And Calling It Healthcare.
Some companies aren't in the business of helping you. They're in the business of collecting your family member's brain data and selling it. I want to start with something Marcus Aurelius wrote. "The second rule is to look things in the face and know them for what they are." Not what they claim to be. Not what the marketing says when you're scared and searching for something, anything, that might protect someone you love. What they actually are. That's what today's post is abo
Michael Routhier
Jun 257 min read
The World Is Watching: Why the EU Is Getting Tech Right and the U.S. Is Getting It Wrong
Two flags. Two very different bets on your future. Here's what that means and what you can do about it. There is a quiet but consequential battle happening right now. Not fought with weapons, but with laws, executive orders, and lines of code. On one side, the European Union is building what may be the world's most robust framework for protecting ordinary people in the digital age. On the other, the United States appears to be racing in the opposite direction; prioritising sp
Michael Routhier
Jun 247 min read
Why Millions of Europeans Are Ditching Google and Microsoft (And What to Use Instead)
Millions of Europeans are making the switch; quietly, practically, one tool at a time. Here's everything you need to do the same. Something is happening across Europe right now that most people are not paying enough attention to. Governments are making real, official moves away from American tech platforms. France has ordered 2.6 million civil servants off Windows and onto Linux, while also moving away from US email and video conferencing tools across government ministries. G
Michael Routhier
Jun 234 min read
What the EU AI Act Means for You
For the first time in history, you have legal rights over the AI systems making decisions about your life. Here's exactly what they are. In the last year, have you applied for a job and heard nothing back, even though you were more than qualified? Have you been quoted a price for a loan or insurance that felt oddly high, with no real explanation given? Have you spent twenty minutes on the phone with a "customer service representative" and only later wondered whether you were
Michael Routhier
Jun 187 min read
Your Bank Just Abandoned Your Town. And They Called It Progress.
In towns across rural Ontario, the closed sign in the window isn't just inconvenient. For seniors without transportation or internet access, it's the end of a lifeline. There's a small town in Ontario called Brussels. Population just over a thousand people. About a hundred kilometres north of London. Surrounded by farmland. The kind of town where you know your neighbours and the main street has been there for generations. CIBC just closed its last branch there. Done. Gone. Th
Michael Routhier
May 155 min read
SMS Blasters: The Text Scam That Can Actually Kill You
I'm going to be honest with you today. I'm a little angry writing this one. Not frustrated. Not mildly concerned. Actually angry. Because what I'm about to describe isn't just another scam designed to steal your money or your identity. It's something that can get people killed. And the people doing it are smart enough to know that. Let's talk about SMS blasters. What Is an SMS Blaster? An SMS blaster is a portable device, in some cases, not much larger than a backpack, that e
Michael Routhier
Apr 296 min read
Oracle Just Laid Off 30,000 Workers. Older Adults Pay the Price.
Oracle cut up to 30,000 jobs to fund its AI push — and older, experienced workers are bearing the brunt. Here's what this means for adults 55+ and what comes next
Michael Routhier
Apr 37 min read
How the Tech Industry Deliberately Left Older Adults Behind
The digital exclusion of adults 55 and older was not an accident. It was not the natural outcome of technological progress moving faster than people could keep up. It was a deliberate choice, made by technology companies during the most critical period of the internet's development, and the evidence is now documented and undeniable. The Dot-Com Era: When the Choice Was Made (1990–2001) When the World Wide Web emerged commercially in the 1990s, the technology industry faced a
Michael Routhier
Mar 233 min read
Being Locked Out of the Internet Is a Civil Rights Issue
In 2016, the United Nations Human Rights Council passed a resolution declaring that the same rights people have offline must also be protected online. Internet access became an internationally recognized human right. Yet millions of adults 55 and older remain systematically locked out of the digital world. That is not a market inconvenience. It is a civil rights violation. The Internet Is Now a Human Right — Officially The UN Human Rights Council's 2016 Resolution A/HRC/RES/3
Michael Routhier
Mar 233 min read
Why Scrolling Facebook Makes You Feel Like a Failure
Have you ever picked up your phone, opened Facebook, scrolled through your feed — and then put the phone down feeling just a little bit worse than when you picked it up? If that has happened to you, there is nothing wrong with you. What's happening has a name, it's backed by real science, and it is being done to you on purpose. You Are Seeing Everyone's Highlight Reel — Not Real Life When you post something on Facebook, what do you share? You post the birthday party, not the
Michael Routhier
Mar 234 min read
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