Making a mistake is human, but making an excuse is a choice that kills your credibility. When a deadline slips, your first instinct might be to blame a “tech glitch” or “vague instructions.” Don’t. Management can smell a deflection from a mile away. Instead, try the “own it and fix it” approach. A simple, “That’s on me, I missed that detail. Here is the plan to fix it by tomorrow,” is incredibly refreshing. It shows a level of maturity that is rare in the corporate world. People trust the person who admits a fault far more than the one who hides behind a “why me” story.
“Today” show co-host Savannah Guthrie will return to the program on April 6, host Hoda Kotb announced on the program’s Friday broadcast.
The investigation into the disappearance of Guthrie’s mother, Nancy Guthrie, is still continuing. In an interview on “Today,” Savannah Guthrie made a tearful plea for someone “to do the right thing” and share information to help solve the case.
It has been nearly two months since authorities believe Nancy Guthrie, 84, was taken from her Tucson, Arizona, home after she was last seen on the night of Jan. 31.
In a portion of the interview with Kotb that aired Friday, Savannah Guthrie said she wants to return to the show “because it’s my family.”
“I think it’s part of my purpose right now. I want to smile. And when I do, it will be real. And my joy will be my protest. My joy will be my answer. And being there is joyful,” Guthrie said.
She added, “I consider this my family, my greater family, and when times are hard, you want to be with your family and I want to be with my family. And so, I don’t know if I can do it. I don’t know if I’ll belong anymore, but I would like to try.”
Social media platforms collect more data than most people realize. They track what you click, who you interact with and even where you go. Over time, that information builds a detailed profile of your habits and behavior.
The good news is you can take back control. A few simple setting changes can limit tracking, reduce data sharing and improve your privacy across your favorite apps.
Many of these privacy controls also exist inside each app, so it’s important to check both your device settings and in-app options.
Here are five simple tech tips to help you regain control of your social media today.
Social media apps collect more data than many users realize, from clicks and contacts to location history. These five privacy tips can help limit tracking and reduce data sharing.(Anna Barclay/Getty Images)
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1) Turn off personalized ad tracking
Social media platforms use your activity to build advertising profiles. These profiles follow you across apps and websites to deliver targeted ads. Turning off ad tracking helps reduce how much data is used to profile you.
iPhone:
Open Settings
Tap Privacy & Security
Tap Tracking
Turn off Allow Apps to Request to Track
Android:
Settings may vary depending on your Android phone’s manufacturer
Open Settings
Tap Security & privacy
Scroll to More privacy settings
Tap Ads
Tap Delete advertising ID. Then, confirm your decision by tapping Delete advertising ID
Tap Reset advertising ID. Then, confirm your decision by tapping Confirm
This limits how social media apps track your behavior across other apps and services.
2) Limit access to contacts, photos and microphone
Many social media apps request access to your contacts, camera, microphone and photos. In many cases, they collect more data than necessary. Reducing permissions helps limit what these platforms can gather about you.
iPhone:
Open Settings
Tap Privacy & Security
Tap Contacts, Photos, Microphone or Camera
Select the social media app
Choose None, Limited Access (Photos), or turn access off
Important notes for accuracy:
Photos: You will see options like None, Limited Access or Full Access
Microphone/Camera: Toggle access off
Contacts: Toggle access off (no “None” label appears)
Android:
Settings may vary depending on your Android phone’s manufacturer
Open Settings
Tap Security & privacy
Tap More privacy settings
Tap Permission Manager
Select a permission (Contacts, Photos & videos, Microphone, Camera)
Choose the social media app
Tap Don’t allow or Allow only while using the app
Limiting permissions reduces how much personal data social platforms can access and store.
A few quick setting changes on your iPhone or Android device can help curb ad tracking, location access and contact syncing across social media apps.(Sebastian Kahnert/picture alliance via Getty Images)
3) Turn off location tracking inside social apps
Many social media platforms track your location to suggest content, ads and nearby connections. You can reduce this by limiting location access both on your device and inside the apps themselves.
iPhone:
Open Settings
Tap Privacy & Security
Tap Location Services
Select the app
Choose Never or While Using the App
Android:
Settings may vary depending on your Android phone’s manufacturer
Open Settings
Tap Location
Tap App location permissions or App permissions
Select the app
Choose Don’t allow or Allow only while using
You should also check the app’s internal settings and turn off location sharing or tagging.
4) Disable contact syncing
Some social media apps upload your contact list to find friends and connections. This can expose your personal network without you realizing it.
iPhone:
Open Settings
Tap Privacy & Security
Tap Contacts
Select the app
Tap None
Android:
Settings may vary depending on your Android phone’s manufacturer
Open Settings
Tap Security and privacy (or Privacy)
Tap More privacy settings
Tap Permission manager
Tap Contacts
Select the app
Choose Don’t allow
Then check inside the app:
Open the app and go to Settings
Tap Privacy, Account or Permissions
Turn off Contact syncing or Upload contacts
Delete previously uploaded contacts if the option is available
This prevents the app from accessing your contacts and removes any data that may have already been uploaded.
5) Review your privacy and security settings regularly
Social media platforms update their features and policies often. That means your settings may change without you noticing. Take a few minutes every few months to review:
Account privacy settings
Ad preferences
Connected apps
Login activity
This helps ensure your account stays secure and your data stays protected over time.
Social media platforms build detailed profiles based on how you use their apps and other services. Reviewing your privacy settings can help you take back control.(Anna Barclay/Getty Images)
Bonus: Turn off off-platform activity tracking
Some social media platforms track your activity even when you are not using their apps. This is often called off-platform activity or off-app tracking. It allows companies to collect data from websites and apps you visit and connect it back to your profile. This type of tracking is most clearly available on Meta platforms like Facebook and Instagram, where it can be turned off inside your account settings.
Tap Manage future activity → Disconnect future activity
Other platforms may offer similar controls under names like Data sharing, Ad preferences or Partner activity, though the steps vary. Disabling these settings reduces how much data platforms collect about your behavior outside their apps.
Pro tip: Add a safety layer for malicious links and scams
Even if you lock down your privacy settings, social media platforms are still filled with malicious links, fake ads and scam messages designed to trick you into clicking. These attacks often bypass built-in protections and rely on human behavior. Using strong antivirus software or an antivirus app on your phone adds an extra layer of protection by detecting harmful links, blocking phishing attempts and warning you before you interact with suspicious content. This is especially important if you ever accidentally tap on a link in a message, comment or ad. One wrong click can expose your personal information or lead to account compromise. Get my picks for the best 2026 antivirus protection winners for your Windows, Mac, Android & iOS devices at Cyberguy.com
What this means to you
Social media platforms are built to collect and analyze your behavior, often in ways that are not obvious. The longer you use them, the more detailed that profile becomes. Taking a few minutes to adjust your settings can significantly reduce how much of your personal information is tracked, stored and shared.
Take my quiz: How safe is your online security?
Think your devices and data are truly protected? Take this quick quiz to see where your digital habits stand. From passwords to Wi-Fi settings, you’ll get a personalized breakdown of what you’re doing right and what needs improvement. Take my Quiz here: Cyberguy.com
Kurt’s key takeaways
You do not need to quit social media to protect your privacy. You just need to be more intentional about how these apps access your data. Most people never check these settings, which is exactly why they matter. Taking a few minutes today to review your permissions and tracking options can help you stay in control instead of letting algorithms control you.
Have you ever checked how much data your social media apps are collecting about you, or would it surprise you? Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com
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Copyright 2026 CyberGuy.com. All rights reserved.
Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson is an award-winning tech journalist who has a deep love of technology, gear and gadgets that make life better with his contributions for Fox News & FOX Business beginning mornings on “FOX & Friends.” Got a tech question? Get Kurt’s free CyberGuy Newsletter, share your voice, a story idea or comment at CyberGuy.com.
As subscription streaming services grab more and more games from free TV and basic cable, many fans are crying foul.
A new Fox News national survey of registered voters finds that majorities of both sports fans (72%) and non-fans (60%) think major sporting events should be required to stay on free broadcast television, not behind streaming paywalls. Only 27% of fans and 38% of non-fans say leagues should be allowed to shift games to paid streaming services.
For those who like to catch their favorite team from their favorite couch, the price is becoming a serious penalty. Nearly 6 in 10 sports fans say they’ve skipped watching a game at least a few times in the past year because it was too expensive, including about one-third who say this has happened “many times.”
Nearly half of fans say they’ve skipped watching games on television because it was too difficult to find or access them.(Steven King/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
And even when fans are willing to pay, figuring out how to watch can feel like a blocked shot. Nearly half of fans (47%) say they’ve skipped games because it was too difficult to find or access them. Then again, roughly the same share (46%) say they’ve only rarely or never been sidelined. When it comes to TV viewing, they’ve really got game.
Conducted March 20–23, 2026, under the direction of Beacon Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R), this Fox News survey includes interviews with a sample of 1,001 registered voters randomly selected from a national voter file. Respondents spoke with live interviewers on landlines (104) and cellphones (641) or completed the survey online after receiving a text (256). Results based on the full sample have a margin of sampling error of ±3 percentage points. Sampling error for results among subgroups is higher. Results among sports fans have a margin of sampling error of ±3.5 points and non-sports fans ±6 points. In addition to sampling error, question wording and order can influence results. Weights are generally applied to age, race, education, and area variables to ensure the demographics are representative of the registered voter population. Sources for developing weight targets include the most recent American Community Survey, Fox News Voter Analysis, and voter file data.
Fox News’ Victoria Balara contributed to this report.
Some mortgage products have started trickling back on to the market – but with much higher rates – according to a financial information website, as lenders prepare to proactively contact 1.6 million customers whose fixed-rate deals will finish before the end of the year.
Moneyfacts said the average two-year fixed-rate homeowner mortgage on the market had increased from 4.83% at the start of March to 5.75% by Friday morning – the highest average rate since August 2024.
The average five-year fixed-rate mortgage has risen from 4.95% at the start of March to 5.69% on Friday – the highest since December 2023.
Hundreds of deals disappeared from the market and mortgage rates were hiked amid changing expectations for financial markets. Swap rates, which are used by lenders to price mortgages, have increased. The conflict in the Middle East has pushed up inflation expectations.
Adam French, head of consumer finance at Moneyfacts, said: “Mortgage rates have continued to rise sharply, with around three in four active lenders increasing rates, launching or withdrawing products this week.”
He added: “Products have been slowly trickling back on to the market in recent days, with 160 added since Wednesday, but priced at much higher rates than previously which has been driving up average rates on new mortgages.
“There is still a net 1,620 fewer products on the market than there were when lenders began pulling deals in response to rising funding costs on March 9 2026.”
Mortgage lenders met with ChancellorRachel Reeves on Thursday and a commitment was secured to proactively contact 1.6 million customers whose fixed-rate deals will finish between now and the end of 2026.
Lenders will set out customers’ options and how to access bespoke support.
Get a free fractional share worth up to £100. Capital at risk.
As well as securing the commitment to contact customers, the Chancellor also reaffirmed the Mortgage Charter with lenders. The charter helps to ensure that borrowers in difficulty receive support.
Ms Reeves said on Thursday: “In uncertain times, people need clear reassurance and practical help.”
Mr French said: “Getting lenders to recommit to the charter is welcome news at a time when many households are facing a sharp rise in borrowing costs.
“If these measures are fully back in play, they can offer borrowers some flexibility, but it’s important to be clear that they often come with very real trade-offs.
“Options such as extending a mortgage term or switching to interest-only can ease monthly pressures in the short-term but increase the total cost of borrowing over time, so they need to be carefully considered and clearly explained by lenders and brokers.
“While these measures may provide some breathing space and help households avoid falling into a debt trap, they do not solve the underlying affordability challenge.
“Many borrowers coming up for remortgage are now facing the prospect of paying thousands of pounds more per year than they would have expected just a few weeks ago, at a time when inflationary pressures are once again building.
“For some, this support may help keep their budgets just about manageable, but it won’t remove the financial strain altogether.”
A spokesperson for UK Finance said: “Mortgage lenders provide a wide range of support to their customers. Help will always be available and anyone worried about their mortgage should get in touch with their lender as early as possible.”
Contact will vary by lender and customer, but options could be by phone, letter or email.
The impact for mortgage holders rolling off fixed-rate deals will often depend on how long they had fixed for and what the interest rate environment was at the time.
Nicholas Mendes, mortgage technical manager at John Charcol said: “The main message for anyone worried is simple.
“Do not leave it until the last few weeks. Review your options early, understand what your payments could look like, and if the jump is going to be difficult, speak to your lender or broker before you come under pressure.
“That will usually give you the best chance of finding a workable solution.”
Hina Bhudia, a partner at Knight Frank Finance, said: “Lenders risk becoming inundated and being forced to reprice even higher than they otherwise might have done, which creates a snowball effect – a more intense clamour to secure a rate that puts further pressure on lenders.”
On Thursday, a spokesperson for Santander UK said the bank is “carefully monitoring customers’ financial health” and that it has a range of existing options to support those facing financial difficulties tailored to their individual circumstances.
VIENNA — Austria’s governing coalition on Friday announced plans to ban social media use for children under 14, joining a string of other countries in drawing up restrictions for young people.
Alexander Pröll, the official in Chancellor Christian Stocker’s office responsible for digitization, said that draft legislation will be drawn up by the end of June. He said that “technically modern methods” of age verification will be used that allow users to verify their age while respecting their privacy.
It wasn’t immediately clear when the plan to introduce a minimum age, which will need parliamentary approval, might take effect.
Australia in 2024 took the lead, becoming the first country to eject children under 16 from social media with the intention of protecting them from harmful content and excessive screen time. A similar ban in Indonesia is due to start taking effect on Saturday.
In Europe, lawmakers in France in January approved a bill banning social media for children under 15, paving the way for the measure to enter into force at the start of the next school year in September. Spain last month announced plans for a social media ban for under-16s. Denmark last fall announced an agreement for an access ban for under-15s. The British government said in January it would consider banning young teenagers from social media.
Austria’s three-party centrist coalition is now joining the trend.
“Today is a good day for children for children in our country,” Vice Chancellor Andreas Babler said at a news conference. “In the future, we will protect children and young people with determination against the negative effects of social media platforms.”
“We will no longer look on as these platforms make our children addicted and often also sick,” he said.
The Austrian government plans to accompany the ban with an effort to beef up schools’ teaching of how to use media and deal with artificial intelligence.
Eating more meat may help your memory, a new study suggests.
While some experts suggest adopting plant-focused diets for better health, recent research indicates that a higher intake of unprocessed meat may protect against dementia in older people who have a variant of the APOE gene, which is linked to increasing Alzheimer’s risk.
Researchers tracked over 2,100 older participants – all of whom were dementia-free at the start of the study – for up to 15 years as part of the Swedish National Study on Aging and Care.
Participants self-reported their diets, while researchers periodically evaluated their cognitive performance through extensive testing and a structured dementia diagnostic process.
The study then compared the cognitive health of participants who had a higher genetic risk for Alzheimer’s disease (those with the variant genotypes APOE 3/4 and 4/4) with those who did not have the genotypes.
Eating more meat may help your memory, a new study suggests.(iStock)
Previous studies have shown that individuals with the APOE 3/4 genotype face a three- to four-time higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s compared to the general population, while those with the 4/4 genotype have an eight- to 12-time higher risk, according to Mayo Clinic.
Everyone has the APOE gene — one copy from each parent — but about one in four Americans carries a version (like APOE 3/4) that can raise their risk of Alzheimer’s, according to the National Institutes of Health.
The participants with a higher genetic risk who consumed less meat had more than twice the risk of dementia than those without the gene variants, the researchers found.
Those with the gene variants who ate the largest amount of meat had significantly slower cognitive decline and a lower risk of dementia.
The study also found that eating less processed meat was associated with a lower risk of dementia, regardless of APOE genotype.
“When standardized to a 2,000 calorie-per-day diet, median weekly consumption ranged from approximately 250 grams in the lowest quintile to 870 grams in the highest,” first author Jakob Norgren, a researcher at the Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society at the Karolinska Institutet, told Fox News Digital.
“While this study suggests a specific benefit for certain genotypes, a larger body of evidence points to the MIND diet for long-term brain health,” a medical expert noted.(iStock)
The researchers did not investigate a “carnivore diet,” as the participants who consumed the most meat still ate moderate amounts of cereal and dairy, Norgren added.
The study findings were published in JAMA Network Open.
Su-Nui Escobar, a registered dietitian based in Miami, urged caution when interpreting the results, as the study reports grams of meat, not grams of protein.
“When you translate that, it comes out to about 30 grams of protein per day from meat, something many people already eat,” Escobar, who was not involved in the study, told Fox News Digital.
The 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines recommend including lean meats and poultry as part of a healthy protein intake, limiting red meat, and minimizing processed meats.
Study limitations
As the study is observational, it doesn’t prove that eating more meat directly leads to a decrease in Alzheimer’s disease and slower cognitive decline – only that there’s an association between the two, the researchers noted.
“While this study suggests a specific benefit for certain genotypes, a larger body of evidence points to the MIND diet for long-term brain health,” Jamie Mok, registered dietitian nutritionist and national media spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, told Fox News Digital.
The Los Angeles-based expert recommends a diet consisting of nutrient-dense foods as one of the most promising and practical strategies for delaying cognitive decline and supporting overall healthy aging.
Approximately one in 10 Americans over 65 is living with dementia, while another 22% have cognitive impairment, according to a recent national study.(iStock)
“By emphasizing leafy greens, berries, nuts, legumes and lean proteins, this eating pattern has been shown to reduce Alzheimer’s risk by half and slow brain aging by several years,” Mok added.
Approximately one in 10 Americans over 65 is living with dementia, while another 22% have cognitive impairment, according to a recent national study.
The number of new Alzheimer’s cases is expected to double in the coming decades as the population ages – from about 514,000 in 2020 to over one million by 2060.
Last year, dementia cost the U.S. an estimated $781 billion and led to more than 100,000 deaths, per the NIH.
In a magical scene towards the end of the 2007 film Ratatouille, notoriously harsh food critic Anton Ego is instantly transported back in time, his childhood memories revived by a spoonful of the film’s eponymous dish. No pictures were needed – just the taste and scent of the food.
Smell is the quietest of our senses, but also one of the most powerful. Indeed, it can even open the floodgates to memories we thought long forgotten.
It is also the most personal and subjective sense, which is what makes it so hard for people to agree on what smells good. However, there does seem to be a consensus on the worst smell in the world.
In 1889, in a German laboratory, a chemical reaction involving a compound called thioacetone produced a stink so terrible that it caused people to vomit and faint half a kilometre away, forcing the partial evacuation of the city of Freiburg.
We still don’t know what exact reaction caused this stench, but it seems nobody is in a hurry to find out.
But what happens when our smell starts to fail? And what if losing smell were more than just a passing symptom?
A senior man and woman eat breakfast together. (Getty/iStock)
A shortcut to our emotions
Smell is an evolutionary advantage: it warns us of invisible dangers and puts us on alert. Scent can also influence our decisions, and big brands are well aware of this, perfuming their shops with fragrances that tap into our emotions and invite us to stay.
Smells have the ability to awaken memories and intense emotions, and the olfactory bulb is responsible for this. This small area of the forebrain, located very close to the nose, receives olfactory signals and sends them directly to the areas of the brain that manage our memory and emotions.
Despite its importance, smell remains the least well-understood of the senses, and is often underestimated. When it fades, it usually goes unnoticed, but we may not realise how important it is until we lose it.
This is what happened to Michele Crippa, a renowned Italian “super taster” who lost his sense of smell during the pandemic. Although he regained it weeks later, his personal nightmare had only just begun, as when his sense of smell came back, it was distorted. Oranges smelled like burnt plastic, peaches smelled like basil, and vanilla made him feel sick. This was likely because the neurons in his olfactory bulb had been damaged.
While any loss of smell is unpleasant, it could have a greater significance: a warning signal from deep with our brains.
A common cold, or Parkinson’s?
Most of us have lost our sense of smell at some point, usually thanks to a simple bout of cold or flu. However, this symptom can also be an early symptom of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s. This has been known for some time, but the surprising thing is that the loss of smell occurs years before the symptoms of these diseases appear.
So, could loss of smell be used to predict Parkinson’s disease? The answer, unhelpful though it may be, is: it depends.
An early warning
One of the major problems with neurodegenerative diseases is that the damage is already very advanced by the time they can be diagnosed. In the case of Parkinson’s disease, when the first symptoms (stiffness, tremors, and so on) appear, more than half of the neurons that produce dopamine, the neurotransmitter that controls movement, have already been lost.
Identifying early symptoms like loss of smell – which affects up to 90% of patients – could serve as a biomarker, alerting us to the presence of the disease. This would allow us to diagnose it much earlier and provide access to more effective treatments.
The problem is that this symptom is not exclusive to Parkinson’s: it can also appear with ageing, stress, or other conditions. This means we tend to downplay its importance.
About the author
Jannette Rodríguez Pallares is a Professor of Human Anatomy and Embryology at the Universidade de Santiago de Compostela.
We still do not know for certain why neurodegenerative diseases cause loss of smell, although we have some clues. In some Parkinson’s patients, the disease may begin in the olfactory bulb long before spreading to the areas that control movement. This is because certain viruses, pesticides or toxins that we inhale could damage it and cause alterations to the area.
In the case of Alzheimer’s disease, damage could begin in a tiny bluish region of the brain stem called the locus coeruleus, as a recent study has revealed. This “alert button” keeps us awake and focused, and its connection to the olfactory bulb is what links smells to emotions. When that connection is broken, problems occur with smell long before the first signs of dementia emerge.
In short, the loss of the ability to smell would not be a symptom of the disease itself, but rather a warning sign that the degenerative process has begun.
Diagnosing through smell
When a patient comes into the clinic, it is not always easy to distinguish between Parkinson’s disease and other similar movement disorders. A loss of smell, combined with other tests and indicators, could help confirm the diagnosis. It could also help us predict the disease’s progression, as it is related to more severe forms of the disease.
Furthermore, the loss of smell in Parkinson’s disease is selective. Patients perceive pleasant smells such as chocolate without issue, but have difficulty detecting neutral or unpleasant odours like soap, smoke or rubber.
Other patients, especially women, experience something even stranger: olfactory hallucinations. This means they perceive “phantom” odours, such as tobacco or burning wood, which are not really there.
Incredible though it may seem, Parkinson’s disease even has its own scent, which has been described as woody and musky. We know this thanks to Joy Milne, a Scottish woman with a heightened sense of smell – she was able to recognise this particular odour on her husband 12 years before he was diagnosed with the disease.
The loss of smell may seem like something confined to the nose, but it is actually a window into the brain. It allows researchers to peek inside the brain to decipher its secrets, and to gather valuable information that will help us care for and improve the quality of life of those who suffer from neurodegenerative diseases.
