Trust and safety

• Designing for Trust: Signals That Tell People a Product Is Safe

  People decide whether to trust a product in seconds. Here are the design signals that earn trust honestly, and the shortcuts that break it.

• How to Get Tech Help Without Giving Anyone Your Password

  Real tech help never needs your password or a verification code. Here are the rules for getting safe help, from family or a professional, without handing over the keys.

• Submitting Dark Patterns to the Federal Trade Commission

  When a design tricks people out of their money or their data, you can report it. Here is how to report dark patterns to the FTC and what happens next.

• Your Family Needs a Tech-Help Rule Before Someone Gets Scammed

  Choose trusted helpers, verify requests through known contacts, and make remote-access and tech-support scams harder to fall for.

• Your Everyday Work Account Has Too Much Power

  Reduce organizational risk by separating everyday work from administrator access and reviewing who holds powerful account roles.

• Cybersecurity Training Is Incomplete Without a Reporting Path

  Employees need more than phishing awareness. A clear reporting process helps suspicious messages reach the right person before damage spreads.

• The Account That Unlocks All the Others: How to Secure Your Email Account in 20 Minutes

  Your main email is where every password reset goes. Here is how to secure your email account in one 20-minute sitting, in the right order.

• The Login Page Was Real. The Request Was Not.

  Learn how attackers use legitimate login pages and device codes to gain account access, and why MFA prompts still require independent verification.

• Who Can Still Access Your Organization’s Data?

  Review employee, contractor, vendor, and inactive account access before a busy season begins, and document who owns each system.

• That Unexpected Package Could Be a Brushing Scam

  Learn how brushing scams use unexpected packages and QR codes, what the delivery may reveal, and what to do without exposing more information.

• A Backup You Have Never Restored Is Only a Promise

  A completed backup is not necessarily recoverable. Learn how to run a practical restoration test and strengthen your organization’s recovery process.

• Disaster Relief Scams: 7 Checks Before You Donate Online

  Learn seven checks to make before donating after a disaster, including how to verify charities, inspect payment requests, and respond to donation fraud.

• Before You Accept Another School App: Seven Questions to Ask About Your Child’s Data

  Learn seven questions parents can ask about school apps, student privacy, collected data, third-party access, retention, and deletion.

• Every Organization Needs a Digital Offboarding Checklist

  A digital offboarding checklist can help you revoke access, preserve files, transfer responsibilities, and protect organizational continuity.

• A Sponsored Post Is Not a Safety Review: How to Check Social Media Ads Before You Buy

  Sponsored social-media ads are not automatically verified. Learn how to check the seller, website, offer, and payment method before buying.

• Fake CAPTCHA Scams: 7 Warning Signs That a “Prove You’re Human” Page Is Dangerous

  Learn how fake CAPTCHA and ClickFix scams trick people into running malware, the seven warning signs, and what to do if you followed the instructions.

• Digital Safety Is More Than Choosing Better Passwords

  Learn why digital safety requires more than strong passwords and how to protect important accounts, devices, information, access, and recovery paths.

Back to the blog