Entertainment
The FCCs proposed plan to fight spam calls puts consumer privacy in jeopardy
Sick and tired of having your day disrupted by robocalls? You’re not alone, and the FCC is taking notice. In press releases from the past month, the FCC said that preventing illegal spam calls has become its “top consumer protection priority,” while FCC chairman Brendan Carr vowed to “bring meaningful robocall relief to consumers.”
Unfortunately, their approach might be so broad, so badly focused, that it will create new privacy concerns, destroy so-called “burner” phones, and place an extra burden on consumers. Or in the words of Gizmodo’s Mike Pearl, “the FCC’s cure might be worse than the disease.”
One proposed change, known as the “Know Your Customer” rules, would require businesses to collect a government ID, a physical address, and the customer’s full legal name, instead of just their phone number, to initiate phone contact. This proposed change might serve to stop robocalls, but it would also effectively end the concept of consumer privacy. In the words of civil liberties advocates Reclaim the Net: “The result would be an identity-verification regime covering one of the last semi-anonymous communication tools available to ordinary Americans.”
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Worse still, the FCC’s proposed “red flags” that would heighten scrutiny are broad enough to encompass the lawful behaviors of millions of Americans. Proposed red flags include using a virtual office, making payments in cryptocurrency, using a “suspicious” email address, or operating a phone number not tied to a residential address.
While all of these activities are likely indicative of robocall spammer behavior, they are also common practices among law-abiding citizens, who often operate out of virtual offices or use so-called “burner” or pre-paid phones. Worse still, the people who rely on prepaid phones often do so because of the anonymity they afford — think about refugees fleeing conflict zones or victims of domestic abuse attempting to keep a low profile.
Finally, the FCC is looking to place the burden of enforcement on telecom providers, threatening them rather than individual spam callers with up to $2,500 in fines per call. While this approach is no doubt easier than searching out every individual robocall operator, and certainly motivates the companies to take enforcement seriously, it also creates a bad incentive in which telecom operators have to scrutinize each individual customer and their behavior at the expense of consumer privacy.
Ultimately, spam calls might prove to be the price we pay for enjoying a modicum of privacy in the digital age.
Entertainment
Mothers Day 2026 deals: Score free food from Denny’s, Pizza Hut, Dunkin, and more
We all want to treat our moms to the best, but sometimes the budget doesn’t quite line up with the best of intentions. That’s where freebies, voucher codes, and limited-time exclusives from popular restaurants come to the rescue.
You can find some really great food offers from the likes of Denny’s, Pizza Hut, Dunkin’, and more popular names on Mother’s Day this year. We’ve checked out everything on offer to bring you the very best, so you can treat her right this weekend.
Aroma Joe’s
Moms can get a free 24-ounce iced drink (any flavor) on Mother’s Day.
Baskin-Robbins
Reward members get a BOGO free scoop on May 9. You might need to think of something else to do on Mother’s Day, but it’s still a nice early treat.
Denny’s
Score $10 off online orders of $30+ when you get breakfast for delivery or pickup with the code MOMDAY. This offer is live from May 9-11.
Dunkin’
From May 9-10, Dunkin’ is offering 3x points when you order either a 6- or 12-count donut box or 20- or 50-count of Munchkins.
Friendly’s
Moms can get a free medium sundae with any adult entrée purchase.
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Morton’s The Steakhouse
From May 7-10, Morton’s The Steakhouse is dropping an exclusive Mother’s Day menu that starts from $79 per person.
Outback Steakhouse
Outback Steakhouse is dropping a limited-time “Mum’s Day Menu” with filet mignon and lobster tail combinations. Looking to go all-out this Mother’s Day? This could seriously impress.
Pizza Hut
Pizza Hut is serving up its famous Heart Shaped Pizza for Mother’s Day. This limited-edition pizza is available at select locations nationwide through May 10.
Raising Cane’s
Caniac Club members get a BOGO Free Box Combo on May 10-11.
Ruth’s Chris Steak House
Ruth’s Chris Steak House is offering a Mother’s Day brunch on May 9-10, starting at $49 per person.
Shake Shack
Get a free single burger with any $10 purchase using the app code for National Burger Month. OK, that’s not a Mother’s Day deal. But does she like burgers? If she does, it’s a perfect Mother’s Day deal.
TCBY
TCBY is giving moms a 6-ounce treat for free. This offer is only valid on May 10, but your mom can choose between a small cup or cone.
White Castle
White Castle is celebrating moms with a BOGO deal on combo meals. Plus, you can score 20% off any order this weekend by using the code WCMOM.
Entertainment
FCC to allow banned drones and routers to receive critical updates until 2029
Good news for owners of foreign-made drones and routers: the Federal Communications Commission has amended its original deadline that would have banned firmware updates to these devices after March 1, 2027.
In an announcement posted on May 8, 2026, the FCC’s Office of Engineering and Technology (OET) updated its previous guidance to allow new software and firmware updates to foreign-made drones and routers until January 1, 2029, adding nearly two years to the initial cut-off date.
The main concerns cited by the American government are espionage, unauthorized surveillance, and data exfiltration, all of which can be enabled by backdoor exploits built directly into both drones and routers. The most famous example of such a cyberattack is the ongoing Volt Typhoon “advanced persistent threat” (APT), which attempts to leverage compromised hardware, including routers, to steal data and establish “command and control” channels over American cyber infrastructure.
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And though drones are newer than routers, they have been used in corporate espionage since at least 2022, when drones were used to infiltrate the wireless networks of a major American financial firm.
From a numbers perspective alone, the size of the vulnerability is frightening: around 60% of America’s routers are manufactured in China, according to Reuters, while more than 80% of the drones operational in the United States were designed and built in China, according to the Wall Street Journal.
But put yourself in the shoes of someone who just shelled out serious money for a drone or router, only to learn, after the fact, that the government had made your purchase illegal. The Consumer Technology Association, advocating on behalf of precisely those American consumers, issued an open letter to the FTC just last month, urging legislators to exercise leniency, as well as to better clarify which products might be affected by the ban.
Their efforts are probably responsible for this two-year extension, but expect supply lines and manufacturers to re-localize in the coming years as the full scope of the cybersecurity threat becomes clearer.
Entertainment
General Motors settles lawsuit over selling customer driving data
A two-year legal battle between General Motors and California prosecutors, led by Attorney General Rob Bonta, over the alleged misuse of customer driving data has concluded, with GM agreeing to pay $12.75 million in penalties.
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In a press release announcing the settlement, the AG alleges that GM sold “the names, contact information, geolocation data, and driving behavior data of hundreds of thousands of Californians” to data brokers, including Verisk Analytics and LexisNexis Risk Solutions. And, as the statement points out, “If you know the precise location of a person’s car, then you know an enormous amount of personal, sensitive information about that person — their home, work, children’s school, place of worship.”
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The original facts of the case were uncovered by The New York Times back in 2024, where the focus was on whether insurance companies were using this driving data to charge some customers higher insurance rates. But the attorney general’s investigation concluded that “California drivers were not directly impacted by GM’s sales of data,” because under California’s strict insurance laws, “insurers are prohibited from using driving data to set insurance rates.”
In addition to the $12.75 million settlement, GM has agreed to stop selling driving data to any consumer reporting agencies for five years, delete any current driving data within 180 days (unless expressly permitted to keep the data by the driver), and develop and maintain its own privacy program to assess its data collection practices and mitigate the risks of a data breach.
While the settlement is definitely a win for consumer privacy, you shouldn’t feel too bad for GM just yet. According to the attorney general’s own calculations, GM earned roughly $20 million for the sale of its OnStar data, so even with the hefty settlement, they’re still turning a nice profit.
Mothers Day 2026 deals: Score free food from Denny’s, Pizza Hut, Dunkin, and more
Spencer Strider, Braves spoil Blake Snell's season debut for Dodgers
