Tried to lookup some info, but it's not there. Maybe it's from some web scrapper which collected public info, or other means (some ambiguous mobile app which had access to contacts?). Or the leaked files are incomplete.
If you use hibernate, you kinda have to turn off scheduled tasks, or else it starts up in the middle of the night to check for updates, then, potentially, run for hours.
Might have been more of a problem for me, as I have the PC in my bedroom.
Yep, this has happened when putting it into Sleep mode. Might as well happen in Hybrid Sleep. And in advanced power settings you can disable wake timers, but I'm not sure if it helps.
Tried automating the removal of scheduled tasks (like the Compatibility runner which made the laptop sound like an airplane) and snoozed the updates for a few weeks. In the end, it broke the Scheduler, the task was still launching, and had to reset the OS to a proper state. It's a love and hate relationship with this OS.
NetGuard. Creates a local VPN through which the internet is routed. Shows the domains each app is accessing, can be blocked per app, or forbid internet at system level (breaks things, require fine tuning).
Also you can configure a non standard DNS (like adguard, which can block some things at the DNS level).
EDIT: or NextDNS, since it comes with some additional features.
+1 Netguard. It's an essential app, along with Firefox with ad-blocking add-ons.
Netguard by the same dev behind Xpirvacy, which provides dummy data to apps that try to send back all sorts of unique identifiers to the mothership (+apps like facebook).
Most popular apps call facebook IPs at launch, along with other analytics services. It's quite disgusting.
I don't know the situation in US, or other places, but companies don't have time to deal with legal issues, regarding user debt, so they delegate this process to collector agencies.
And those agencies are very happy to assist, since they get a % for their work, and when the money is big. Most of they time it's very productive. Letters and calls are just the first step. A debt of 300$ can get to x000 pretty fast (debt, fees, lawyers). And then they go to court, put financial blocking on your assets, there is a judiciary person in charge of evaluating your assets, bank accounts, they can even freeze your debt from your bank accounts if you are refusing to pay a legal debt.
If you are abroad they will happily wait for you when you will get back, or get in touch via one of their foreign agency and let you know they are near.
If they would really want to get you in trouble they can inform the foreign local authorities about your problems, so depending on the case they can create problems for you.
One reason I try to never give my card to lots of websites. If they have paypal, good. Or playstore subscription, sure. A one time/non recurring payment via a platform/provider/bank, ok.
But never the card. Reading such user horror stories, or Terms & Conditions, makes me turn around and never come back.
Paypal allows canceling subscription but they have hid this link deep inside. I don't know how well that even works. Also, Paypal payment protection is basically a joke. If you get dupped by someone and try to get refund through their payment protection, you get nothing no matter how right you are. That's my first hand experience.
After my kid was banned on Fortnite, I filed a bunch of paypal chargebacks on Epic Games for all the packs and extensions we bought, going back like 8 months. Got all of them back.
Not to say that Paypal won't screw you over, just that it doesn't do so all the time.
Always makes sense of having a separate card for online stuff (shop, subscriptions, etc). But having to go to the bank and renew, create a new one, the waiting lines.
Some banks have web/mobile banking where you can restrict actions/limits/transactions, so it's a good option too.
Others have virtual cards for this purpose, but these are not offered in a lot of countries (revolut, privacy, yandex money, etc).
I never use PayPal as they still keep over thousand pound due some bullshit reason and don't want to release it. And it's pain to get to speak to a human. Currently, it's at the Financial Ombudsman
