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Family IT Guy Podcast

Family IT Guy Podcast

Family IT Guy 59 Episodes Aug 13, 2026

Ben Gillenwater, a cybersecurity expert with 30 years of experience including work with the NSA, helps parents protect their children from online dangers. He shares practical advice on digital safety, bridging the gap between complex technology and family protection. The podcast covers topics like internet risks, safe app usage, and parenting in the digital age.

Episodes

Keep Your Kids Safe Online - Weekly Q&A - Aug  12 2026
Keep Your Kids Safe Online - Weekly Q&A - Aug 12 2026 Aug 13, 2026 5023 Keep Your Kids Safe Online - Weekly Q&A - Aug 12 2026
You’re the Product, Not the Customer (The Paid, Private Internet)
You’re the Product, Not the Customer (The Paid, Private Internet) Aug 11, 2026 191 The apps are free, the games are free, email and search and videos are free. But free is not really free. The payment is your family's data, time, and attention. There is another internet where you pay a few dollars and become the customer instead of the product, and here is what it costs and where to start. One question sorts the whole internet: how does a company make its money? If the answer
How to Make Video Games Safe and Actually Good for Your Kids
How to Make Video Games Safe and Actually Good for Your Kids Aug 6, 2026 3336 Most parents feel stuck on video games: ban them and your kid feels left out, allow them and you worry about who's on the other end of the chat. Devyn Ricks has spent her whole life in games and now runs Miss Devyn's Video Game Universe, where a team of teachers hosts moderated online gaming clubs for kids. She's also a mom of four. In this conversation she walks through how she decides which g
Should You Accept or Reject Cookies? What the Pop-Up Does
Should You Accept or Reject Cookies? What the Pop-Up Does Aug 4, 2026 184 Every website asks you to accept or reject cookies, and most of us click Accept just to clear the box. Clicking Reject barely helps either. Here is what the pop-up actually does and the free change that does more for your family's privacy than the button ever will. A cookie is a small file a website saves on your device so it can recognize you. Some cookies are useful, like the one that keeps y
The Cloud Is Someone Else’s Computer (Where Your Data Goes)
The Cloud Is Someone Else’s Computer (Where Your Data Goes) Jul 28, 2026 244 When you save something to the cloud, it does not float in the sky. It goes to a real building full of computers that a company owns, and that company can usually read what is stored there. Ben spent years designing and running data centers, including one for the F-18 fighter jet program, so he can show you what "the cloud" actually is: warehouses full of servers in real cities, keeping copies
It Started With Bacon: How ”Free” Apps Make Money
It Started With Bacon: How ”Free” Apps Make Money Jul 21, 2026 375 Almost everything online is free because the internet is a marketing engine, and the fuel it runs on is your family's data, time, and attention. In the 1920s a bacon company hired a man named Edward Bernays to sell more bacon. He got physicians to endorse a big breakfast, newspapers ran their opinions as news, and bacon and eggs became "the American breakfast." That method, borrow a trusted voi
Bark’s Chief Parenting Officer on Predators, AI, and Keeping Kids Safe Online
Bark’s Chief Parenting Officer on Predators, AI, and Keeping Kids Safe Online Jul 3, 2026 4450 Titania Jordan is the Chief Parenting Officer at Bark. She sat down with Ben Gillenwater to walk through what she's seeing in how kids actually use their phones, what scares her most, and what you can do about it without being technical. They get into a lot: why the free apps your kid uses aren't really free, why your kid is already using AI and who should be teaching them, the slang and rating
Porn: The Conversation That Protects Your Kids | Chris McKenna
Porn: The Conversation That Protects Your Kids | Chris McKenna Jun 18, 2026 4385 How do you talk to your kids about pornography before the internet does it for them? Chris McKenna founded Protect Young Eyes to help parents answer exactly that, and his approach surprises most people: the fix is not a better filter. It is a braver and more frequent conversation. Most of us are scared of this talk, so we put it off, and putting it off is the one move that leaves a kid alone wi
Apple iOS just made kids’ phones safer.
Apple iOS just made kids’ phones safer. Jun 9, 2026 165 For years, giving a child their first phone meant starting with a device designed for adults and then trying to lock it down afterward. Apple just announced a major shift. With iOS 27, kids' devices can start as a blank slate—no wide-open access, no endless game of chasing settings and blocking apps after the fact. Parents decide what gets added and when. This is how child-safe technology
The Hidden Risk of Instagram’s New Instants Feature
The Hidden Risk of Instagram’s New Instants Feature Jun 8, 2026 217 Meta's new Instants feature has drawn comparisons to Snapchat for one simple reason: both are built around disappearing photos and messages. For parents, the important question isn't which app your child is using—it's whether they understand how these features actually work. Platforms market disappearing content as temporary, but "disappearing" doesn't mean private. Content can be screenshot
Age Verification Laws Explained: Why They Won’t Protect Kids
Age Verification Laws Explained: Why They Won’t Protect Kids Jun 2, 2026 469 Age verification laws are spreading fast, and the "prove your age to use the internet" approach will make every family less safe, not more. Governments across the US and around the world want everyone to prove their identity before going online. In places like California, that's moving down to the operating-system level, so you'd have to verify who you are just to use your own computer. It soun
Your Kids Are Not the Customer. They’re the Product.
Your Kids Are Not the Customer. They’re the Product. May 30, 2026 314 One of the most important skills parents can teach kids today is how to think critically about business models. Because if kids don’t understand how internet companies make money, they can’t fully understand what these platforms are designed to do. In this video, I break down: • Why “free” apps are never actually free • How social media companies really make money • Why attention is the p

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