A tech critic’s guide to holiday gift-giving

Black Friday seems to get longer with every passing year, but even when a day becomes a week (or several) it still signals the holiday shopping season is in full gear with Christmas looming a month in the distance. As the trees go up, decorations adorn every facet of our communities, and Christmas music begins to feel inescapable, many people are wondering what to buy for their friends and loved ones — and it’s not uncommon for some those gifts to end up being some hyped-up tech product.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with gifting those you care about a piece of technology, but far too often people aren’t thinking about the broader consequences that come with those gifts — and are then foisted onto people who may be completely oblivious to what they’re signing up for. As givers of gifts, we need to consider what else we’re giving with popular tech products that frequently get passed on this time of year.

As we head into the holiday season, I decided it would be a good time for a guide to help you consider what tech not to give to those you care about. Trying to make people’s lives a bit more convenient and stress-free is great, but sometimes that also means saddling them with more surveillance and potentially even worse as a result. Feel free to share the guide around so others are considering what they’re really giving when they gift certain tech products.