What does flying a small airplane have to do with cybersecurity? More than you'd think. In this episode of SipCyber, host Jen Lotze visits Grounds Coffee Bar in Crystal Lake, IL, and draws a powerful connection between the calm of flight preparation and the peace of mind that comes from digital preparedness. After the loss of her father, Jen shares how navigating the digital side of grief revealed a hard truth: preparation isn't just smart—it's a gift to the people you love.

This isn't about firewalls or threat feeds. It's about the human side of security—knowing where your passwords are, who has access, and what happens when you can't be the one to log in.

Key Takeaways:

• Why preparation eliminates panic—in the cockpit and in your digital life
• The questions everyone should answer before an emergency hits • How personal loss revealed the real cost of digital unpreparedness
• Why cybersecurity should feel like calm, not complexity
• A heartfelt look at Grounds Coffee Bar and the moments that shape our perspective

📍 Featured Coffee Shop: Grounds Coffee Bar — Crystal Lake, IL (right by the Metra station)

If today's episode made you think about your own digital preparedness—even just a little—then this conversation mattered. Like, subscribe, and share it with someone who needs to hear it.

#SipCyber #cybersecurity #digitalpreparedness #passwordmanagement #cybersecuritypodcast #digitalestate #onlinesafety #preparedness #crystallake #coffeeshop

You don't have to be in college to become a victim. In this episode of SipCyber, Jen Lotze visits Sunshine Coffee in Lake Elmo, MN, to break down the "ghost student scam"—a sophisticated identity theft operation targeting anyone with a Social Security number, including children.

Scammers are using stolen identities to enroll in online college programs, drain financial aid funds, and vanish—leaving real people to discover fraudulent student loans and destroyed credit years later. This isn't a distant threat. It's happening now, and your name (or your child's) could already be enrolled somewhere without your knowledge.

• Key Topics Covered:
• How ghost student scams work and why they're so hard to detect
• Why children's identities are prime targets for financial aid fraud
• The single most effective defense: freezing your credit (and your kids')
• How to check if your identity has already been compromised
• Practical steps to protect financial aid and education accounts

This isn't about fear—it's about action. Credit freezes work. Monitoring works. And awareness is the first line of defense against identity thieves who count on you doing nothing.

☕ Featured Coffee Shop: Sunshine Coffee, Lake Elmo, MN

🍯 Jen's Drink: The Miel (espresso with honey and spice)

Action Step: Freeze your credit at all four bureaus—Equifax, Experian, TransUnion, and Innovis. Do it for your kids too. Subscribe for weekly cybersecurity insights from coffee shops across the country, and share this with parents, educators, and anyone who needs to hear it.

#GhostStudent #IdentityTheft #CreditFreeze #FinancialAidFraud #CyberSecurity #ParentingTips #InfoSec #StudentLoans #DataProtection #SipCyber #DigitalSafety #CreditProtection

The agreement you clicked through without reading just changed the rules. In this episode of SipCyber, Jen Lotze visits Raw Deal in Menominee, Wisconsin, and breaks down TikTok's recent U.S. Terms and Privacy Policy update—the one most people accepted without a second thought while scrolling between videos.

Recorded fresh off a middle school basketball tournament, Jen reflects on watching kids toggle between the game and their screens, building digital footprints they don't yet understand. The new policy isn't just another legal update—it's a meaningful expansion of what TikTok collects, how precisely it tracks location, how it uses AI interactions, and how that data follows users long after the moment it was captured.

This isn't about banning apps or blaming parents. It's about awareness. Because the systems collecting data on all of us—adults and kids alike—are sophisticated, persistent, and not designed with our best interests in mind.

• Key Topics Covered:
• What actually changed in TikTok's updated U.S. privacy policy
• How precise location tracking works—and why it matters
• AI feature data collection you might not realize you're participating in
• Why data patterns are more dangerous than individual data points
• How digital footprints follow kids into adulthood
• Practical steps to review app permissions and protect your household

Don't let the fine print decide for you. Subscribe for weekly cybersecurity insights delivered from local coffee shops across the country—and share this with any parent who needs to hear it.

#TikTok #Privacy #DataTracking #ParentalControls #Cybersecurity #DigitalFootprint #OnlineSafety #AppPermissions #SocialMedia #InfoSec #KidsOnline #SipCyber #PrivacyPolicy #TechForParents