Technology
Five Tech-Related Ways To Cut Back On Your Energy Consumption

Many of us already know how to cut back on our energy usage to help the environment. But unnecessarily high energy usage can also be a problem for your utility bills. On average, the annual electricity consumption for a U.S. customer was 10,9772 kWh, or 914 kWh per month. That's a lot of energy you may not actually be using.

From energy vampires to inconsistent tech habits, there are plenty of reasons why your energy usage may be higher than usual. To help you fight back against your energy bills and shrink down your carbon footprint a little more, here are a few simple ways you can cut back on your electricity with a little help from your tech devices.

Unplug Your Electronics

When it comes to using your electronics, it's understandable to want to keep your battery as high as possible. You don't want to lose important work, after all. But keeping your devices plugged in once the battery is at 100 percent isn't the best idea. In fact, it might actually be doing your devices more harm than good. When you keep your tech plugged in, you can overfill the battery. Because power is still connected to your device, once the battery has reached 100 percent, the power is redirected to the rest of your device, which can damage it. You're essentially damaging your devices while also wasting power you don't need.

Unplug Your Cords

Now that you've unplugged your charged devices, it's just as important to unplug the cords from the wall. While it might seem more convenient to leave your laptop's cord plugged into the wall so you can simply plug in your device when you need to, the disconnected cord can actually create an energy vampire in your home. Your cords don't need to be connected to anything to draw power from the wall. In fact, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, idle cords and electronics pull the same amount of power as 12 power plants in a single year.

Stay Connected To Your WiFi Network

When it comes to the Internet, you typically want to stay connected without any interruptions. That's why infrastructure like GroupCast exists to provide connectivity without a single point of failure. However, it's actually better to stay connected to your own WiFi network as much as possible rather than making the switch over to your LTE network while you're on your smartphone. The reason for this is that phones and other devices actually consume less battery power when they're connected to WiFi compared to 4G/LTE.

Turn Off Devices When Not In Use

Many of us will put our devices in sleep mode rather than completely turning them off. While sleep mode doesn't use very much energy (approximately two watts of electricity for a laptop and five watts for a desktop), it can still drain your tech to keep your devices on all the time. As you use your computer, for instance, you're collecting cached copies of attachments, cookies, and running several applications. It's recommended to turn your computer off at least once a week to give your tech some rest.

Turn Off Background Apps

While some phones need to be charged more often than others, it might actually be your applications that are causing your phone to lose its battery. The average smartphone draws about 3.68 watts of power from your outlet while it's charging. Even when it's fully charged, your phone will still pull 2.24 watts from the outlet (see our point above about unplugging your devices). To keep your phone charged for longer and to save on energy usage, consider powering down your apps. Games like Minecraft, which sold over 200 million copies, and Animal Crossing, which sold over 31 million copies, can be closed out while not in use.

When it comes to saving on energy costs, many of us tend to focus on turning off the light and lowering our thermostat. However, our tech devices and how we maintain them can also be a major player in how we're wasting energy. By following the tips above, you can help to keep your energy usage down while keeping your tech devices in great shape, too.

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Could Teleconferencing Spell Trouble For Your Trade Secrets?

Even before the pandemic, our society was dependent on technology. With 61 percent of mobile users refusing to visit a mobile site again if they feel it's slow or hard to navigate, it's clear that the digital tools we use have to keep up with user demand and behavior.

Of course, the challenges of the pandemic have made these needs even more pronounced. As millions of Americans continue to work remotely to combat COVID-19, we're now spending even more of our days online. That's led to some issues, particularly in regard to web security.

In the first half of 2019, data breaches exposed an estimated 4 billion records and experts estimate that those numbers have continued to reach new heights throughout our current health crisis. But unfortunately, that isn't the only way that proprietary information can fall into the wrong hands. While many of us depend on teleconferencing platforms to stay connected with colleagues as we work from home, the truth is that these programs can present a number of legal complications -- including the potential loss of trade secrets.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office defines a trade secret as information that has potential or actual independent financial value due to its general secrecy; offers value to those who can't legitimately access this information; and has been the subject of reasonable protective measures to control its access. Trade secrets can become "lost" if any of these three factors become compromised or eliminated. Since the passing of the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016, U.S. trade secret case filings increased from a range of 960 to 930 cases a year to a staggering 1,134 cases in 2017. While that's partially because the new law allowed federal courts to hear cases pertaining to trade secrets, it's also worth noting that there may now be more opportunities -- thanks to technology -- for trade secrets to come to light.

That may certainly be the case, as some business owners have found out the hard way, with popular teleconferencing platforms like Zoom. According to recent reports, a trash compacting company called Smash decided to hold several Zoom calls with prospective franchisees. During these calls, the company ended up revealing information that it later claimed was a protected trade secret. After attending these Zoom sessions, those potential franchisees ended up starting a business to directly compete with Smash. Although Smash sued, the court found that Smash lost its trade secret protection because the company failed to adequately safeguard its teleconferencing sessions for privacy. In fact, all of the meetings they held utilized the exact same Zoom link (which could have legally been shared with anyone). Not only that, but the meetings weren't password-protected. Smash couldn't even identify every person who attended the Zoom meetings, representing a massive privacy failure on their part. Interestingly, the use of a nondisclosure agreement (NDA) wasn't enough to uphold expectations of privacy.
Unsurprisingly, Smash lost the case -- though the court did find that the defendants acted with deception -- and willingly gave up its trade secrets.

Considering that Zoom reported having more than 200 million daily users in March 2020 and many American businesses continue to employ remote workforces, it's essential to take heed of this cautionary tale. Although teleconferencing has become just one part of our new normal, that doesn't mean you have no choice but to leave your business vulnerable.

Zoom does provide some layers of protection that Smash failed to use in this case. Creating different meeting links for each new session, and ensuring those sessions are password-protected, can help keep unwanted visitors out. It's also a good idea to use the waiting room feature in order to screen attendees for this reason. You can also disable the ability to record the session and remove those who aren't authorized to attend. In addition, you can request that attendees position themselves in a private space that won't be subject to eavesdropping. But you can also choose to use a more secure platform than Zoom, like Microsoft Teams or Cisco Webex Meetings, both of which offer end-to-end encryption.

Of course, a lot of trade secret protection comes down to user behavior rather than technological features. Ultimately, it's the business's responsibility to ensure their secrets stay secrets. Generally speaking, you should refrain from sharing trade secrets on any platform that doesn't provide a reasonable expectation of privacy, whether it's through an email or in a video meeting. It's up to you to keep that proprietary information under lock and key. And if you don't do your due diligence, you could find yourself losing a court case and losing what makes your business unique.