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Cloaked Launches Research Hub to Document the Evolving State of Consumer Privacy

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Cloaked, the consumer-first privacy and security company, launches the Cloaked Research Hub. This ongoing initiative will produce original, nationally representative research on how American consumers think about, experience, and respond to personal privacy and data safety issues. Insights are available at www.cloaked.com/research-hub.

NEW YORK, July 8, 2026 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — Cloaked, the consumer-first privacy and security company, today announced the launch of the Cloaked Research Hub. This ongoing initiative will produce original, nationally representative research on how American consumers think about, experience, and respond to personal privacy and data safety issues.

“The Cloaked Research Hub is a fact-based insights resource for individuals, companies, media, and policymakers to continue to better understand American views on data privacy across a wide range of topics and demographics,” said Arjun Bhatnagar, Co-founder and CEO at Cloaked.

The Cloaked Research Hub launches with five published surveys, revealing growing concern about data privacy risks and distrust of new technologies like AI, which are influencing consumer behavior. Each survey includes 1,000 US respondents and addresses a relevant topic, such as artificial intelligence and data sharing, the cost of financial fraud, the impact of digital search exposure, and the impact of spam on consumer trust.

“Understanding consumer sentiment and how it influences action is a pivotal component to solving the data privacy crisis we face today,” said Arjun Bhatnagar, Co-founder and CEO at Cloaked. “The Cloaked Research Hub is a fact-based insights resource for individuals, companies, media, and policymakers to continue to better understand American views on data privacy across a wide range of topics and demographics.”

Americans Know Privacy-Risk Exists and Seek Answers.

Over the last two years, 33 million searches related to digital privacy, online privacy, and personal data removal have been made. Of these, “remove my information from the internet free” grew by 133%, while “how to delete information from the internet” grew 34%.

Nearly all digital identity searches (96%) focused on awareness, monitoring, or protection. Only 3% focused on reactive deletion, removal, or damage control. However, within this context, searches tied to doxxing prevention grew 37% year over year.

Digital footprint survey results revealed that 77% of Americans feel they do not have control over what appears about them online.

Spam and AI Add to Growing Consumer Distrust.

New technologies like artificial intelligence are accelerating feelings of distrust and a lack of control among Americans, as they increase the volume of spam and the sophistication of scams.

According to Cloaked’s “The Trust Costs of Spam Calls and Texts” survey, spam is playing a significant role in changing how Americans communicate. The survey reveals that the average American loses 27 hours a year to spam calls. Because of such high spam rates, 42% of individuals state that it has significantly influenced or completely changed their communication preferences toward non-call methods, and 43% of respondents have blocked all unknown callers by default.

Cloaked’s “How Americans Feel about Sharing Their Data with AI” survey shows that 75% of individuals feel monitored by the technologies they use, and 82% of respondents say they do not trust AI to keep their data safe.

Feelings about AI are also influencing consumer decision-making and brand loyalty. More than 2 in 5 Americans said learning that a company uses AI to make decisions about them regarding credit, hiring, or insurance without their consent would cause them to leave a platform.

The Cloaked Research Hub is meant to provide an ongoing pulse on American sentiment and action tied to timely privacy topics. New surveys will be unveiled monthly, addressing different forces shaping digital identity, data protection, and consumer privacy today.

For more information about Cloaked and the Cloaked Research Hub, visit www.cloaked.com/research-hub.

About Cloaked

Founded by brothers Arjun and Abhijay Bhatnagar, Cloaked is a consumer-first privacy and security company dedicated to helping individuals take control of their personal data. Trusted by more than 450,000 users, Cloaked gives individuals control over when, where, and with whom they share personal data across its web platform, browser extension, and mobile app while actively removing what’s already exposed in the public domain. Cloaked Enterprise extends this same foundational approach with enterprise-grade tooling, delivering comprehensive employee protection through a distributed, cloud-based managed service that reduces corporate risk and exposure.

To date, the company has raised more than $400 million in funding from investors, including General Catalyst, Liberty City Ventures, Human Capital, Lux Capital, Marquee Ventures, Fifth Growth Fund, Next Play Ventures, Index Ventures, Mantis VC, Khosla Ventures, Thiel Capital, ENEA Capital, the NFLPA, LG Technology Ventures, Assurant Ventures, and DuckDuckGo. Cloaked is based in New York City. To learn more, visit cloaked.com.

Media Contact

Kendra Peavy, Cloaked, 1 929.525.6249, kendra@cloaked.id, cloaked.com

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prweb.com/releases/cloaked-launches-research-hub-to-document-the-evolving-state-of-consumer-privacy-302820182.html

SOURCE Cloaked

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SABRE Launches Smart Pepper Spray With GPS Alerts to Instantly Notify Emergency Contacts

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Connected personal safety device combines maximum-strength protection with real-time location sharing for faster response in critical situations

CHICAGO, July 8, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — SABRE, a leader in personal safety solutions, announced the launch of the SABRE Smart Pepper Spray, a connected personal safety device that combines maximum-strength pepper spray with real-time GPS alert technology. Designed to enhance personal protection, the device automatically notifies trusted contacts with the user’s live location when the alert button or pepper spray is deployed, helping ensure faster awareness and response in emergencies.

The SABRE Smart Pepper Spray represents a new category of self-defense technology—bridging the gap between physical protection and immediate communication.

A Smarter Approach to Personal Safety

Unlike traditional pepper sprays, the SABRE Smart Pepper Spray integrates with a companion mobile app to provide automatic emergency alerting. When the spray is deployed—or when the in-app panic button is activated—the system sends real-time GPS location alerts to preselected contacts, enabling them to quickly understand the situation and take action.

There is no need to unlock a phone, make a call, or send a message. The alert is triggered instantly—helping ensure users are never alone in a critical moment.

How It Works

User activates the spray, presses the detachable button or in-app panic buttonDevice triggers an automatic alert through the mobile appReal-time GPS location is shared immediatelyEmergency contacts receive a notification and live location tracking

Built for Real-World Safety Situations

The SABRE Smart Pepper Spray is designed to support users in everyday scenarios where personal safety is a concern, including:

Walking alone at nightCollege campus environmentsRunning or outdoor activitiesCommuting or rideshare travelVisiting unfamiliar areas

Powerful Protection Meets Smart Connectivity

In addition to its connected features, the SABRE Smart Pepper Spray delivers professional-grade defense:

Maximum-strength pepper spray trusted by law enforcement12–14 foot range for safer distance from threatsUp to 10 seconds of spray time for extended defenseFast Flip Top safety for quick, one-handed deploymentErgonomic finger grip for improved aim and controlCompact, discreet design for everyday carryLong-lasting battery designed for reliability without frequent charging

Bringing Peace of Mind to Users and Their Loved Ones

The Smart Pepper Spray expands the impact of personal protection beyond the individual carrying it. By instantly notifying trusted contacts, the device provides additional reassurance to family members and friends—helping reduce uncertainty and enabling faster response when it matters most.

“Safety isn’t just about stopping a threat,” said David Nance, CEO of SABRE. “It’s about making sure help is notified instantly—so users are never alone in an emergency. When every second matters, immediate awareness can make all the difference.”

Redefining Personal Safety

The SABRE Smart Pepper Spray reflects a broader shift in personal safety—from standalone self-defense tools to connected safety systems that prioritize awareness, communication, and preparedness.

By combining proven defensive technology with smart connectivity, SABRE is helping redefine what it means to feel protected in everyday life.

Availability

The SABRE Smart Pepper Spray is available now at www.sabrered.com and on Amazon.

For more information, visit www.sabrered.com.

About SABRE

SABRE is a global leader in personal safety solutions, trusted by professionals and consumers worldwide. As the most used brand by police and public safety officers, SABRE combines proven defensive technology with innovative smart features to help people stay safe, connected, and in control in any situation.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sabre-launches-smart-pepper-spray-with-gps-alerts-to-instantly-notify-emergency-contacts-302818424.html

SOURCE SABRE- Security Equipment Corporation

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RapidScale Launches Infrastructure Intelligence Practice as Pricing Volatility Disrupts IT Planning and Operations

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With 88% of businesses experiencing rising costs and extended delivery timelines, RapidScale delivers cost predictability, workload flexibility and procurement reliability.

RALEIGH, N.C., July 8, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — RapidScale, a leading provider of enterprise managed and professional services for public, private, and hybrid cloud environments, today announced its new Infrastructure Intelligence practice. Built upon five existing solution areas, the new offering enables organizations to clearly understand and prioritize technology decision making across cloud, on-premises and hybrid environments, improving infrastructure cost visibility, optimizing technology resources in deployment, reducing planning risk, and making more confident decisions.

88% of technology leaders responding to RapidScale’s inaugural Infrastructure Intelligence Index survey reported they’ve experienced at least one disruption resulting from extended lead times, pricing changes, and capacity events in the first six months of 2026. As the global memory and storage supply chain cautiously adapts to spiking demand, overcoming volatility, strategically timing investments, and navigating how a business’s technology needs map to impact will be increasingly critical to organizational growth.

“Companies typically assume that if they have the budget, they can scale infrastructure whenever they need it. That assumption no longer holds,” said Duane Barnes, president of RapidScale. “Lagging access to infrastructure is forcing technology and finance leaders to rethink how they plan, fund and modernize systems. Organizations need a more agile, long-term approach that gives them confidence that the capacity and resources required to support critical operations will be available when they need them.”

To understand how supply chain constraints are impacting businesses in real time, RapidScale surveyed 300 technology leaders, identifying three key trends shaping the current environment:

Nearly all organizations’ tech operations are actively experiencing disruption: Only 12% of organizations reported no meaningful change to operations and planning over the last 90 days. Most IT leaders are actively managing pricing increases during procurement (59%); delivery and lead time delays (48%); and capacity challenges (34%). With manufacturing facilities that will alleviate strain at least 2-5 years from production, adapting to this structural shift will be an ongoing priority.

Organizations are stretching existing infrastructure, but few are delaying projects: Only 26% of respondents noted they were cancelling or delaying projects as a result of volatility, instead opting to shift workloads across their environment (48%) or increase focus on cost governance or consumption optimization (51%). Prioritizing how critical workloads run across existing infrastructure is critical to negating operational issues that may arise from technology headwinds.

The impact now extends beyond IT operations: 84% of respondents are concerned about supply chain volatility’s long-term impact, with most concerned about implications for tech roadmap planning (61%) and budget predictability (53%). While these board-level operational issues cause concern, nearly half of respondents (46%) flag these constraints could impact their organization’s ability to implement and execute AI initiatives.

RapidScale’s Infrastructure Intelligence practice helps organizations establish a fact-based view of current infrastructure spend, identify cost and capacity trade-offs, and build an executive-ready roadmap for modernization. The offering brings together RapidScale’s capabilities in cost transparency, hybrid optimization, VMware strategy, multi-cloud re-platforming and FinOps into a single operating model for aligning infrastructure decisions with business priorities. Combined with RapidScale’s one-to-one approach to partnership, these services enable businesses to thoughtfully and sequentially tackle their most pressing needs.

“It’s critical for businesses to treat infrastructure challenges as interconnected business issues, rather than isolated technology decisions,” said Jason McKay, chief solutions officer at RapidScale. “RapidScale’s Infrastructure Intelligence practice addresses these issues directly, giving technology, finance and executive leaders the visibility needed to strategically evaluate cost, capacity and modernization trade-offs with greater confidence.”

To learn more about Infrastructure Intelligence and how RapidScale helps organizations improve cost predictability and modernization planning, visit https://www.rapidscale.com/infrastructure-intelligence-assessment. To review the findings of RapidScale’s Infrastructure Intelligence Index report, visit https://www.rapidscale.com/blog/cloud/new-rapidscale-research-shows-infrastructure-volatility-is-reshaping-it-roadmaps

About RapidScale

RapidScale empowers business innovation through secure, scalable cloud solutions—driven by exceptional talent. We deliver managed, professional, and advisory services across private, public, and hybrid environments, enabling mid-market and enterprise organizations to extend their technology reach, activate change, and accelerate growth. Whether hosted, on-premises, or hybrid, our solutions are designed to meet the needs of our clients’ business outcomes—not just their infrastructure needs—ensuring each solution is bespoke, unbiased, and precisely aligned with client goals.

As a Broadcom Pinnacle Partner, AWS Premier Partner, Microsoft Azure Expert MSP, and certified Google Cloud Partner, RapidScale transforms complexity into agility. Our services span the full cloud lifecycle—from strategy to execution—with embedded cyber resiliency and AI-powered data insights that protect today’s operations and enable tomorrow’s competitive edge.

Through RapidScale, Cox Business, Segra, and Hospitality Network, Cox Communications provides a broad commercial solutions portfolio including advanced cloud and managed IT solutions and fiber-based network solutions that create connected environments, unique hospitality experiences and support diverse applications for nearly 370,000 businesses nationwide.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/rapidscale-launches-infrastructure-intelligence-practice-as-pricing-volatility-disrupts-it-planning-and-operations-302820853.html

SOURCE RapidScale

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CPSC Implements Mandatory eFiling for Certificates of Compliance, Targeting Dangerous Foreign Imports

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WASHINGTON, July 8, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced that the Commission’s eFiling program is now in effect, requiring importers of regulated consumer products to submit compliance certificates electronically before products enter U.S. commerce.

The eFiling program enables CPSC to identify and target high-risk imported products more efficiently while reducing unnecessary inspections and delays for compliant importers. By allowing the agency to focus enforcement resources where they are most needed, eFiling helps keep unsafe products out of the U.S. marketplace while facilitating legitimate trade.

Today’s implementation represents one of the most significant modernization efforts in CPSC’s import surveillance program since the agency was established, providing CPSC with certificate information before products enter U.S. commerce. The program also supports closer coordination between CPSC and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, reinforcing a whole-of-government approach to protecting American consumers at the border.

“America faces an unprecedented surge in imported consumer products entering through increasingly complex global supply chains, including millions of direct-to-consumer shipments that often bypass traditional retail distribution. CPSC faces significant enforcement challenges, particularly where products originate from countries that do not comply with U.S. safety laws. eFiling brings CPSC’s import surveillance and targeting capabilities into the 21st century, enabling the agency to identify and interdict high-risk shipments earlier, keeping unsafe foreign-made products out of American homes, and leveling the playing field for American manufacturers and importers that follow the rules,” said CPSC Acting Chairman Peter A. Feldman.

“Let me be clear: eFiling does not apply to domestic manufacturers, including small businesses manufacturing in the United States. It creates no new testing, certification, or compliance obligations. Importers are already required by law to create and maintain this information. eFiling simply modernizes how the data is transmitted to CPSC,” he said.

The eFiling program is the culmination of more than a decade of development, including extensive industry testing through alpha and beta pilots conducted between 2016 and 2024, followed by a voluntary implementation period that allowed importers to develop and test their systems before today’s effective date.

Requirements applicable to consumer products imported into Foreign Trade Zones and later entered for consumption or warehousing will take effect on January 8, 2027.

More detailed information on the eFiling program is available at the links below:

eFiling – CPSC’s Modern Approach for Filing Certificate DataFinal Rule Implementing eFiling for Certificates of Compliance

About CPSC
CPSC is the federal agency charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of injury associated with thousands of types of consumer products. Deaths, injuries, and property damage from consumer product-related incidents cost the nation more than $1 trillion annually. Since the agency was established more than 50 years ago, CPSC has worked to ensure the safety of consumer products, contributing to a decline in related injuries.

Federal law prohibits any person from selling products subject to a Commission-ordered recall or to a voluntary recall undertaken in consultation with CPSC.

For lifesaving information:
– Visit CPSC.gov.
– Sign up to receive our e-mail alerts.
– Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, X, BlueSky, Threads, LinkedIn and Truth Social.
– Report a dangerous product or a product-related injury on www.SaferProducts.gov.
– Call CPSC’s Hotline at 800-638-2772 (TTY 800-638-8270).
– Contact a media specialist.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cpsc-implements-mandatory-efiling-for-certificates-of-compliance-targeting-dangerous-foreign-imports-302820872.html

SOURCE U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission

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