Kim Key

My Experience

I review privacy tools like hardware security keys, password managers, private messaging apps and ad-blocking software. I also report on online scams and offer advice to families and individuals about staying safe on the internet. Before joining PCMag, I wrote about tech and video games for CNN, Fanbyte, Mashable, The New York Times, and TechRadar. I also worked at CNN International, where I did field producing and reporting on sports that are popular with worldwide audiences.

My Areas of Expertise

• Security software

• Online privacy

• Password managers

• VPNs

• Parental control software

The Technology I Use

I like testing new software for work, but I'm less "plugged in" to the internet than I used to be. I tend to read app privacy policies to see what kind of data companies collect, and as a result of those findings, I don't use many mobile apps. In a similar vein, I was an early adopter of many social media platforms, but now I’m just an infrequent Reddit lurker.

I'm a gear junkie. I split my work time between a 2021 Apple MacBook Pro and a Lenovo ThinkPad. I shoot most of my videos for PCMag using a Canon M50, a Sony A7iii, and a Sony a6000. I edit videos using Final Cut Pro and Adobe Premiere Pro.

I write all of my words for PCMag either in the MS Notepad app on my ThinkPad or the Notes app on my iPhone 12 mini. If I'm traveling and working, I use my iPad to write short articles or take notes.

My dad built me my first computer sometime in the late 90s and I used it for reading Encyclopedia Britannica and writing Sailor Moon fan fiction. My first cell phone was the ubiquitous Nokia candy bar.