Hanna Miller's father, a former biomathematics Ph.D., had a passion for showering his grandchildren with gifts. However, as his dementia advanced, he started to forget purchases made just hours before, leading him to reorder the same items repeatedly. This behavior soon caused his spending to surpass his Social Security benefits and pension. In an effort to help, his daughters attempted to cancel the duplicate orders and replace his credit cards with a debit card. Unfortunately, this led to frustration and heated arguments, as Miller felt she was robbing her father of his autonomy and essentially becoming a caretaker for him. In collaboration with her friend Nikki Elbaz, Miller utilized Claude Code to develop ShieldCart, a Chrome extension that was installed on her father's computer. With this tool, whenever he attempted to make an online purchase, ShieldCart would divert him to a simulated checkout page. He would receive a familiar order confirmation, complete with an order number, but without any charges being made. This allowed his family to monitor his shopping activity and choose which purchases to approve. Miller explained to her father that it was a new AI-driven application designed for secure payments. According to her, this innovation resulted in thousands of dollars saved over the course of a year, and the family dynamic improved as the arguments over shopping ceased, allowing her father to continue believing he was generously gifting his loved ones. Elbaz remarked, "It was heartwarming to see him able to be generous again. We've restored that sense of freedom for him." Despite her father's passing in September, Hanna decided to keep the project alive to assist other families encountering similar difficulties. ShieldCart is currently in beta testing, with access granted upon request.
Informational material. 18+.
