When we hear “government shutdown,” most people think of federal workers being furloughed, closed national parks, or delayed paychecks. But a shutdown also has an impact you may not expect on your phone, your computer, and even the websites and apps you use every day.

During a shutdown, thousands of federal employees are furloughed. That means some .gov websites may stop updating, and some could even go offline completely if there’s no one available to maintain them. That can affect everyday services like food safety alerts from the USDA, passport and visa applications, and NASA updates. If you try to visit those sites, you might find outdated information or nothing at all.

Some critical services keep running. Social Security checks are still delivered, TSA agents and air traffic control

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