Google is the most invasive of Big Tech companies, tracking 39 different private user data points, more than any of its peers.
StockApps.com conducted an analysis of what data Google, Twitter, Apple, Amazon, and Facebook collect. Of the companies analyzed, Google was the most invasive, tracking 39 different points of private user data. Apple was the least invasive, only tracking 12 data points “necessary to maintain users’ accounts.”
Twitter collected the second-highest number of data points at 24, while Amazon came in at 23. Surprisingly, Facebook only tracked 14 data points.
“Twitter and Facebook both save more information than they need to,” writes Edith Reads for StockApps.com. “However, with Facebook, most of the data they store is information users enter.”
One of the biggest challenges for users interested in limiting Big Tech’s data tracking is the difficulty in understanding the long and complicated privacy policies most companies utilize.
“Most people do not have the time or patience to read privacy policies that can be several pages long for each website they visit,” says Reads. “Also, it is quite unlikely that all users have a background in law to properly grasp the privacy policy. Besides, users lack time, patience, or energy to try to figure out what information websites are storing and how they are using it to their advantage. As a result, users end up allowing Google to harvest all the data they need by agreeing to the privacy policy terms. “