Big tech is watching, storing, and selling—without asking first.
You probably already know your devices are tracking you—but what you might not realize is just how much they’re collecting and where that data ends up. It’s not just search history or social media likes. It’s your location, your voice, your heartbeat, your schedule, your shopping habits—even how fast you type. That sleek phone in your pocket? It’s a full-blown surveillance system disguised as convenience.
And the craziest part? You probably gave it permission without realizing. Buried in privacy policies and app settings are vague, sneaky checkboxes that open the door to constant monitoring. Big tech isn’t just watching—they’re analyzing, predicting, and selling what they learn about you. You don’t have to be famous or shady to be tracked. You just have to exist in the digital world. These are the most surprising and unsettling ways your data is being used right now.
1. Your phone tracks everywhere you go—even when you’re not using it.
Even if you haven’t opened a map in weeks, your phone knows where you are. GPS is just the beginning—your location can also be tracked through Wi-Fi networks, Bluetooth connections, and even cell towers pinging in the background. This location data builds a detailed timeline of where you’ve been, how often you go there, and how long you stay.
It doesn’t take long for your phone to figure out where you live, where you work, and even your daily routines. According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, modern smartphones determine location using GPS, Wi-Fi networks, and cellular data, creating a comprehensive location history.
Apps often ask for location access, even when they don’t need it to function. Weather apps, photo filters, coupon finders—they collect this data, sell it to advertisers, and move on. The more places you go, the more data points they can monetize. Turning off GPS doesn’t always stop the tracking, either.
2. Voice assistants are listening for more than just commands.
Siri, Alexa, Google Assistant—they’re always standing by. That “always listening” feature means they’re constantly monitoring ambient sound, waiting for a wake word. But that buffer period before and after you say “Hey Siri” or “Alexa”? It’s often recorded too. Per Rachel Lerman for AP News, Amazon and Google contractors listen to voice recordings from Alexa and Google Assistant to enhance speech recognition and language processing capabilities.
Sometimes, the assistant mishears a command and records something it wasn’t supposed to. Those snippets may be stored, transcribed, and analyzed. Even if you delete voice history in your settings, chances are backups exist somewhere. These devices aren’t just waiting for you to ask about the weather—they’re training themselves on your voice, your tone, your habits.
3. Your apps are constantly collecting personal data—even the ones you rarely use.
You might assume that an app only gathers data when you’re actively using it. Not true. Many apps run in the background, quietly collecting everything from your location to your contact list, photos, microphone activity, and browsing behavior. As stated by Christoph Schmon for Electronic Frontier Foundation, personal data is systematically collected and shared with third-party companies without users’ knowledge, often exceeding what is necessary for the app’s functionality.
The worst offenders are free apps with ads. They monetize your data instead of charging for the service, which means the more they learn about you, the more valuable you are to them. Even apps that seem harmless—like flashlight tools, filters, or games—have been caught selling data to third parties.
4. Smart TVs are tracking what you watch—and selling that data to advertisers.
Think turning on your TV is a private moment? Think again. Most smart TVs come equipped with Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) software that scans everything you watch—cable, streaming, DVDs, even gameplay. That info gets logged, categorized, and sent to companies that analyze your viewing habits. The goal? To serve you more personalized ads and collect intel on your media behavior.
Some TVs track down to the second—how long you linger on a show, what you pause, what you skip. Brands use this to figure out how engaged you are and what kinds of content you’re likely to buy into. It’s all happening silently in the background, usually enabled by default in your settings. Unless you go hunting through the menus to turn it off, your living room might be broadcasting your every binge-watch back to corporate HQ.
5. Your search history is shaping your online world—and someone’s profiting from it.
Every time you Google something, it tells a story. What you’re curious about, what you’re worried about, what you’re planning. That search bar is a window into your mind—and companies are watching closely. Google doesn’t just remember what you searched today. It remembers patterns, interests, and the timing of your queries, building a profile that gets sharper with every click.
Advertisers buy access to these insights so they can target you with creepy precision. Search for a headache remedy, and suddenly you’re getting ads for pain relief, meditation apps, and vitamin subscriptions.
Your searches also influence the results you see—over time, your online world narrows to match what you’ve already shown interest in. You’re not just browsing the internet. You’re training it to serve you a version of reality that keeps you clicking—and spending.
6. Facial recognition is being used—even if you didn’t agree to it.
Face unlock is convenient, but it’s also part of a growing trend: turning your face into data. Many devices now collect facial scans to identify users or organize photos. Some apps use it to “improve your experience” or apply filters—but what happens to that data afterward isn’t always clear. In some cases, your biometric info is stored, shared, or even used to train algorithms.
Even more concerning, public surveillance systems in some cities are using facial recognition without clear consent. Just walking past a camera could mean your face gets added to a growing database. Companies and governments argue it’s for security, but critics warn it can be inaccurate, biased, and invasive. Your face is one of your most personal identifiers—and the fact that it’s being scanned and stored without your full understanding should raise way more eyebrows than it does.
7. Fitness trackers are logging your health data—and selling insights behind the scenes.
Your steps, your heart rate, your sleep cycle—it all gets tracked. Fitness devices like smartwatches and health apps collect a huge amount of personal information, from how well you slept to when your heart rate spiked during that stressful meeting. On the surface, it feels helpful. In reality, that data can end up in places you didn’t expect.
Some companies sell anonymized versions of this health data to marketers, insurance providers, or researchers. Others use it to create detailed user profiles for targeted product recommendations.
In some cases, third-party apps connected to your device get access too, creating a web of shared info you never fully agreed to. Your daily walk isn’t just a step toward better health—it’s also a valuable data point in a much bigger machine.
8. Every photo you take quietly shares more than just a smile.
Snap a picture and you’re capturing more than a moment—you’re uploading a data packet. Most images contain metadata like the time, date, GPS location, and even the device used. That info can reveal patterns about your routines, travel habits, or the people you’re frequently with. Share those pics to apps or cloud storage, and unless that metadata is stripped out, it goes along for the ride.
This hidden layer of information is often overlooked, but it’s incredibly valuable. Advertisers, platforms, and even law enforcement can analyze it. Even seemingly innocent photos can expose where you live, work, or spend your weekends. Unless you’re scrubbing metadata or disabling location tagging, every image tells a bigger story than what’s in the frame.
9. Typing habits are being used to build a digital fingerprint.
It’s not just what you type—it’s how you type it. Keystroke patterns, typing speed, and the rhythm of your writing can all be tracked and analyzed. This data helps improve autocorrect, sure—but it also feeds into profiling systems that can identify you based on how you interact with a keyboard.
Some companies use this info for fraud prevention or bot detection, while others gather it for marketing or user behavior analytics. Certain third-party keyboards and apps have been caught capturing full typing histories, including sensitive information. It’s a layer of surveillance most people never consider, but one that follows you across apps and platforms. Over time, your keystrokes create a behavioral ID—unique, traceable, and constantly updating.
10. Shopping habits expose more about you than social media ever could.
What you buy, when you buy it, and how often you spend is a data goldmine. Retailers and financial services track your purchases to map out your lifestyle. Whether it’s groceries, gadgets, or gas station snacks, those little swipes and clicks add up to a consumer profile that’s shockingly detailed.
This isn’t just for targeted ads. Marketers group buyers by spending patterns, mood, and even life stages. Subscribed to diapers and protein powder? Congrats—you’re now in a “young active parent” category. That data can be sold, shared, or combined with location and browsing info to create eerily accurate predictions about what you’ll want next. Every transaction is more than a receipt—it’s a piece of your digital identity.
11. Even what you ignore online gets quietly tracked.
Just because you didn’t click doesn’t mean no one’s watching. Platforms monitor how long you hover over a post, where your eyes pause, what you scroll past, and how fast you do it. This passive behavior is measured, logged, and used to fine-tune the content and ads you’re shown next.
Algorithms don’t just care what you love or hate—they want to know what makes you hesitate. Did you pause on a post for three seconds before scrolling away? That tells the system more than a like ever could. In the world of attention tracking, silence is still information. And even your indecision becomes part of the data story being written about you.