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What Do The Big Tech Companies Know About You?

The Internet is no longer as fresh as it used to be. Companies like Facebook, Amazon, and Alphabet have now become the most valuable companies in the world, and people hold them accountable for their impact in the real world.

The Cambridge Analytica scandal and the issue of transparency in the Apple App Store show that tech giants are increasingly under the microscope. As expected, the main concern is with technology companies using personal data for profit.

What does the technology giant know?

The information we provide today is provided by the security firm Security Baron, and here is information gathered by tech giants that their privacy policies acknowledge their collection.

“With Cortana listening in and Gmail seeing all of your emails, the ubiquitous nature of Google and Microsoft gives them access to an uncomfortably large amount of your information,” Security Baron wrote.

Check out the full infographic to see what Facebook, Google, Apple, Twitter, Amazon, and Microsoft may know about you.

For tips on securing your digital privacy, check our story, “Online Data Protection 101: Don’t Let Big Tech Get Rich Off Your Info.

For many of these groups, users voluntarily provide their data to companies. And For example, you do not have to enter your relationship status on Facebook, but millions of users enter this information.

Do I agree to these terms?

Most of the data listed in this table makes sense – it’s clear that Amazon receives your credit card information or Google knows which website you are visiting. Even the most tech-savvy people understand this.

However, some categories of data collection are not acceptable to some people:

  • Facebook knows your political, religious or even moral views
  • Xbox users share their skeleton information with Microsoft with Kinect
  • Facebook is aware of your income level in collaboration with personal information sales companies
  • Platforms hold your messenger documentation, email, and data
  • Facebook and Microsoft store your face recognition data based on the image you upload to the website

Remember that what has been said is the only information that companies acknowledge in their privacy policies, what do you think other tech giants know about you?