Nowadays, it can be said that the internet is dominated by big corporations. The services that you use online, the websites that you visit, the content that you consume, the search engines that you use, and many other things are owned or operated by big corporations. Therefore, you cannot escape from their constant monitoring of your online activity. This is a fact that many internet users need to be aware of.
No matter how it is done, big corporations are monitoring your activity mostly for the purpose of attracting more potential customers to their brands. In this way, they can increase their profits and expand their companies. As an internet user, you need to be aware of what types of information they collect and how it can affect your privacy. Here are 5 types of information big corporations collect from you during your online activity:
1. General User Information
This is the basic information that the big corporations collect from you, which mainly consists of the information that you’ve entered on their websites. This includes the information such as demographics, usernames, passwords, locations, devices, browsers, operating systems, countries, and so on. So, when you sign up to a certain website, the information that you’ve entered will be collected by the owners of the website.
This general user information will also be used to identify the users for collective assessment. In this way, the big corporations will know the basic information of the users that uses their services and how they navigate on their websites.
2. Usage History
This information contains the logs that tell the companies about how you use their services. For instance, when you use Google services, Google will monitor what individual services that you use and when you use it. If you use the search engine, the company will monitor and track the search phrases that you’ve entered into the search box and when you did it.
The companies will also monitor when you logged into the service and what devices that you use. This is partly to keep your account secure from unauthorized login. Also, the usage data will be used to evaluate the performance of the online services and how to improve them in the future.
3. Sound And Video Recording
Some social media platforms are so obsessed in collecting the user’s data that they will usually disregard the user’s privacy. Big corporations like Facebook and Instagram might know more about you than your closest friends, especially if you are using those platforms often. When you use Facebook, all your data is stored in their servers even though you have deleted it from the platform. Additionally, the amount of data collection and monitoring will be doubled if you use the app instead of the website.
Some big corporations might store your sound and video recording and collect it for their own purposes without your consent. So, be careful when you use the social media apps on your mobile devices.
4. Shared Content
The internet is a place for sharing. Everybody uses it to share their information online using the various platforms that are available there. This is especially true with social media as this platform is specifically designed to share your content with others. Whether you have the best photos to share, videos to share, or just sharing your opinions, you can use the social media to let other people know about it.
Shared content is a type of information that is being collected by big corporations to profile their users even more accurately. Again, whether you are keeping the information intact or deleting it from your account, the companies might still have such an information stored on their servers.
5. User’s Online Activity And Behavior
Another type of information that will be collected by big companies is your online activity and behavior. Most websites that you visit today have the algorithm to determine how you navigate the website and what links that you visit on the website. If the platform is spread among many websites, they can even monitor or log your online activity in order to collect the data about your personal preferences for the purpose of advertisements.
Those are the types of information that big corporations collect from you during your online activity. As a regular internet user, you need to be aware about this because it will directly affect your online privacy. These companies may share your data with other third parties without informing you first, which is why using VPN is needed to keep your online activity private and anonymous.