There is no doubt in the fact that big tech companies spy on us. But why is that? What do they gain from it? When will it end? These are the questions we often ask ourselves. Nobody likes their privacy to be violated and hence this can be quite frustrating.
But, do we try everything we can to avoid it? Companies are starting to revise their privacy policies by giving consumers the option to either let a company invade their privacy or not. We are just too lazy to go and turn it off manually. We will be discussing a few of the reasons why companies do this.
Speech Recognition
We are all familiar with services like Alexa and Siri. We have almost become dependent on them to do our daily activities. Our wishes are granted with a simple voice command. It is almost like a genie in the house. We do not even need to get up to make the command or do the task, we simply ask them to do it for us.
Even when we are not giving them commands, they are listening to all our conversations. This way they are gathering data 24/7. They process our voices and speech patterns to gather all sorts of data. They analyze our voices to understand our languages even better.
Data Acquisition
They get recommendations for us based on our daily routines, they improve speech recognition based on our voice, and much more. Companies behind these products are using this data for suggesting ads on our social media profiles, show tempting deals based on our taste and so much more.
Companies gather data like our tastes, locations, daily routine, choices, and much more to study our life choices and patterns. They use this data to track us, know our locations, our choices, and much more. Basically, we are being spied on. This data can be used to mold our lives in the direction that these companies want. They develop strategies to target our desires, and hence make more profit.
Product Modification
Our data primarily helps companies improve their products according to their likes and dislikes. They use the data to optimize their products, improve their software and remove flaws. This gives rise to more and more software updates that we are all used to in our lives.
We just have to be careful while using these products and services. We need to check what permissions we are giving. If we take proper precautions, we can easily avoid these things.
Different Types of Data
We have been saying that companies gather all sorts of data. Now we will discuss a few of the prominent types of data that these big shots are collecting.
Browser
Companies monitor which browser you are using such as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and so on. This helps them understand which browser you prefer, which extension you would want or not.
IP Address
Your location is transmitted via your IP address. They figure out which location a certain site is accessed from, what background a certain person is from, and so on. You may be using an air-tight secure internet service like Optimum internet, but your IP address may still be visible.
Phone Number
When you call a certain number from a certain number, these companies also track that. They figure out what service you are using, who you call frequently. This helps them in sending you specific advertisements in your area.
Time and Date
The time and date of your activity are transmitted to them as well. They know when you use the service the most, so they can target the efforts of their product at that specific time the most.
Device
They know which device you use the most to access their services whether it is a smartphone, tablet, or PC. They know which brand you use, so that they can target their ads towards you and convert you.
Face Recognition
Your webcam is constantly transmitting whatever it sees throughout the day. Your face is shown to them so they know which gender is using their service and other details like race, religion, color, and region, and so on.
TV
They also monitor our daily favorite shows that we watch on our favorite packages from providers like AT&T DIRECTV, Amazon Prime Video, Spectrum TV,and many more. They use it to suggest recommendations for possible new shows that we might like.
The Final Verdict
We have summed up why these companies collect our data and how they use them to aim ads, services, and products at us. We give them consent without even knowing and they make use of it. We should be careful while permitting them to access our data. Otherwise, the privacy that all of us are very protective of, is no more than in our minds. The least we could do is subscribe to the best internet service providers that offer exceptional security features. You can find such providers on BuyTVInternetPhone platform.
