When we read about loss of privacy, it’s usually in one of two contexts:
- Facebook and Google tracking ‘everything’
- Customer profile and purchase data being stolen from some or the other service that was hacked
And this is true. But they aren’t the only ones who track your activity online:
Other people on a shared computer – this is what incognito mode is for. Now that each of us has a personal phone, tablet, laptop, this isn’t as much an issue as it used to be. Incognito mode is also useful to have websites ‘forget’ you; more later.
Your computer – the operating system that runs on your computer has access to files, note, contacts, calendar, pictures, music, videos – anything that you store on that computer. Even if you encrypt your hard drive, the operating system – Windows or Mac OS – is what does the encrypting.
Your phone – same as above. You’re most likely running iOS/Apple or Android/Google. In the case of Android phones, most phone manufacturers modify Android – for cosmetic reasons and to add phone-specific functionality. Often their apps are the defaults, not Google’s. In any case, that manufacturer also has access to a lot of the data
Your browser – Chrome, Safari, Edge, made by Google, Apple and Microsoft respectively, need to be able to “see” what websites you visit in order to be able to work. Browsers now have you sign in to not just a website but into the browser itself (think Chrome and your Google account) to sync history, bookmarks and extensions across devices – which means the browser not just tracks this information but stores it centrally. Also – the browser sees your activity even in incognito mode or private mode. That mode just means the browser doesn’t save any information.
Your Internet Service Provider (ISP) – all your traffic needs to go through this entity before it connects to the public internet. Your ISP isn’t able to see HTTPS-encrypted traffic, like the contents of your email on gmail.com, but it knows what sites you’re visiting. This isn’t limited just to your computer – any device at home like an Amazon Echo, Google Chromecast, or a Samsung Smart TV (and similar devices from other brands) – that connects to the internet sends data through your ISP. Technically your home router can also see all your data – this is the one that connects your home wifi to your internet service provider – but I don’t know of routers that are known to systematically ‘phone home’ your data. It’s too big a reputational risk.
Your operator/carrier – same as above, when you’re using your mobile data plan. This is true not just of browser traffic, but also when you use apps, like games. Your operator is very likely able to figure out what games you play based on the internet traffic the game generates. Just because you use the Twitter app instead of visiting twitter.com doesn’t mean you’re sending any less data.
(Part 2 – more entities that track you, including the ones you’re concerned about)
(Featured Image Photo Credit: Tolga Ahmetler/Unsplash)