Your everyday online activity can leave a data trail that goes beyond what you deliberately post. Apps and websites may collect information about how you use them, share it with other companies, or combine it with information from other sources. That does not mean every device is recording everything—or that every service behaves the same way. It does mean privacy settings and choices matter, even though they cannot make you invisible or retrieve data already shared.
The evidence discussed here is U.S.-focused. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) describes practices found among companies it examined, while the survey figures are Pew Research Center’s findings from U.S. adults in 2023.
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What does “always watching” mean in ordinary online life?
It is more accurate to think of routine digital activity as producing traces that some services collect, analyze, retain, or share than to imagine that every device is literally watching or recording everything. Those traces can include information you provide, such as account details, and information generated by using a service, such as browsing or viewing activity. Some information may also come from other companies, including data brokers.
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In September 2024, the FTC published a staff report based on responses to orders issued to nine social media and video-streaming companies. The report said the examined companies collected information about users and non-users, shared data broadly, and in some cases could retain large amounts indefinitely. It also described tracking technologies such as advertising pixels and limited ability for users and non-users to opt out of some automated uses. These are findings about the companies examined, not proof that every app or website follows the same practices.
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A pixel is a small tracking technology that can communicate information about activity on one website to another service. A pixel’s presence does not by itself show that the activity is sensitive or that its use is unlawful; what information it sends, who receives it, and how it is used all matter. The FTC’s consumer privacy guidance poses a familiar question: why do some online ads seem tailored to a person’s tastes and interests?
How do companies build a picture from a data trail?
A single piece of information may reveal little on its own. When activity from different sources is combined, it can support inferences about interests, routines, or likely responses to an ad. Those inferences are not necessarily accurate, and the information does not always identify someone in the same way. But combining data can make a profile more useful to the companies using it.
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Browsing, app, and viewing activity
Services can use activity within their own apps or sites to decide what content or advertising to show. Tracking technologies can also communicate activity between a site and another service. The FTC’s 2024 report described broad sharing among the examined companies; it does not establish that every ad is based on sensitive information.
Location history
Location data can reveal patterns in where a device goes. In its January 2025 discussion of data-broker enforcement matters, the FTC described cases involving mobile location data collected through apps, software development kits (SDKs), and other suppliers, as well as audience segments built from location histories. The agency alleged practices involving data associated with visits to health clinics and places of worship. Those allegations concern the matters the FTC discussed; they do not show that every location-data product identifies a person or is used in the same way.
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Data from people who never signed up
Not having an account with a service does not guarantee that the service has no information about you. The FTC’s report said the examined social media and video-streaming companies collected data about non-users, including information from data brokers. The report does not establish that every company has information about every non-user, or that all such information is equally detailed.
Can your data affect the price or promotion you see?
It is possible for consumer-related information to shape a price or promotion, but the evidence needs careful qualification. In January 2025, FTC staff released initial findings from an ongoing study of documents obtained from six named respondents. The staff summary described intermediaries that could use inputs such as location, demographics, browsing patterns, shopping history, page behavior, and cart activity to help retailers tailor prices or promotions. The FTC said the examples illustrating different prices or promotions were hypothetical, not documented instances of a particular shopper receiving a particular price. The summary also said the intermediaries examined worked with at least 250 clients.
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“Surveillance pricing” is a term for using personal or behavioral data to tailor prices or promotions. The FTC’s initial staff account indicates that such approaches are a subject of agency scrutiny; it does not establish that a named retailer charged a specific reader more, or that every retailer uses them. Prices and promotions can also differ for reasons unrelated to a personal profile, such as location, timing, or purchase channel.
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Pew Research Center surveyed 5,101 U.S. adults through its American Trends Panel from May 15 to 21, 2023. In findings published October 18, 2023, 81% said they were very or somewhat concerned about how companies use collected data; 73% felt they had very little or no control over data companies collected about them; and 67% said they had very little or no understanding of what companies do with that data.
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In the same survey, 56% said they always, almost always, or often clicked “agree” without reading privacy policies, and 61% considered those policies ineffective at explaining how companies use data. Pew also found that 61% were skeptical their own actions would make much difference. These are self-reported findings from 2023, not a 2026 poll—and they point to a problem of complexity and limited perceived agency, not a reason to blame individuals for accepting lengthy or difficult-to-understand notices.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Which privacy steps can reduce exposure?
Practical steps can limit particular kinds of data collection or make some information easier to manage. None guarantees that data already shared will be erased or prevents all future collection. The FTC’s consumer privacy hub organizes guidance around online tracking, people-search sites, children’s privacy, health apps, connected devices, voice assistants, and removing personal data from a vehicle before selling it.
Review app permissions and tracking controls
- Check which apps can access location, contacts, photos, microphone, or other sensitive device features. Turn off access an app does not need for the function you use.
- Review the tracking and advertising controls available in your device and app accounts. Their names and coverage vary; changing a setting can limit a particular use without stopping all collection by the service.
- When an app requests a permission, consider whether its purpose makes sense for that feature. A permission decision is not a guarantee about how other information is collected or shared.
Use account data and deletion controls
- Look in account privacy settings for data access, download, deletion, and advertising controls. Use the controls available to you, and check what the service says each one covers.
- Limit information you choose to add to profiles or posts when it is not needed. Removing an item from your account may not remove copies already shared with other parties.
Check people-search listings
- Search for FTC guidance on people-search sites and use the opt-out process offered by a site that lists your information. Opt-outs are specific to the site and may not remove information held elsewhere.
Secure connected, health, and voice devices
- Before enabling a health or voice feature, review the device or app’s privacy controls and decide whether the information it requests is necessary for you.
- For connected devices, review account access and available security and privacy settings. The FTC’s consumer guidance includes connected devices and voice assistants as separate privacy topics.
Before selling a vehicle
- Check the vehicle maker’s instructions and the FTC guidance on removing personal data from a vehicle before sale. Connected vehicles may store personal information, and steps vary by vehicle.
What privacy settings cannot do
A setting may reduce a specific exposure, but it cannot make a person invisible across the internet. It may not cover data collected by other apps, information obtained from brokers, or data a company already received. Deleting an account or turning off a permission should not be treated as proof that every copy of related data has been erased. Check the service’s explanation of the control, and treat privacy measures as ways to narrow particular data flows rather than complete protection.
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