The Data Big Tech Companies Have On You

Be honest: Do you really make the effort to read privacy policies of companies and websites you deal with? Most people don’t, and we can’t blame them. Privacy policies are long and they contain legal jargon that would make anyone without a legal background scratch their heads. But the simple fact is that a company’s privacy policy should matter to us as it contains information on what data of ours is being collected, how it’s protected, and how it’s shared.

The Security.org team led by our Chief Editor Gabe Turner – a former attorney for the New York State Department of Financial Services – reviewed the privacy policies of some of the top tech companies today including Meta, X (formerly Twitter), Amazon, Apple, and Google to find out the data big tech companies have on you. The results might surprise you.

Our Findings

Not surprisingly, we found that Google collects the most amount of data from consumers. Google’s entire business model is built on collecting data and using that to personalize experiences, including which ads are shown to you. On the other end of the spectrum, Apple proved to be the best company for data privacy, as it holds a minimal amount of data.

Next to Apple, Amazon collects the least amount of data from consumers. In my opinion, that’s because those two companies (Apple and Amazon) aren’t as dependent on advertising revenue as the other three (Google, Meta and X).

Let’s take a closer look at each company and the data of yours that they collect. I’ll also go into why they say they collect this information and their policies for sharing it with third parties, but if you want to learn even more, read our data privacy statistics.

Google Data Collection

Grade: F

Google has built a network of useful tools that people use everyday – from Gmail to Google Maps. But the truth is that while most of those services are free, we as users pay for them in the form of data.

Everytime you sign up for a service from Google, you have to sign in to your Google account and agree to that service’s privacy policy. That makes it difficult to track what information Google collects. Below is information on what Google collects from its search engine, YouTube, and other popular services.

Information They Collect

Out of all the companies on this list, Google collects and stores the most data about you by far. That’s not surprising, as their business model relies on selling ad space to other companies. By collecting your data, they can offer more effective advertising opportunities to their customers. They collect everything from your location (a good reason to use a VPN) and browsing history to your activity after clicking through a link on Google.

Google collects your IP address, crash reports, system activity, date, time, and referrer URL of your requests, data about interactions between apps, browser and device type, application version number, app usage, carrier name, and operating system.

They also collect your name, phone number, payment information if you’ve made any purchases through Google, email address, emails you write and receive, your stored videos, photos, documents, and spreadsheets, and your comments on Youtube.

Google keeps track of your searches, sites and videos you view, and interactions with content and ads. If you use Google’s voice assistant, they collect your commands as well. They’ll also keep track of your purchase activity, and, if a third-party site uses Google services, your activity on those sites or apps.

If you use Google Voice, they’ll log calls and texts sent through the service as well as any phone number you interact with. Finally, they’ll also keep track of your browsing history if you use a Chrome browser synced with a Google account. Connecting through one of the best VPNs for Chrome can prevent Google from collecting location and device-based data.

As far as location goes, Google keeps track of your via GPS, sensor data from your device, and information about things near your device like Wi-Fi access points, cell towers, or Bluetooth-enabled devices. Using your GPS data, they also know which time zone you’re in.

Google may obtain your information from you from local newspapers, third party marketing partners, or advertisers.

Why They Say They Collect Your Data

Aside from maintaining your services, Google collects your data to personalize ads and content. Of course, they follow relevant laws, so they don’t personalize based on your race, religion, health or sexual orientation. Google also uses your data to measure the performance of ads, sharing the data with advertisers so they can create more effective ads.

Third-Party Sharing Policies

Students or anyone who uses Gmail for work, listen up: Google is sharing your information with your domain administrator, so leave the irreverent G-chats on Incognito. Google also shares your data with a bunch of third parties like advertisers, publishers, and developers, although this information isn’t identifiable. However, Google does give their partners a ton of leeway, allowing them to collect data from your browser and device using cookies.

>> Learn More: How To Remain Anonymous on the Internet

Meta Data Collection

Grade: D

Meta has been in several controversies in the past decade, including the Cambridge Analytica scandal of 2018. But despite that, it remains one of the top social media companies today, owning Facebook, Instagram, Thread, and Whatsapp. That gives Zuckerberg’s empire deep access to data from social media users around the world.

Information They Collect

Since Meta owns several social media apps, they know a ton about their users personally, from the people you interact with to the groups you’re in. They even pull data from your “private” messages. Meta knows exactly when you log on, for how long you’re logged in, and what comments, shares, and transactions you’ve made in that time.

Meta’s social media platforms host a wealth of personal information, most of which you enter yourself. The company keeps your name, phone number, payment information, email address, contact info from devices, as well as your stored videos and photos. Plus, they’ll keep the metadata of your photos and files.

Just about every unique device identifier is collected by Meta. They can tell every detail about your device from the specific model phone you use to your cellular carrier.

In terms of activity, Meta keeps track of your connections and networks, messages, content, and videos watched, along with how you interact with different content and advertisements. They also use cookies to track what you do on third-party sites, such as if you make a purchase. This allows advertisers to assess the profitability of their ads.

To figure out your location, Meta uses sensor data from your device. They also log any other information they can collect from your phone such as data about your Wi-Fi network, cell towers, and nearby Bluetooth devices.

Meta doesn’t find data about you through publicly accessible sources, as they have all the data they need entered by users themselves. However, they do collect information from their third-party marketing partners and advertisers.

Why They Say They Collect Your Data

What does Meta do with the data of billions of people? Well, they personalize and improve their products. For instance, they suggest groups you might be interested in and show you businesses in your current location. However, that’s not the primary purpose. The real use of the data is targeted ads. Ever wondered why that concert you just looked up shows up everywhere you look on Facebook? That’s why.

Third-Party Sharing Policies

Meta makes the majority of its money through its advertisers, so of course, they provide them with a ton of your data, aggregated so businesses can easily see the demographics of their customers and would-be customers. So while they can’t see a list of exactly who clicked on their ad, they can see that a woman, aged 24, who lives in California, interacted with it, for example. Meta also provides data to researchers and academics, as well as law enforcement agencies, if requested.

Amazon Data Collection

Grade: B-

What is there to say about Amazon that hasn’t been said about a fictional monopolizing corporation in a dystopian novel about a near-future? The biggest e-commerce website in the country and one of the largest businesses in the world, to say Amazon has disrupted retail would be like saying that the Model T disrupted the horse and buggy. And Amazon isn’t just selling you products and services; they’re also collecting your data, selling it to their third-party marketplace sellers like Starbucks, OfficeMax, Verizon, and Eddie Bauer. Let’s take a closer look.

Information They Collect

Beyond the obvious such as your searches, orders, reviews, and videos you watch on Prime, Amazon also tracks your IP address, browser type, and other identification data. They log your location and collect additional data such as your mobile carrier when you use a mobile device as well. If you finance a purchase on Amazon, they can even log your credit history. It seems like a lot, but is actually less than most social media sites, at least in terms of personal information.

Amazon knows your name, if you give it to them, your username, password, phone number, payment information, shipping address, and email. These are all pretty standard and necessary for Amazon’s services, but I was surprised to find that they include provisions to store your social security and driver’s license numbers. If you use their Amazon Photos or other cloud storage services, they’ll also log anything you upload.

In the past, Amazon only logged your IP address, browser type, and operating system. That was minimal compared to most other companies. However, they’ve since caught up and now log most device identifiers aside from interactions with other apps. This allows them to recognize you by your device even if you sign out of your account.

Amazon logs just about everything you do on their site. They keep track of every search you make, review you’ve written, your browsing history, and even the videos you watch on Prime. If you call them for customer support, they log your phone number, too.

>> Read More: The Best VPN Services for Amazon Prime Video in 2026

That being said, they are aware of your location via GPS and sensor data from your device. With that information, they can also identify which time zone you’re in. However, unlike Google and Meta, they do not collect additional information about things near your device, such as nearby bluetooth-enabled devices.

To fill in the blanks, Amazon sources data from third-party marketing partners, advertisers, and even your credit history from credit bureaus.

Why They Say They Collect Your Data

Amazon makes its money pretty differently from social media companies like Meta and X, or even search engines like Google. You might think most of their money comes from purchases on their marketplace. However, where Amazon makes most of their money is through Amazon Web Services (AWS). That means, their revenue does not rely on selling user data, although they still collect a surprising amount to help marketplace sellers target their ads on the platform.

Third Party Sharing Policies

Since Amazon works with millions of Marketplace sellers, your information is shared with many third parties, from service providers like delivery men and marketing assistants to companies they co-brand products with like AT&T, Sprint, and Northern Tool + Equipment. And while Amazon might send you promotional offers on behalf of other businesses, they don’t give them your name and address, and you can opt-out if you would like to. Basically, if it involves information going to third parties, Amazon lets you opt-out.

Apple Data Collection

Grade: A+

Apple is known as the best large tech company for privacy, and their policy definitely confirmed that. And that’s fortunate because I frankly can’t imagine my life without their products. Of course, I still use a VPN for my MacBook Pro and a VPN for my iPhone, but it’s more to avoid the data collection from the other companies on this list. That said, Apple does collect some data, so let’s dig into those specifics.

Information They Collect

Apple collects your personal information like your name, email address, IP address, location, and payment information. They also keep track of obvious things like your language, zip code, search queries (although they won’t be associated with your IP address), and how you use their devices and apps.

As far as your personal information goes, Apple doesn’t keep much. They only store necessary information such as your name, phone number, payment information, shipping address and email.

Apple knows your IP address, device type, and operating system, which makes sense as they’ve manufactured the device itself. While it’s scary to think what someone can do with your IP address, Apple encrypts all personally identifiable information to keep it safe. They also collect crash reports to improve their products and services.

Apple stores by far the least amount of your activity data, logging only your search terms and the time, frequency, and duration of your activity.

They’ll also know your Time Zone for the clock as well as GPS information from your device.

Apple is the only of these large tech companies to not source any information about you from publicly accessible sources. However, they may use third-parties to verify information you provide to them such as the address associated with your credit card when making purchases.

Why They Say They Collect Your Data

Apple collects your data to improve their products, services, content, and ads, to keep your account secure, to authorize users, prevent fraud, and if you apply to work at Apple, to evaluate you, which is something I hadn’t seen on any other privacy policy.

Third-Party Sharing Policies

Apple emphasizes that your personal information will never get “shared with third parties for marketing purposes,” which is a total breath of fresh air in a city of smog. Rather, Apple shares your data with customer service, delivery people, or any matter of legal necessity or public importance. Although Apple certainly isn’t a perfect company, they hold a strong history of protecting their user’s data even against requests from the FBI.2 In our opinion, that’s worth the premium price of their products.

X (Twitter) Data Collection

Grade: C-

Just like life, X is what you make it. While I use it to follow comedians, Bravolebrities, and the occasional journalist, some people use it to promote their businesses, livestream sports games, or harass movie stars. Whatever you use it for, here’s how much of your data X keeps, and what they do with it after.

Information They Collect

Aside from your basic account information, location information, and privacy settings, X also collects your direct messages and private communications, cookies, and the content you view on third-party websites. However, they’ll never associate your web browsing history with any information that can identify you without your consent. A small caveat: if you’re on a browser that X thinks is in the European Union or European Free Trade Association, they will not collect any X for Web data.

They’re pretty lax on personal information, keeping only your name, username, password, phone number, and email address. If you pay for any services on X, they can also store your payment information. Similarly, they store videos and photos along with its associated metadata if you upload them to the platform.

X logs many unique identifiers including your IP address, browser and device type, carrier name, and operating system. They even attempt to determine which devices you own that you use when browsing X.

In terms of your activity, X keeps track of your messages, content, the videos you’ve watched, your views and interactions with content and ads, plus video and audio information, if audio features are used. They’ll keep track of the time, frequency, and duration of your activity on X as well as the people you communicate and share content with.

You might be surprised that X tracks your activity on third-party sites and apps through cookies. This is becoming a common practice for sites that sell advertisements. If X thinks you’re in the European Union or a state in the European Free Trade Association, you can opt out of this tracking. You can make X think you’re in the EU by using one of the best VPNs.

X logs the time zone you’re in as well as GPS information from your phone. In the settings of most phones, you can prevent X from accessing your GPS data to prevent this data collection.

Finally, X collects additional data from third-party marketing partners and advertisers on the platform.

Why They Say They Collect Your Data

According to X, they collect your data to scan for malicious content and spam, verify that you are who you say you are, help you find people to follow, protect the integrity of the platform, identify your interests, and personalize ads. If you browse X regularly, you’ve likely noticed that they’re experiencing a significant problem with bots.3 They’re still working on solving this issue, partially by using user data to identify suspicious accounts.

Third-Party Sharing Policies

Of course, X shares your data with advertisers, service providers, law enforcement, and the government, if necessary. When it comes to advertisers, you can control which device identifiers they can see as well as your interests and characteristics. However, your name, phone number, X username, and email won’t be shared with advertisers, which is nice because I’ve never heard anyone say “I wish I got more emails”.

Recap

It’s safe to assume that if you’re using a device that uses the Internet, then you’re producing data, and that data isn’t just floating around in cyberspace. Rather, it’s being monetized by the company that made the device and the companies that they sell your data to.

With privacy concerns associated with identity theft becoming more public, companies are starting to give you more control over your data. However, they still try to collect as much as they can to increase the value of their ads and services. While I can’t say that I’m thrilled with how much every move is being monetized, when it comes to big data, I choose to be cautiously optimistic. To learn more, read the data privacy laws in your state.