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Ordinary online activity can create a data trail that reaches beyond what you deliberately post. Some services collect information about users and non-users, combine it with other data, and use it to choose ads or content. Privacy settings can reduce particular exposures, but they cannot make you invisible or erase information already shared.
What “always watching” means in everyday digital life
It does not mean every device is literally recording everything. It means routine activity—using an app, visiting a website, watching a video, or carrying a phone—can generate information that services collect, retain, analyze, or share. Those records may include information you provide directly and data inferred from how you use a service.
A Federal Trade Commission (FTC) staff report published in September 2024 examined nine social media and video streaming companies. It described collection from both users and non-users, broad sharing, tracking technologies such as pixels, and cases in which large amounts of information could be retained indefinitely. These findings concern the companies examined; they do not establish that every app or service follows the same practices.
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A pixel is a small tracking technology that can communicate information about activity between a website and another service. Its presence does not by itself prove unlawful conduct, and an ad shown after a visit is not necessarily based on sensitive information. The report’s significance is that tracking and sharing can make the boundary between one service and another less obvious to a person using the web.
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Then-FTC Chair Lina M. Khan described the report as showing how social media and video streaming companies “harvest an enormous amount of Americans’ personal data and monetize it to the tune of billions of dollars a year.” That is Khan’s characterization of the staff report, which was based on information the agency requested from nine companies.
What can be inferred from a data trail?
A record can matter not only for what it says directly, but for what it may suggest when combined with other records. Location history and browsing activity, for example, can reveal sensitive aspects of a person’s life. The FTC’s January 2025 account of enforcement matters discussed mobile location data collected through apps, software development kits, and other suppliers, as well as audience segments built from location histories. The agency alleged that some location-based products involved visits to places such as health clinics and houses of worship. Those are agency-described cases and allegations, not proof that every broker identifies people in the same way or handles location data identically.
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A data broker is an intermediary that collects or aggregates information and may provide data or audience segments to other organizations. The path from an app or website to an intermediary and then to a buyer can be difficult for an individual to see. That makes it harder to know who holds a particular piece of information, how it was combined, or whether a setting in one account affects copies held elsewhere.
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Why privacy policies and settings can feel inadequate
In a Pew Research Center survey of 5,101 U.S. adults conducted May 15–21, 2023, 81% said they were very or somewhat concerned about how companies use data they collect. In the same survey, 73% felt they had little or no control over company-held data, and 67% said they had little or no understanding of what companies do with it.
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The survey also points to a gap between notice and meaningful understanding: 56% said they always, almost always, or often click “agree” without reading privacy policies, while 61% considered those policies ineffective at explaining companies’ data use. These are self-reported findings from 2023, not a new 2026 poll. Pew also found that 61% were skeptical that their own actions would make much difference. That is consistent with a problem of complexity and limited perceived agency, not a reason to blame individuals for accepting terms.
Could tracking affect the price or promotion you see?
In January 2025, FTC staff published initial findings about surveillance pricing: using information about a consumer or their context to tailor a price or promotion. The staff summary said inputs could include location, demographics, browsing and shopping history, online behavior, page activity, and cart activity. Depending on inputs such as location, timing, or purchase channel, a retailer could present different prices or promotions for the same product.
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The limits matter: the FTC described an initial review of documents from six named respondents, said the study was ongoing, and presented its illustrations as hypothetical. The agency also reported that the intermediaries it examined worked with at least 250 clients. These findings describe a capability and an area of inquiry; they do not establish that a particular retailer charged you a different price, or that any specific price you saw was personalized.
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Settings and account controls can reduce particular kinds of collection or exposure. Their reach varies: a control in one app may not govern information held by a separate website, platform, or broker. Nor does turning off a feature necessarily remove data already collected. Treat each action as a way to narrow a specific data trail, not as a promise of complete privacy.
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- Apps and websites: Review app permissions and available tracking controls. Limit access to information or features an app does not need for the purpose you use it for, and avoid sharing optional details when they are not useful to you.
- Accounts: Use available data access, privacy, and account deletion controls. Check what a control actually covers and whether it applies to a particular service or account; do not assume it removes copies held by other organizations.
- People-search sites: If your concern is personal information displayed in public-facing search listings, check the site’s opt-out process. An opt-out from one site does not establish that information has been removed from other sources.
- Connected devices and voice assistants: Review privacy and recording controls before enabling features, and secure devices using the options their makers provide. The FTC’s consumer privacy guidance includes resources on internet-connected devices and voice assistants.
- Health apps and children’s services: Review what information the service requests and its available privacy controls before sharing sensitive details or setting up a child’s account. The FTC hub also provides guidance on health apps and children’s privacy.
- Vehicles: Before selling or transferring a vehicle, check its instructions for removing personal information. The FTC’s consumer hub includes guidance on vehicle data.
The FTC consumer privacy hub is a starting point for resources on online tracking, people-search sites, children’s privacy, health apps, connected devices, voice assistants, and removing personal data from a vehicle. These resources address different exposure points; none should be read as a guarantee that all past or future collection will stop.
How to make a practical privacy choice
- Name the exposure you want to reduce. Decide whether your concern is location history, app permissions, public people-search listings, connected-device data, or a service account. A specific goal makes it easier to choose a relevant control.
- Use the control at the point where the data is created or displayed. Review the relevant app, account, device, or people-search site rather than assuming one general privacy setting governs all of them.
- Check the scope before relying on a change. Look for what information the control covers, whether it is reversible, and whether it concerns future collection, existing data, or both.
- Revisit the choice when your use changes. Installing a new app, enabling a voice or health feature, or transferring a connected device can create a new data exposure to review.
Privacy protections are most useful when matched to a specific data path. No single setting can control every service, intermediary, or copy of information created through ordinary digital activity.
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