Cyber Monday Sale! 50% Off All Access

How Google, Apple, Facebook and Others Use Your Personal Data (Infographic) A look at what some of the largest tech companies are doing with what they know about you.

By Catherine Clifford

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

antoniocalero.com

"Every breath you take, every move you make, I'll be watching you." The famous 1980's song by The Police might as well be the mantra for major tech companies today.

When you log onto the internet, click on a website or search a word, tech behemoths including Google, Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Yahoo are watching. They track your preferences, collect information about your online habits and develop a profile of you.

Related: Microsoft Launches New Effort to Bolster Its Startup Support

The infographic below, created by San Jose, Calif.-based retail-strategy firm Baynote, shows the type of data gathered by each of these five tech giants, the methods they use to collect your personal data and how that data is used. It also reveals the number of words in each company's privacy policy, suggesting the complexity of each agreement.

Click to Enlarge +
How Google, Apple, Facebook and Others Use Your Personal Data (Infographic)
Image credit: Baynote
Catherine Clifford

Senior Entrepreneurship Writer at CNBC

Catherine Clifford is senior entrepreneurship writer at CNBC. She was formerly a senior writer at Entrepreneur.com, the small business reporter at CNNMoney and an assistant in the New York bureau for CNN. Clifford attended Columbia University where she earned a bachelor's degree. She lives in Brooklyn, N.Y. You can follow her on Twitter at @CatClifford.

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Business News

'I Stand By My Decisions': A CEO Is Going Viral For Firing Almost All of the Company's Employees — Here's Why

The Musicians Club CEO Baldvin Oddsson fired 99 workers at once over Slack for missing a morning meeting. But there's a catch.

Business News

'Something Previously Impossible': New AI Makes 3D Worlds Out of a Single Image

The new technology allows viewers to explore two-dimensional images in 3D.

Starting a Business

Starting a Nonprofit Business

If you have a passion for a cause, starting a nonprofit could be for you.

Business Ideas

63 Small Business Ideas to Start in 2024

We put together a list of the best, most profitable small business ideas for entrepreneurs to pursue in 2024.

Franchise

Subway's CEO Steps Down Amid a Major Transition for the Sandwich Giant

John Chidsey will step down at the end of 2024, marking the close of a transformative five-year tenure.