Get All Access for $5/mo

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

Frequently covers crowdfunding, the sharing economy and social entrepreneurship.

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

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

Editor's Pick

Most Popular

See all
Fundraising

Working Remote? These Are the Biggest Dos and Don'ts of Video Conferencing

As more and more businesses go remote, these are ways to be more effective and efficient on conference calls.

By Bryan Lovgren
Growing a Business

The Best Way to Run a Business Meeting

All too often, meetings run longer than they should and fail to keep attendees engaged. Here's how to run a meeting the right way.

By Jacqueline Whitmore
Business News

Some Costco Items Might Be More Expensive If You're Buying Online Rather Than in Store — Here's Why

Shoppers noticed a price difference on some big-ticket items.

By Emily Rella
Starting a Business

How to Find the Right Programmers: A Brief Guideline for Startup Founders

For startup founders under a plethora of challenges like timing, investors and changing market demand, it is extremely hard to hire programmers who can deliver.

By Vasily Voropaev
Science & Technology

Cyber Attacks Are Inevitable — So Stop Preparing For If One Happens and Start Preparing For When One Will

Cyber resilience is not just about building walls of protection but also having the resilience to bounce back stronger. This article explains why embracing resilience should be a top priority for businesses to ensure continuity in the ever-expanding cybersecurity landscape.

By Rakesh Soni
By Emily Rella