My Data Privacy Investigation#

What I Did#

I wanted to see what data big tech companies had on me, so I requested my personal data from a bunch of them. I found out that different companies collect very different amounts of information, and some were way more invasive than I expected.

How I Requested the Data#

I used a website called https://www.datarequests.org/my-requests to make my requests. This site has ready-made templates and direct links to send emails or data takeout requests to different companies. Most companies have data takeout features once you log into your account. Some companies actually tried to find my account but couldn’t because I never made one with them using that email address.

Companies I Contacted#

Successfully got my data (self-takeout):

Google LLC
Meta Platforms Ireland Limited
Discord Netherlands BV
Spotify AB
TikTok Technology Ltd.
Reddit Netherlands B.V.
Twitter International Unlimited Company
LinkedIn Ireland Unlimited Company
Twitch UK Limited Couldn’t find my account (no account existed):
WhatsApp Ireland Ltd.
Yahoo EMEA Limited
Patreon Ireland Limited
Visa Europe Services Inc.
Pinterest Europe Ltd.

Never heard back from:

Apple Distribution International Ltd.
Microsoft Ireland Operations Ltd.
Zoom Video Communications, Inc.

What I Found Out#

Google Had Way Too Much Data#

Google’s data file was huge - about 20.2 terabytes! That’s probably because of cloud storage and all their services tracking everything I do. The file was so big I gave up trying to download it all.

I realized that Google seems to store the original format of videos (4K 60fps) from my gameplay videos that I uploaded to YouTube (I upload them to save space on my PC). That explains why I got such a massive 20.2TB file.

Meta Collects Everything#

Meta (Facebook’s company) had way more data than I expected. They seem to collect and save pretty much everything you do on their apps, which was really surprising.

Spotify Was Actually Pretty Good#

Spotify had the cleanest data - they only seemed to care about what music I listened to. Their data collection felt focused on actually providing their service instead of collecting random stuff about me.

Different Companies, Different Approaches#

I noticed that companies that make money from ads (like Google and Meta) collect way more personal data than companies that I pay directly (like Spotify). It makes sense - if they’re selling ads, they need to know everything about you to target those ads.

My Privacy Habits#

I’m pretty careful online, which probably helped keep my data footprint small:

I don’t create accounts on many websites
I barely upload anything (no pictures or personal posts)
I mostly just browse and read things - like being in “read-only mode”
I keep my accounts separate instead of linking everything together
I’m honestly a bit afraid of the internet, so I don’t share much

California Privacy Rights#

I didn’t check all the companies, but some of them mentioned in their emails that California residents can opt out of having their data sold for money.

What This All Means#

This whole experience showed me that companies collect very different amounts of data depending on how they make money. The ones that rely on advertising are way more invasive than the ones I actually pay for services.

My approach of staying pretty invisible online seems to be working - several companies couldn’t even find accounts for me, which is exactly what I wanted.

I’m not planning to change how I use the internet. I like being mostly invisible to these companies, and my current habits of not sharing much and keeping accounts separate seems to be protecting my privacy pretty well.