Slow, ‘Relentless’ Data Accumulation ‘Most Prevalent' Privacy Threat, Says EFF

Many consumers “are familiar with the most blatant privacy-invasive potential of their devices,” reported the Electronic Frontier Foundation Monday. “Every smartphone is a pocket-sized GPS tracker, constantly broadcasting its location to parties unknown.” But these better known “surveillance channels” aren't “the most threatening to our privacy,” said EFF. “The unsettling truth is that although Facebook doesn’t listen to you through your phone, that’s just because it doesn’t need to. The most prevalent threat to our privacy is the slow, steady, relentless accumulation of relatively mundane data points about how we live our lives.” Trackers can “assemble data about our clicks, impressions, taps, and movement” and convert them “into sprawling behavioral profiles,” said EFF.