TL;DR

Imagine the apps
just sent you a message.

They don't. But they could. Because they already know it all — based on what apps are legally allowed to collect about you. Lena is fictional. The data behind it is not.

Logos of TikTok, WhatsApp, Instagram and Spotify — TikTok, WhatsApp, Instagram and Spotify, the apps from Lena's day.

March 2026 All information with sources

What you're seeing: Fictional but realistic example data — what it might look like if Spotify, Xiaomi, TikTok and Meta simply wrote to you about what they know. Every data point is verifiable. Only the numbers are made up — because no one knows your real numbers except the companies themselves.

Your inbox

Spotify · Your Weekly Recap

Lena, we noticed something

Di, 23:47

Hey Lena,

you've been listening to a lot of Raye lately. Mostly in the evenings, between 9:30 PM and midnight. Often on repeat — the same song, multiple times in a row.

Based on that, we thought this playlist might suit you: "Late Night, Soft Feelings". Other users with similar patterns have been listening to it a lot recently.

— Your Spotify Team

What's behind it

What Spotify tracks

Time & repetitions: Spotify stores when you listen to what and how often — including whether you have a song on repeat.

Device & location: Which device, which network, approximate location — all captured and used for advertising.

Even without Premium: The data feeds into personalised advertising — regardless of whether you have a subscription or not.

Xiaomi Health · Your Week

Everything okay with you?

Do, 08:12

Hey Lena,

on the night from Wednesday to Thursday you barely slept — just 2.5 hours, lots of restlessness. On Wednesday evening around 8:15 PM your heart rate briefly jumped to 112 bpm while you were sitting still.

Are you okay? If you'd like, check out the breathing exercises in the app.

— Your Xiaomi Health Team

What's behind it

What fitness trackers store

Heart rate & sleep: Xiaomi, Fitbit and others store heart rate, sleep phases, stress levels and steps — continuously, around the clock.

Data sharing: According to their terms, this health data can be used for "product improvement" or shared with third parties.

Location & movement: GPS data from workouts and location histories are also stored — often even without actively using the fitness features.

Your year in review

TikTok · Your 2025

Recap 2025

Your year on TikTok

Lena, here's your year.

312 h

Time on TikTok 2025

= 13 days straight

23:14

Your most active time

1.247×

Feed recalibrated

every time you scroll

847×

App opened

avg. 22 min per session

2.103×

Phone put down — video kept playing

389×

Sound muted — video kept playing

⌨

743

Characters typed in in-app browser, never sent

94×

Same video watched in full multiple times

Your top topics 2025 — determined from your scroll behaviour

True Crime Mental Health Sleep & Recovery Relationships DIY Comedy

What's behind it

What TikTok tracks

Accelerometer: TikTok records device movements — even when you put it down while a video is playing. Stated in TikTok's own privacy policy.

⌨

Keystroke patterns: In the in-app browser, TikTok records what you type — even if you never send it. Documented by security researchers in 2022, confirmed by TikTok.

Location via IP: When you open the app your approximate location is captured — regardless of whether you've granted location access.

Scroll behaviour: You never choose your topic categories yourself. TikTok derives them to the second from your behaviour — the entire time.

Meta · Year in Review

Your connections 2025

WhatsApp & Instagram

Lena, here's your year.

WhatsApp Metadata · no content

14.320

Messages sent

22:30

Most active time

4.821

Messages with contact #1

Linked devices

Your phone · your laptop · a PC 5 km from your flat

Every device leaves an IP address, browser type and location — even after you've long since logged out.

Instagram Behaviour · not just content

33 Min

avg. daily on Instagram

78%

Reels watched in full

4,2 Sek

avg. dwell time per post

247

Posts saved

580

Characters typed · never sent

Story drafts deleted · temporarily on Meta servers

What's behind it

What Meta captures

⏱

WhatsApp metadata: Message content is encrypted — but when you write, how often, to whom and from where is stored as metadata and passed to Meta.

Linked devices: Every device you connect to WhatsApp Web leaves an IP address, browser type and location — according to WhatsApp's Privacy Policy.

⌨

Unsent text: Instagram and Facebook capture text in the input field even without sending. Documented by security researcher Felix Krause (2022).

Deleted drafts: According to Meta's Privacy Policy, story drafts are temporarily stored on Meta's servers — even if you never published them.

That was Part 1.

What they do with it →

Insurance. Job applications. Entry bans. Based on verifiable practices.

Imagine the appsjust sent you a message.

Imagine the apps
just sent you a message.