Web3 reveals your digital breadcrumbs

A smartwatch can record changes in heart rate, a connected car can log a journey, and a smart TV may identify the programmes being watched. Each activity can leave a digital breadcrumb about a person’s habits, movements and preferences.

Now, a new free interactive website, Your Day in Data, lets people explore how those digital breadcrumbs accumulate throughout an ordinary day.

The website was developed by the Web3 Foundation, an organisation that supports research and technologies aimed at giving internet users greater control over their personal information.

The experience draws on the Foundation’s Everyday Surveillance research report, published on 28 September 2026. Researchers created six model households in the United Kingdom and United States, then examined privacy policies, technical documentation and other published evidence to investigate what information could be collected or processed during everyday activities.

Rather than monitoring real people, the research estimates potential data collection based on the technology and services used by these fictional households. The interactive website lets visitors explore those findings through scenarios resembling their own circumstances.

Following the digital trail

Visitors begin by answering six questions about their household and technology habits.

The first asks whether they want to compare themselves with the UK or US research. This choice determines which country’s household scenarios are used, rather than asking where the visitor lives. South Africans, for example, can therefore use the tool, although the research does not include local households.

Users then select their household structure and age group before answering questions about regular car travel and whether they wear a smartwatch or fitness tracker.

The final question covers connected household technology, including smart TVs, streaming devices, voice assistants, video doorbells, security cameras and smart meters.

The website uses household structure and age to match visitors with the closest of the six research profiles. Answers about travel and connected devices personalise the illustrated daily routine without changing the study’s underlying figures.

Once matched, visitors can explore a series of findings showing where information could be collected or processed throughout a typical day, including the organisations potentially involved.

The results reveal the estimated time required to read the privacy policies, notices and related documents associated with the matched household. Visitors can see the number of documents, total words and reading time expressed in hours and eight-hour working days.

Users can browse the findings individually, copy their results or try different answers to explore another scenario. The Foundation says questionnaire responses remain within the visitor’s browser.

How much data can a day generate?

The research illustrates how seemingly minor digital interactions can add up.

For one modelled UK working adult, researchers identified approximately 271 potential data collection or processing events during a single day, involving 68 organisations.

Television viewing provides a striking example. Some smart TVs use automatic content recognition (ACR), a technology that identifies what appears on screen and can help advertisers understand viewing habits.

With ACR enabled, the research estimates that three hours of television viewing could generate around 21,600 observations of on-screen content. The technology raises privacy questions about how smart TVs collect and use viewing information.

The study examined the amount of privacy documentation associated with everyday digital services. For a modelled UK family, researchers identified 257 privacy policies, notices and related documents containing approximately 1.18-million words.

Reading everything would require around 83 hours, equivalent to more than ten eight-hour working days. The estimate covers documentation associated with the family’s devices and services, rather than material they would necessarily receive or read each day.

These figures reflect what organisations’ published policies and technical materials indicate may happen under particular circumstances. They do not establish that every possible collection activity actually occurs.

Your Day in Data does not inspect visitors’ devices, identify companies actively tracking them or block unwanted monitoring. Instead, the website illustrates how much information ordinary technology can potentially generate, giving users a reason to examine app permissions, location sharing and privacy controls on connected devices.

* Jason Bannier is a data analyst at World Wide Worx and deputy editor of Gadget.co.za. Follow him on Bluesky at @jas2bann.