Data privacy has always been a hot-button issue. While some users are deeply concerned about big tech gathering telemetry under the guise of “product improvement,” others remain indifferent. With AI becoming more prevalent, user data has turned into a gold mine, making data scraping increasingly common. Most tools bury their data collection practices in lengthy terms and conditions but Perplexity is taking a surprisingly upfront approach with its upcoming browser, openly stating its intent to track your activity.
Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas recently appeared on the TBPN podcast, where he explained that one key reason behind building their own browser is to extensively track and log everything a user does even beyond the app itself. The intent is to gather vast amounts of behavioral data to fuel premium ad targeting.
Srinivas justified this by saying that many user prompts are work-related and not personal, implying there’s less sensitivity around that data. He also mentioned that Perplexity will track users’ location visits, browsing habits, website activity, and more both within and outside the browser. According to him, this level of tracking is acceptable because it allows for delivering more relevant ads.
While Perplexity’s statements on data collection may come off as unusually blunt, they echo practices that have long been standard across the internet. Major players like Google, Meta, and even Apple have relied on tracking user activity through search, location, and more for the sake of targeted advertising. This very approach has drawn scrutiny, with the U.S. Department of Justice pushing for Google to divest Chrome due to its dominance in the ad market.
Browsers serve as a goldmine for both data and revenue by enabling more precise ad targeting. That’s part of the reason OpenAI is reportedly interested in acquiring Chrome. Meanwhile, Perplexity is beginning to carve out its own space, striking partnerships with smartphone manufacturers like Motorola to bring its AI assistant deeper into the Android ecosystem via Moto AI.
Data scraping regulations remain murky, often blurring the lines between privacy and copyright infringement. The recent controversy involving Ghibli images highlights how easily trust in big tech can erode. Much of this stems from the lack of clear boundaries in current privacy laws, leaving room for AI companies to operate in gray areas. As AI assistants become more integrated into our daily lives, it raises an important question: how much of our privacy are we truly willing to trade for the sake of convenience?
Update — Perplexity CEO Responds: Aravind Srinivas has clarified that his comments were taken out of context by TechCrunch. He explained that the discussion about tracking user activity across and outside the upcoming Perplexity browser was in response to a hypothetical question posed during the podcast. According to Aravind, his point was about the importance of developing memory and personalization features if the goal is to serve relevant ads.
He further added that users will have three choices — no memory storage, memory without ads, and memory with ads. However, he emphasized that the third option isn’t being considered at the moment and likely won’t be anytime soon. Instead, Perplexity plans to prioritize the second option for now.
What’s your take on Perplexity aiming to track user activity across the board? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
