But people from around 25 years ago (and to this day) have always been accustomed to this "form of spying". If you walk into a store you are typically followed around by the store staff who are always there to help you in case you aren't able to find something you are looking for. Technically this is a "form of spying". But we do not protest. We instead label it "hospitality". Once you become a "returning visitor" to the store, the store staff get to know you really well and treat you like a VVIP. This is nothing but analytics in the real world. It just so happens that the information collected about you isn't as structured as the virtual world.

I guess by conflating multiple terminologies into one basket we are probably doing ourselves a bit of disservice.