[ad404b8a372f2b9]

No, spying does not require malicious intent. If you look through your neighbours' blinds every night, just to ensure they're doing well, you're still invading their privacy and spying on them. By definition spying is to collect information furtively, which I think qualifies the behaviour of all internet trackers as 90% of the population is unaware of their existence and 99% of the population doesn't know the extent of their consolidated online profile. The uncontrolled collection of data is itself harmful, that's why the GDPR requires companies to justify the pieces of information they collect.

[matz1]

>neighbours' blinds every night, just to ensure they're doing well

What harm does it cause ?