What Is the Government Really Collecting From Your Phone? [INFOGRAPHIC]

Now that the entire world knows that the US government is collecting information from its citizens’ phones, you have to wonder how agencies like the NSA and Homeland Security plan to use that info. Are they really tracking down terrorists, or are they just trying to get a leg up on companies that use the Internet to offer you low-priced products and services?

Pull out your Google Nexus 4 and take a look at your call and browser histories. That’s the easiest way to see how the government will use your info most effectively. Assuming that you’re a regular person who just calls her friends and shops for typical things online (in other words, you buy WAY more blouses than bombs), the government doesn’t need to monitor you to stop terrorist attacks. Then again, you make a good source of information that could help the government hone its profit-making connections.

We’re happy to go about our merry lives thinking that spies aren’t actually wasting tax dollars on us. Yeah, some of us called our moms five times yesterday. It was a rough day. How is that any of the NSA’s business?

Finally, the truth has come out. The federal government wants to gather information to prevent terrorist acts, but it also wants to use that information to improve its customer services and find good employees who know how to spy on their neighbors without opening their big mouths and running off to Hong Kong for protection. Yeah, we’re talking to you, Edward Snowden.

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That’s why we want to take a look at some of the 7 top reasons that the government really wants to collect your information. Come on, that overdue parking ticket doesn’t make you a terrorist. But there are good reasons for the government to keep track of your phone’s activities.

If you think the government is stupid, then just wait until you see what it plans to do with your personal data.

What you learn might surprise you!

[Infographic by: Philip Cohen]