In the context of mainstream news reports on big tech, the "data" they're referring to is personal, or at the very least able to cause behavioural changes on an individual level.
Journalists don't care about non-personal data ("only x% of users use the symbol insertion tool in Word 2016") - even though Microsoft certainly does - because it makes for a mundane news story.
Journalists don't care about non-personal data ("only x% of users use the symbol insertion tool in Word 2016") - even though Microsoft certainly does - because it makes for a mundane news story.