The sentence you quoted was the set up for the next sentence. The implication there was meant more for the less obvious cable subscribers. Most subscribers are unaware that they've been tracked ever since they day they switched to a digital stream. I've heard comments like yours while explaining why they keep their cable. Of course streaming services track your viewing habits. That's how they can do "Recommended for you" sections.
Interesting that you think of cable that way. What makes it a streaming service to you? Because it's IP based? Cable started as a way to deliver OTA broadcasts to people that could not receive the broadcast (typically due to terrain issues). That then grew into channels that did not actually have an OTA broadcast. Maybe it's a generational thing?
Not sure if its a generational thing or not. I'm a graybeard, if that matters, and I remember when cable TV was a brand new technology.
I think of it as streaming just because that's what it looks like. I never put any real thought into it. I didn't even realize that I thought of it that way until these comments.
My conception of this might be related to the notion of "streaming" also being a pretty old one to me. I was working on such software years before streaming services were a thing, around 1990.
This is the precise reason why I don't use streaming services.