Etymology

datenkraken

D2A1T1E1N1K5R1A1K5E1N1

Today it means: Internet-oriented companies that have a large number of users and possess detailed personal information on them, presumably without their consent. Full definition →

German Datenkraken
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The story

  1. German · borrowed fromDatenkraken
  2. English todaydatenkraken

Borrowed from German Datenkraken, plural of Datenkrake, itself a compound of Daten (“data”) and Krake (“octopus”), invoking an imagery of such a company being an octopus having its virtual "tentacles" deeply penetrating its users' online habits.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.