We connected them to the internet a full decade or more before this happened.

My computer has been connected to the Internet since the 90s and it's also constantly been my computer. The trick is, run software that is free.

But it was the internet that made all the spying, profiling, and tracking possible. Before that, there was no motivation, so software was developed and sold solely on its benefits to the user.

I would say it started with Chrome and Gmail

Chrome was the first major piece of software to incorporate automatic background installation of software updates without explicit user affirmation in 2008. Now, it's everywhere. I think this was an underappreciated event in the history of software freedom.