How does SineCo collect and register information for the New Alexandria project in the novel, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?

Nodes are smartphone/tablet combination devices produced by SineCo and being distributed around the world for free by the tens of thousands. The devices are ostensibly to allow the world to have greater access to information, but the devices are also designed to collect every shred of information they can about the user – from transcripts of phone calls to the dreams and fears of the user. The Nodes are the primary way that SineCo is beginning to collect and register information for the New Alexandria project.