What are the potential security risks or vulnerabilities associated with tracking user activity in PHP?

One potential security risk associated with tracking user activity in PHP is the potential exposure of sensitive user data if the tracking mechanism is not properly secured. To mitigate this risk, it is important to ensure that any data being tracked is anonymized or encrypted before being stored. Additionally, implementing proper access controls and authentication mechanisms can help prevent unauthorized access to the tracking data.

// Encrypt user activity data before storing it
$encryptedData = openssl_encrypt($userData, 'AES-256-CBC', 'secret_key', 0, 'random_iv');

// Store the encrypted data in a secure database
$query = "INSERT INTO user_activity (encrypted_data) VALUES ('$encryptedData')";
// Execute the query