You may be onto something but I'm not completely sure it's about connecting with others. After all, they aren't aware of the person watching them.
I think it's really about morbid curiosity. Curiosity is also what drives demand for reality shows like Big Brother. While that particular show is now longer very popular, the genre has gone nowhere. What could be kinkier (in a non-sexual sense) than watching some hapless individual going about doing normal things in the privacy of their homes. Whoever peers into the lives of others in this manner is also violating a taboo while believing to have no chance of getting caught.