In the current case, the flight requested a course change to avoid CB
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by turning the heading knob 
nothing abnormal here, obviously a routine with crew responsive and in control
On the other hand, if the A/C changes speed, altitude, course dramatically due to stall, AOA or pitot tubes malfunctions or departing the normal law then there worth to stream "heavy data"
basic position data is routine.
. Car's GPS do more than that.