[kortilla]

> Google sells user data, but that isn't true; user data is only used for ad personalization.

That is selling user data. It’s just got a layer of bullshit in between.

As long as Google offers ways to target ads at specific demographics, they are selling that demographic indicator about you whenever you click on one of those ads.

[SquareWheel]

If your data isn't being sold, then no, they're not selling user data. That's changing the meaning of language to make it sound worse than it really is.

You might argue that this data is being leaked, but that isn't clear either. Ads work on an auction system, and there's no guarantee that a user clicking an ad meets a demographic. You'd need to make a case that user data can be accurately built from buying ads alone.

Even if you could prove that, that's _still_ different than the claim that Google is selling user data directly.

[kortilla]

> If your data isn't being sold, then no, they're not selling user data.

That’s just phrasing to attempt to weasel out of the fact that it’s selling the ability to derive the user data. It’s effectively the same thing with a layer of indirection.

> Ads work on an auction system, and there's no guarantee that a user clicking an ad meets a demographic.

Auction system is irrelevant. Unless Google is ignoring your target demographic and keywords entirely, they are selling you a stream of traffic that matches that demographic on average.