[ClumsyPilot]

I think it's obvious that they were mislead. If you allow this form of defence, then I can, on one hand, sell you a privacy product, and on the other, have my subsidiary, which knows exactly how to get around it, spy on you and sell your data. Both entities are controlled by the same holding company, their 'separateness' is legal fiction.

Its basically like insider trading. You are playing both sides.

But suppose I were to take your argument - are the entities actually separate? Is Chrome development not funded by revenue from google ads? They would not pass any kind of test for 'independance'