[ssmoot]

Informed Consent.

When I started using Google services many years ago, it definitely didn't occur to me they could basically track you across half the web. And you don't really get much of a choice in the matter. You can actively try to avoid Google sites and they're probably not missing out on a ton.

But more importantly, my grandmother certainly doesn't have any idea what they're doing.

And to be honest, I'm not much better off. So hard to consent to something if I'm not even sure what all they're gathering, and what they're doing with it.

[georgemcbay]

"You can actively try to avoid Google sites and they're probably not missing out on a ton."

Just expanding on your point here, but of course actively avoiding Google's sites isn't nearly enough -- unless you take very specific steps to block Google Analytics callbacks, Google is going to know virtually everything you do on the web whether or not you ever use them for search or go directly to any sites they own.

[ewoodrich]

>But more importantly, my grandmother certainly doesn't have any idea what they're doing.

Great point. Users are strongly encouraged to create a Google account when they setup a new Android device, and I suspect a significant portion have little-to-no idea about how their data is used.

[aikah]

I believe you are supposed to read and agree the terms of an agreement when doing that. 99.9% of the people dont even read the TOS.Who is to blame ? the user or the corporation ? I think both parties own a bit of the problem.