Like most privacy policies (I'm certainly not saying Google is unique here), they include phrases such as:
> We collect information to provide better services to all our users
Which is vague to the point of uselessness. Google could argue that pretty much any purpose they put that information to is to provide better services to all their users.
This sort of thing is why I ignore privacy policies. They tend to have quite a lot of verbiage of that sort. Even when they appear to solidly say they won't do something, often there's wording elsewhere that provides an exception.
The only way I'd put any stock in a privacy policy is if I have my attorney review it and explain to me what it really says (not being a lawyer, I am not capable of adequately interpreting contracts). Since it's entirely unrealistic to have an attorney review every privacy policy, the safest approach is to assume that they allow the company to do whatever they wish in the end.
And that's all assuming that companies put any real effort to adhering to their privacy policies.
> We collect information to provide better services to all our users
Which is vague to the point of uselessness. Google could argue that pretty much any purpose they put that information to is to provide better services to all their users.
This sort of thing is why I ignore privacy policies. They tend to have quite a lot of verbiage of that sort. Even when they appear to solidly say they won't do something, often there's wording elsewhere that provides an exception.
The only way I'd put any stock in a privacy policy is if I have my attorney review it and explain to me what it really says (not being a lawyer, I am not capable of adequately interpreting contracts). Since it's entirely unrealistic to have an attorney review every privacy policy, the safest approach is to assume that they allow the company to do whatever they wish in the end.
And that's all assuming that companies put any real effort to adhering to their privacy policies.