My paper was on a similar topic. You went more in-depth into Google's Privacy Policy than I did, however.

It strikes me that a lot depends on how much teeth the Privacy Policy has. If Google (or another company doing similar privacy-sensitive things on the Internet) takes privacy seriously then they'll have people and measures to stop them from being too evil. It's their motto, after all! Strict internal controls would minimize the practical impact of data aggregation, even if there's still a philosophical problem with the data being there in the first place. But we all know how slimy and amoral marketing folks are. They want to sink their talons into any possible way to deliver ads. And if they have enough political pressure within Google then the Privacy Policy doesn't really end up meaning that much because the privacy advocates will get steamrolled.

Maybe the key is to use outside pressure and publicity to keep privacy in the spotlight. It seemed to work on Facebook. On the other hand, people don't seem to get riled up about minor privacy incursions, only really egregious ones. Which means that the marketing people will be probably be able to chip away slowly and silently.

-- GavinSnyder - 29 Nov 2009