Is Google Hostile to Privacy?

A good story about a recent allegation made against the search giant. I have commented on Google's policies before.

Google was recently rated as the worst offender of privacy on the Internet, with a "hostile to privacy" rating, as opposed to "severe threat to privacy". Before I continue, I must say that "severe threat to" and "hostile to" don't seem that much different to me.

Do I think that Google currently infringes on privacy? Yes. Their data collection and retention periods for their search services is too long I think. (As I've said before, if you are willing to sign up for Google's other services like Gmail, Google kind of has to collect your data). However, I don't think Google is doing this to intentionally violate our privacy. They are using it as an asset.

Which is perhaps worse. Google is going to continue amassing this data, unbeknownst to those who use its search engine. And third-parties are going to continually try to get access to that data, which is what is really scary.