Actually, all of the projects that you mentioned that were purchased (Android was developed in house), had their policies changed when they were absorbed by Google.

Google - like most companies - has reserved the right for all of those services to use and meter those services as they feel necessary. Whether or not you've noticed the effect is irrelevant to the fact that the privacy aspect does matter.

BTW: I remember reading this weekend about Google Dashboard where it was supposedly said by someone at Google that people don't value their privacy, hence why Google can offer services for little to no cost, and pretty much mine information to their hearts content.

If people really cared, they'd log into the Google Dashboard, and ask the hard question of "how does the information in all f these services feed Google's pockets - and how can I make intelligent decisions about which services I wish them to log such data and which not?"

People don't ask. Therefore privacy isn't an issue. And is altogether a conversation about an illusion that has never existed except in the minds of those that refuse to open their eyes to life beyond dreaming.