Eric Schmidt is the kind of guy that says exactly what he's thinking, because he doesn't think you want to be lied to. This results in a lot of quotable quotes that people overreact to, but you have to moderate the quotes with actions.
A good example is the Target profiling that was on HN yesterday. Google collects your personal information to target ads to you, but they don't hide that fact. They run ads on TV and in the subway to tell you what they do, why, and how it affects you. They let you opt out of targeting. They rewrite their privacy policy to be as readable as possible. They change their privacy policy and notify you, logged in or not, on all their sites. Basically, Google wants you to use information to make an informed decision about whether or not you want to give Google your data. Compare this to Target, where they deliberately hide their targeted ads so you don't realize you're being targeted.
In the end, both Google and Target do the same thing: profile you to make advertising dollars more effective. Google tells you what they do and why. Target lies to you so you don't know you're being profiled. And then people get outraged at Google for becoming evil, even though they're the only ones that don't lie to you!
A good example is the Target profiling that was on HN yesterday. Google collects your personal information to target ads to you, but they don't hide that fact. They run ads on TV and in the subway to tell you what they do, why, and how it affects you. They let you opt out of targeting. They rewrite their privacy policy to be as readable as possible. They change their privacy policy and notify you, logged in or not, on all their sites. Basically, Google wants you to use information to make an informed decision about whether or not you want to give Google your data. Compare this to Target, where they deliberately hide their targeted ads so you don't realize you're being targeted.
In the end, both Google and Target do the same thing: profile you to make advertising dollars more effective. Google tells you what they do and why. Target lies to you so you don't know you're being profiled. And then people get outraged at Google for becoming evil, even though they're the only ones that don't lie to you!