Google's Taking Privacy Seriously

Yes, Google has -- and will have more -- of an issue with privacy, I predict.

But they're also taking privacy seriously. Their EpikOne guys point out this passage in the terms of service for using Google Analytics:

7. PRIVACY . You will not (and will not allow any third party to) use the Service to track or collect personally identifiable information of Internet users, nor will You (or will You allow any third party to) associate any data gathered from Your website(s) (or such third parties’ website(s)) with any personally identifying information from any source.

PII means any of the stuff that tells who you are -- email address, unique IP address and so on.

In plain, non-jargony English, it means you can collect data in the aggregate and find out where users go and how they behave on your site, but you can't identify them as actual identifiable human beings for your or others' purposes.