> Google keeps their data private because they've already secured their advertising/search territory. That is one possible self-interested reason for them to k

> Google keeps their data private because they've already secured their advertising/search territory. That is one possible self-interested reason for them to keep the data private. They could also just care deeply about guarding user data they collect. This could be for either selfish or unselfish reasons -- it's both good business and moral. It's very hard to tell from the outside, because their actions would look largely the same either way. Personally I think it's pretty naive to believe any company does any thing for a single reason. There are a constellation of reasons, some more important than others.