Let me try to offer a correction or at least a clarification. :) First, you didn't quote this key section of Google's TOS: "You retain ownership of any intelle

Let me try to offer a correction or at least a clarification. :) First, you didn't quote this key section of Google's TOS: "You retain ownership of any intellectual property rights that you hold in that content. In short, what belongs to you stays yours." That's a significant limitation. Second, Apple's TOS is nearly word-for-word identical to the portion you excerpted above: "By submitting or posting such Content on areas of the Service that are accessible by the public or other users with whom you consent to share such Content, you grant Apple a worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive license to use, distribute, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, publicly perform and publicly display such Content on the Service solely for the purpose for which such Content was submitted or made available, without any compensation or obligation to you" (https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/icloud/en/terms.html https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/icloud/en/term...) Third, the general TOS has to be read in concert with the privacy policy and any product-specific privacy/TOS. Those exist for Google+, not sure about photos. Fourth, there's no evidence Google is doing what you suggest (ad targeting, etc.). What is happening is shared endorsements: https://support.google.com/plus/answer/3403513?hl=en&p=plus_sesetting&rd=1 https://support.google.com/plus/answer/3403513?hl=en&p=plus_... But note Apple has plenty of leeway to do what it wants: "Apple reserves the right at any time to modify this Agreement and to impose new or additional terms or conditions..." To actually read and understand a TOS/privacy policy takes some time -- so this isn't a comprehensive response. But maybe it helps...