What Google's terms of service say, in plain English

Fine Print Guard read Google's Terms of Service, Privacy Policy and cookie policy on 13 September 2026 and graded them F. That grade means four or more high-risk clauses. It found 6 high-risk items, 4 worth knowing, and 7 in your favour.

The high-risk clauses

• Takes broad, permanent rights to your content. The licence you give Google over what you upload is worldwide and royalty-free.
• Can sublicense your content to others. Google can pass those rights on, for example to other users so the services work as designed.
• Collects your location. The privacy policy describes how Google uses location information.
• May collect biometric data. The policy mentions biometric information.
• May access your contacts and call logs. It describes collecting call and message log information, like your phone number.
• Shares data with third parties. Content and activity can be shared in the ways the policy lists.

Much of this is normal for a service of Google's size, and the grade takes the kind of site into account. The point is to know what you've agreed to, not that you should stop using Google.

Check it yourself

Terms change. Fine Print Guard reads them fresh when you visit a site, and every finding links to the exact sentence in Google's own document, so you don't have to take anyone's word for it. Add it to Chrome for free and click its icon on any site to see its grade.

This summary is not legal advice. It reflects the documents as they read on the scan date.