A story at Wired, and a timeline of the shifting policy at EFF (also check out this nifty infographic).
One of the many shady aspects is that whenever a new privacy-intruding feature is introduced, it’s activated by default, and it is our responsibility to dig it up and figure out how to deactivate it (if at all this is possible).
P.S. I was alarmed to learn that that as of now, Microsoft Docs, Yelp and Pandora have access to your profile, and remain having access even if you opt out of Instant Personalization (a new feature which, of course, is activated by default). Or that, even if you don’t share your profile information, by default your friends can.
Here’s how to opt out of instant personalization for real: Link.
Tons and Tons 