Governments can however.

And with Apple they have a demonstrated history of protecting privacy at any cost. Google not so much.

Umm...

https://www.google.com/transparencyreport/userdatarequests/l...

http://images.apple.com/privacy/docs/government-information-...

There's not that much difference between what the two of them provide to governments as a response to legal requests.

Also note that Apple continues to operate in China while Google refused to cooperate with the government there and gave up huge business potential in that country.

Sure, there's a chance for government abuse of my data, no argument. There are also significant benefits to me for sharing with Google. For me (and I suspect for most Americans), the real benefits exceed the likely costs.

I worry far more about things like getting into a car wreck, falling in the shower, and my crappy diet.