Samsung vs Google
Side-by-side comparison of the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy of Samsung and Google.
Samsung offers meaningful privacy rights, opt-outs, portability, and some transparency, but these are offset by extensive data collection, cross-context tracking, international transfers, broad sharing with partners and advertisers, and retention that can extend for legal or statistical purposes.
Samsung’s legal posture is mixed: it collects a broad range of data across devices and services, uses tracking and ad technologies, and may share data for personalized advertising in ways that can count as a sale under some laws. On the positive side, it provides access, correction, deletion, portability, opt-out rights for U.S. residents, advance notice of material privacy changes, and clear privacy request channels.
Points of interest
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negative ●●●●● privacyVery broad data collection
Samsung collects extensive personal and device data, including payment, location, voice, keyboard, financing, and usage information, plus data from third parties. This creates a large privacy footprint across its products and services.
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negative ●●●●● privacyTargeted ads and sale sharing
Samsung uses personal data for personalized advertising and says some sharing may be considered a sale or targeted advertising under privacy laws. Users may be profiled across Samsung and third-party properties.
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negative ●●●●○ privacyCross-site tracking technologies
Samsung and third parties use cookies, pixels, beacons, device identifiers, and analytics to track usage and ad effectiveness. This can enable monitoring across websites, apps, and devices over time.
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negative ●●●●○ privacyBroad sharing with partners
Your information may be shared with affiliates, carriers, financing partners, repair partners, ad partners, and service providers. That broad ecosystem increases the number of entities handling your data.
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positive ●●●●○ privacyAccess, deletion, portability rights
Users can request access to their data, corrections, deletion, and a machine-readable copy. These rights give users practical control over information Samsung holds.
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positive ●●●●○ privacyStrong U.S. opt-out rights
U.S. residents can opt out of sale, sharing, targeted advertising, sensitive-data processing, and voice-recognition collection. Samsung also supports browser opt-out preference signals where legally applicable.
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negative ●●●○○ privacyInternational data transfers
Samsung transfers, stores, and processes personal information outside your country, including in South Korea. It says safeguards are used, but foreign laws may be less protective than your own.
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negative ●●●○○ privacyRetention can extend
Samsung says it keeps data only as long as necessary, but that period can continue for legal duties, contracts, backups, fraud prevention, or statistical purposes, and data may be anonymized instead of deleted.
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positive ●●●○○ privacyAdvance notice of changes
Samsung says it will notify users in advance of material privacy policy changes and post the updated date. This is more transparent than silent policy updates.
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neutral ●●○○○ privacySecurity not guaranteed
Samsung says it uses physical and technical safeguards, but warns that no website, transmission, or wireless connection is completely secure. Users should not assume absolute protection.
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neutral ●●○○○ termsDMCA counter-notice exposure
If your content is removed and you file a DMCA counter-notice, Samsung sends your name and contact information to the claimant, and you must consent to U.S. court jurisdiction. This mainly matters for users posting content.
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positive ●●○○○ privacyChildren under 13 protected
Samsung says its services are not directed to children and it does not knowingly collect online personal information from children under 13 without parental consent. That limits intentional child data collection.
Documents
Google provides strong user controls, export/deletion options, and explicit EEA consumer protections, but it also collects and combines substantial data across services and retains some data for extended periods.
Google’s legal terms are generally consumer-friendly in the EEA/Switzerland context, with clear disclosure of data practices, export/delete tools, EU-style rights, and a 14-day withdrawal right. At the same time, Google’s privacy policy allows extensive collection and combining of data across services, activity-based personalization and ads, long retention in some cases, and broad user-content licensing for service operation and improvement.
Points of interest
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negative ●●●●● privacyBroad data collection
Google collects account details, content, device identifiers, activity, location, and data from partners and public sources. In practice, this means a very large amount of your usage can be tied to your account or device.
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negative ●●●●○ privacyCross-service data combination
Google says it may combine data across its services and devices, and partner sites or apps using Google tools can share activity data with Google. That can make your profile more detailed than what you disclose in any single product.
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negative ●●●●○ privacyPersonalized ads and profiling
Google uses your data to personalize content and ads, including across services, unless you change settings. Users who want minimal profiling will need to actively adjust ad and activity controls.
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positive ●●●●○ privacyExport and delete tools
You can review, export, delete, and even auto-delete many kinds of account data through Google’s account controls. That gives users meaningful control over their information, though deletion can take time in practice.
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positive ●●●●○ termsEU withdrawal right
EEA consumers get a 14-day right to withdraw from the contract and receive reimbursement. This is a strong consumer protection if you change your mind soon after signing up.
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positive ●●●●○ termsLocal courts apply in EEA
For EEA and Switzerland users, disputes are governed by local law and may be brought in local courts. That makes it easier for users to enforce their rights without being forced into a distant forum.
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negative ●●●○○ privacyLong retention possible
Google keeps some data until you delete your account, and other data longer for legitimate business or legal reasons. Deletion may also lag because copies can remain on active and backup systems for a while.
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negative ●●●○○ termsContent license for operation
If you upload or share content, you grant Google a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to host, reproduce, modify, distribute, and use it to operate and improve services. This is standard for platforms, but it is still a broad permission over user content.
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positive ●●●○○ privacyNo rights reduction without consent
Google says it will not reduce your rights under the privacy policy without your explicit consent. That is a helpful limitation on future policy changes, although it applies to the privacy policy rather than all terms.
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negative ●●○○○ termsAuto-updates may install
Google may automatically install updates that address significant safety or security risks. That improves security, but it also means software behavior can change without a user prompt in those cases.
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neutral ●●○○○ termsAccount suspension rights
Google can suspend or terminate accounts for repeated breaches, legal requirements, or harmful conduct, and it says users can appeal some decisions. This is a normal enforcement clause, but it can have a major practical impact if your account is flagged.
Documents
Comparison is based on each service's published Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Read the source documents linked above before relying on any specific clause.