You should really investigate your biases if the first thought that comes to your mind is that Google chose flock because it thinks customers are sheep.
My first thought was birds, so perhaps I might turn that around and recommend a reciprocal investigation. Because only on further reflection did I see the darker side, and realise the likes of Google do not get to make the “oh-we-didn’t-realise-that” argument.
The nice thing about this new Google technology is that it makes it easier to fleece a flock of users, while making the users think they have privacy.
Of course Google does not think its customers are sheep. Google thinks its users are sheep. Chrome users are not the customers.