I think at some point people need to assess the value that they personally place on their data. Google simplifying their privacy policy and data collection practices are primarily aimed to coincide with the recent ui redesigns across all their products. In short, its a slow transformation of a company and with it, the web.
The era of being blissfully unaware of how your data is being used is ending. Google has anticipated and recognizes this, and is therefore reacting accordingly while providing additional value to users.