It most definitely changes the substance. From Google being the perpetuator of the said privacy problem, it becomes a participant that is legally bound to participate by YOUR legal system.
Disclaimer: Googler.
DDG doesn't do that. It's a participant in the same legal system.
I think if you met Eric you'd realize he's just another hacker who ended up becoming a CEO. If he was posting here, he would be indistinguishable from most people in terms of his views, concerns, etc.
It sounds like you're saying that the first part of the quotation doesn't accurately describe Schmidt's views on privacy. I don't know him, but, sure, most people have more than one sentence's worth of opinion on most issues. :)
[1] http://www.pcworld.com/article/252514/hey_employers_my_faceb...
If he wanted to make your point unambiguously, he could/should have left off the first sentence.