Yep...
http://www.google.com/intl/en/policies/privacy/
I think one has until March 1 to opt out.
I’ve deleted everything google that I can from my computer, even my beloved google earth.
I use mapquest.com in place of Google Earth. I do believe it’s owned by yahoo, but I’m unsure. You can get the satellite view there too, and in some cases it’s better detailed. (I have seen both when looking at an integrated map on a site, basically one from google earth was embedded in a site I was on, and I compared it to the mapquest that I use). I cannot say it’s any better, we have so little privacy. But Google is certainly going to be the greater of two evils, no matter what two evils you compare.