Why Does Google Retain User Data?

In the US, no general data retention laws have been passed, though the government has mooted numerous proposals for a two-year retention requirement to combat child pornography and other ills. Fleischer suggests that Google’s behavior is proper because the government has simply “called for 24-month data retention laws.”

Interesting. Google does not need to legally retain the data, but they do so anyway. A few different reasons are mentioned inside, and they are good ones, but it doesn’t explain why they retain the data for so long.

Source: Ars Technica