Google gives you the option to download all your data stored on their servers, across all Google products [1]. Unfortunately they do not give you an option to delete all your data, but most services have facilities for bulk-deleting [2].
Every few months, I download a backup and then delete everything I can. This is a good tradeoff for me: I get to use all the great Google products, but they don't get to keep a permanent archive of all my data.
One more note: lots of people react to this with, "But what if you desperately need an email from X years/months ago?". Two answers: 1) I've been doing this for a couple years, and I've never needed an old email, and 2) I have the local backup if it's something really important.
Every few months, I download a backup and then delete everything I can. This is a good tradeoff for me: I get to use all the great Google products, but they don't get to keep a permanent archive of all my data.
One more note: lots of people react to this with, "But what if you desperately need an email from X years/months ago?". Two answers: 1) I've been doing this for a couple years, and I've never needed an old email, and 2) I have the local backup if it's something really important.
[1] https://takeout.google.com/settings/takeout
[2] http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/clear-data-google-attempt-regai...
EDIT: Formatting