German court orders Google to change TOS - a little late

File this under the slow march of justice. A German court just ordered Google to remove certain clauses from its terms of service because they might have given the company the ownership rights in consumer data, AP reports.

Only thing is, Google already removed those clauses, which it called "unfortunately framed," -- a year ago!

Google spokesman Stefan Keuchel said the terms had already been changed when the court released its decision to clarify that users agree to allow data they upload to be viewed and manipulated only by other users they have explicitly authorized.

The case was brought by the Federation of German Consumer Organizations because the TOS "included, in our view, several rules that could disadvantage the consumer," the group's spokesman said.

Google denies it ever interpreted the terms to give them such rights.

At no point were we allowed to look at private documents, edit them, delete them," Keuchel said. "The data users give to us belongs to the user.