Yes, the new Google privacy policy is coupled with another change that all new Gmail users must create a Google Plus profile. I believe the terms of Google Plus are one profile per person, so I'm wondering if this would effectively restrict you from having multiple gmail accounts from here on forward.

Also RE: the JanRain solution. I have to be honest that I wish there was an option to use something other than The BIG 4, but I see the reasoning behind your approach as far as technical simplicity and more reliable backend security. At this point all my marbles are on Twitter (though the recent news of their global censorship policy is disappointing) Wonder if OpenID or BrowserID is possible at some point for JA via JanRain.