Think about who big tech is after. Who have they attacked. YOU!!!!
They'll be able to see what you took screenshots of, what you sent to friends in iMessage, what you saved as you found truth, what you disputed as you researched politics and COVID and every other topic.
Then they blackmail you. They can plant anything and blame you. Think about it. All they have to do is plant ONE image and blame you. Then you spend the entire rest of your life fighting to get your reputation clean. If you have a security clearance YOU ARE DONE!
Apple will crush anyone they want. They will have access to everything you do. Through your Mac, through your iPhone, because of iCloud integration and backdoors you know they built into iOS and MacOS. Everything you research, everything you have posted, every site you have visited, every photo you saved, every image you edited, everything that was sent to you that you didn't even ask for, every joke, every meme. All of it can be used against you.
This is freaking madness. Apple needs to stand down. I will never give them another cent of my money. Ever. I'm almost a fanboy, but they've lost that. I have many Mac computers, 4 iPhones in the house, headphones, etc. NEVER AGAIN!!! Replacing it all. iCloud done. I'm out.
You?
Android by default is google-dominated. Most pedes get an android smartphone and then flash a custom ROM like LineageOS on it, effectively de-googling the hardware. It's really the only thing you can do at this point to claim any semblance of privacy.
A flip phone can provide plenty of data just by reporting to the cell phone towers alone, let alone everything a smartphone can do.
My phone is extremely locked down and connected to an ad-blocker at home and VPN when I'm out and about (except for when I use GPS/Google Maps). My wife's phone is not, and she is always closing popups from stupid mobile games that likely spy on people, and likely with their tacit consent because they lied and said they read the ToS.
It still freaks me out when it tells me I went to a store or restaurant in another city or state 5 years ago when I'm on holiday and pull it up in Google Maps, even though I did absolutely nothing wrong. On the flip side, that information often brings back memories that would be harder to recall otherwise.
If it's only used for targeted advertising, it really doesn't affect me.