google likely has that data already, use any of thier apps, they got it, searching on google, taking pictures, emails.

I'd argue those aren't the same. ID is checked at the airport for legal entry into another country and the security is on both sides. A lot of countries don't require people to carry or present ID while walking around in their own country short of a crime having been committed.

I can't say anything for the Reddit part of what you said but I agree with Google's unethical datamining. It's no secret what Google has been doing. I remember when the tinfoil-hat-wearers were warning people about those nifty little Google speakers people were generously inviting into their homes, telling them to watch what they were saying in the general vicinity of the speakers, that Google could be using them to listen to every conversation. The naysayers said "They wouldn't do that, that'd be illegal. The speaker only listens when I say 'Hey Google' and they wouldn't be saving what I say anyway!". Lo and behold, it finally got leaked that was wrong, that the speakers were listening 24/7 and Google was keeping everything. I could be wrong but I recall something going around that Google even admitted they were keeping the recordings. Suddenly the conversation died down, there was no lawsuit for espionage or any such thing and the naysayers suddenly converted to "I've got nothing to hide, I don't care if I'm being recorded". Ignorance remains forever blissful, it would seem.

Quick note for the pedantic: No, it's not just Google. Amazon, Apple and Microsoft are doing it too. If there's a microphone in your house, be mindful of what you're saying around it; you never know how an innocuous conversation might be used against you.

The few options that exist (along with their negatives) can't be installed on my phone. N20U is still pretty much locked down.

Open source Android is a thing??? TIL that might be my solution to this long term since I sideload apps regularly.

No custom ROM on a recent smartphone technically gives you a fully open source Android system when they rely on vendor-provided proprietary blobs in order for basic hardware functionality to work at all. Unless you want to go without a modem, GPS, and likely more depending on your model, at which point it's functionally no longer a smartphone.

Open-source custom ROMs are at least far more open-source than the alternative in most of the ways that matter most, including the ability to change the code in order to remove app installation restrictions, to avoid Google's telemetry, etc.