Even worse still, if you don’t allow them this intrusive data, they remotely brick the device you own.

It doesn’t appear that anything is being done about this.

Something has already been done about this: https://valetudo.cloud/

The "iLife" robot in the article is based on the 3irobotix CRL-200S, a "white label" unit that a bunch of brands sold as their own, up to and including Xiaomi, Viomi, Conga, Cecotec, Proscenic, and even Wyze. I have the Wyze version (the only one sold in the US), which will be getting Valetudo, but I kinda bricked it while attempting to root it. Luckily the motherboards are cheap, I picked up a "new" one for $15. Just waiting for it to show up.

It's a tidal wave. It's very hard to stop. The wave consists of about a trillion variables all pointing in the wrong direction.

iAmYourLife

"we didn't do it because it was easy, but because we though it would be easy"

Why do it the easy way, when you can do it the fun way?

To quote the inventor of the Steam Brick:

Because I was so preoccupied with whether or not I could that I didn't stop to think if I should.