Very true.
I would personally consider Google and Meta, in that order, to be the absolute worst of the worst. On an individual level, if people want to reclaim any privacy at all, to begin with they need to stop using any and all Google products and services to the fullest extent practical, followed by Meta products like Facebook and Instagram. If work requires using Google or Meta services then consider using separate devices for work and everything else. Use tools, addons, extensions, and the services' own user settings to defeat the data-mining features of whatever's left. Use ad-blockers and tracker-blockers and don't feel guilty about it. If you want to support creators, send them a couple of dollars a month on Patreon - they definitely have one and that's exactly what it's for. Use a reputable VPN, all the time.
After this, move on to excising second-tier offenders like Apple and Microsoft. Use alternative programs to do all the things they do. Consider paying for an email service rather than using free email services which are all data-harvesting scams. Stop using dedicated apps when the web page works just fine. Curate and use RSS feeds for news and updates rather than letting social media and other algorithmic services decide what to show you.
Yes, it will cost some money, and the applications may not look quite as sexy, and setting things up may seem like a lot of time and effort commitment especially in the aggregate. But these are the kinds of things people have to do now in order to grant themselves a mote of privacy and freedom online. You don't have to be some anonymous masked hacker and move your activities to the dark web; you just have to stop being apathetic and be willing to live without a minor convenience or two in favor of standing by your principles.
