"been forced" part is definitely true for Firefox and Thunderbird packages. Snap packages takes precedence over deb package, if I remember it correctly.
Do you still the have the link to news article where it was reported?
Earlier I was using Pi-Hole on my network then switched to AdGuard Home (not same as AdGuard DNS) as it is an open source product with in-built DOH support (yes, I can setup Pi-Hole to do the same, but that's an extra manual configuration) and Privacy Guide seems to recommend it over Pi-hole.
After reading your post, I tried to lookup more about it. Nothing on Wiki. Closest thing is this. If the allegations are true then I need to switch back to Pi-Hole.
scroll down to 'Leave this browser tab open or embed a web badge on your website' section
toggle 'Enabled' button
and leave the browser running.
Note: Browser needs to have WebRTC enabled to make it work.
I'm personally running Snowflake container on docker on my little Raspberry pi 24/7.
And, yes, in 2023 most of the connection to my bridge was from Iran.
This is how I explained it to one of my friends who is/was definitely a member of “I’ve got nothing to hide” club -
Suppose you are in a pay-to-use toilet minding your own Business.
That pay-to-use toilet is managed by a public/private entity called ToiletBook.
Suddenly you notice a (hidden) camera in the room.
When confronted, the owner confirms the only reason they took your picture to suggest you the perfect underwear based on your size. And, there is a legal guarantee that picture/data will never be used for any other purpose and only be processed by machine.
Will you still go to such toilet?
BTW, that friend stopped talking to me afterward; not sure why 🤔
(Edit: I should stop giving shitty examples to anyone, as it seems ) 🤐
Back in '50s, the connection between Tobacco products and Cancer was evident.
Since '70s connection between Fossil fuel and Global warming was evident.
Yet, no one heeded those warnings at the time. With cancer rate going up, and climate becoming increasing unpredictable/extreme, people now started to take notice.
With so much information to process, Human brain ignores information that doesn't have a clear relation to a significant real world problem that immediately impacts their lives. This makes us intelligent (at short term) and dumb (at long term) at the same time.
Using a service at free of cost (at the expense of your privacy) is acceptable by majority of population as it has no significant real world impact on their lives.
If tomorrow, a huge data leak from these imbecile data hoarders leads to massive transaction fraud/identify theft that impacts a significant percentage of population and their daily lives, only then there will be massive outrage that you expect.
Till then, we are the only one who escaped the Matrix, while rest embraced it.
I'm afraid that protection might not last long.
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/brave-to-end-strict-fingerprinting-protection-as-it-breaks-websites/