First time I've ever heard of simple search, looks like a widget app and not an actual search engine. I'd recommended switching that out for something like Mojeek or Brave Search.
This would be a great thing to happen; under a Starmer gov't (and any inbound Reform administration) it is not gonna.
Also petition.parliament.uk is a tool created by Westminister to divert energy from real action to signing a petition. If you wanna get involved with doing something like this then look to and support Open Rights Group, Big Brother Watch, Privacy International etc.
It is; I would be mindful that one blurred house on a street of unblurred houses probably creates more intrigue to anyone casually looking at that street.
Search is keyword based so the words should be matched in most cases without quotes (omitting stemming here as a possibility); you cannot -"two words" but you could -blind -desire
As an owner of both a pinephone and a pinebook pro I would say don't with the phone unless you're really prepared to completely upturn everything you do with a phone. It's really not at a place where it's a simple consumer-grade device to be used in place of your current smartphone. My pine now gets used as a part of my home automation setup and it works well for that. The pinebook, however, is absolutely magnificent and I take it with me anytime I need a device I'm not so worried about losing and that crucially CAN CHARGE OFF A PORTABLE BATTERY OMG!
Isaiah Berlin's negative and positive liberty in one product