Arguably, that operating system is open source, and at the least, decently vetted. If you disable spyware like Google Play Services, it's likely to be reasonably safe. On the other hand, routing data through Google's servers is a distinctly different proposition.
And arguably logging everything that goes over a VPN doesn't increase the value of ads for someone that's already using you for search and email. What gain would there be there?
> Arguably, that operating system is open source, and at the least, decently vetted
The one provided pre-installed by Samsung and Verizon. Right.
> If you disable spyware like Google Play Services, it's likely to be reasonably safe.
Ah, so we're going with the "well it feels safer" school of computer security.
Do you work for Google? I don't know how you can actually argue that sending all of your traffic through Google's servers won't give them more chances to look at the traffic you are sending them.
"The one provided pre-installed by Samsung and Verizon. Right."
For the average user, yes. Developers can go deeper and install a version that's not just binary blob installed on your phone.
