It's because that private corp is so big that it is starting to control much of the internet and devices so this is an issue very much in the public purview.

It's not as simple as take it or leave it. The corp in question spends billions to insinuate itself into your life, make you dependant, eat competition, and then you can take it, but you definitely can't leave it.

Its time for google to be broken up.

Yes, either you take it, or leave it. Imagine everyone leaving google today. They can't make money. People made them rich, people can take them down. If genpop doesn't understand, you have to find your own ways to navigate thru the internet because google won't go away anytime soon.

I would love to hear your opinion about how to take google down, without making people "leave it".

You're right, but the percentage of Google users aware of how evil they are is probably less than 0.5%.

An overwhelmingly large percentage of users won't care about what could happen as long as nothing happens directly affecting them. Mass surveillance companies like Google, Facebook know this and take advantage of it.

Technology activists aren't strong enough to start a wave that would lead to people abandoning these evil corps..

Also, as others mentioned, they eat up all competition.. so there aren't really any good options left apart from Google products in areas they compete.

Please don't insult people for caring about privacy.

That is a false dilemma, because there are more than two choices. To many of us, the third option is the one we choose.

It's odd that Google Maps and Google Assistant both have different methods and rules for the storage of home and work locations.

tl;dr: Yes, but you might have to jump through some hoops

Maybe it's because they created a situation where it's nearly impossible to avoid "their" software because it's integrated into the product the user actually paid for.

If you buy an Android phone you don't buy bare metal. That's not how Android phones are marketed and it's not how Google wants Android phones to be perceived. An Android phone is a device with Google Play, Google Maps and Google Search integrated into the operating system and providing core services. That's how Google wants you to think about Android and it's in their best interest for you to do so.

From a customer point of view, Google Maps is part of the Android device's core functionality. From a marketer's point of view, it's the same. From Google's point of view, it's also the same.

But although Google Maps itself has great offline functionality and in theory only needs online access for map data, traffic information and optimised routing, Google plays bait and switch by demanding you consent to being spied on in order to actually use it.

Sure, it's their software and they can do what they want but customer rights exist, privacy rights exist and competition law exists. They're being intentionally deceitful and maliciously abuse their position to coerce users into giving consent for providing Google with far more data than they need to provide the service.

In the last 18 months, Google transitioned from being a 'build products people will use to enhance their daily lives' company (with Google profiting immensely but for the enhancement of humankind) to a company that is nonchalant in the sale of human data, often to the detriment of their users' experience

I do think Google Maps is the best, but the choices exist, and for some cases they work even better.