you can even buy phones with /e/ preinstalled, which should allow the bootloader to remain locked. (i didn't verify this, but at least for some models like the fairphone it should be possible to install /e/ with a locked bootloader.)
privacy and security are not the same thing. while the article you link to recommends grapheneOS as a better alternative to protect your privacy, i am actually not sure that is the case. grapheneOS has different goals.
i already wrote about this here:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26608697
i trust that /e/ will implement any security features that are necessary to protect my privacy.
You really should!
google collects data on everyone. getting data by breaking into everyones device is not possible. there are to many devices for that. so that method is only interesting if you want to target someone specific. if i am a target then my phone is just a small part of what will be targeted. given the extremely small likelyhood of someone wanting my phone specifically, it's just not worth it to even worry about that.
Ctrl-F Lineage