I think it's the opposite. With Google's change, the sender can more accurately find out if you've opened the email, since a request to download the image will be made as soon as you open the email. However, what the sender doesn't get now is IP, location, and browser data.

Well, an appropriate solution would be to 'open, package and store' the email at the time of receipt, not reading - that may cost some resources of extra bandwidth and storage, but would provide a better functionality and permanence in case of opening that email two years later when the sending company and their servers may be out of business.