I believe it is more important to focus on making sure your government doesn't have the intent or ability to punish you for things you don't want to be punished

I believe it is more important to focus on making sure your government doesn't have the intent or ability to punish you for things you don't want to be punished for, rather than worrying about what the government knows about you. By "The Government" I don't mean the entity that calls itself your government, but rather the entity that has the most power. In a democracy, you have a share in that power and how it is controlled and kept in check. But in general, in a relatively democratic society, a democratically minded citizen has an incentive to make the state (legislature+executive+judicative) pretty much as powerful as possible (within reason), while at the same time controlling its intent. Because any power the government doesn't have, someone else has, and that someone likely isn't you.