Or you could just run Debian and not have to make an online account at all. Opting out is possible, and the barriers to doing so have dropped massively as hard

Or you could just run Debian and not have to make an online account at all. Opting out is possible, and the barriers to doing so have dropped massively as hardware vendors have brought full support to Linux and software vendors like Steam have built out native support. Meanwhile Microsoft keeps shoving ads in Windows in new and interesting places while Apple forces your computer to report back to them every time you open an app (which sometimes bricks causing a litany of issues).