Actually if your talking about tin foil hats and your scared of software phoning home, then avoid Google.
Oh I do... like the plague and/or a horny mother-in-law who's been blowing me kisses from across the room. 
(oooh, goody, another opportunity to bash Google) 
If Google had a grandmother it would steal her purse, take all the money out and sell it back to her (adding 20% interest) on pension day.
Yeah, it really pisses me off that I have absolutely NO Google stuff on my rig, yet every time I visit a website, there's google analytics running at page-load and collecting data on where I'm going and what I'm looking at. What's even more annoying is when page-loads are slow/held up because google analytics stuffing around and stalling while its snooping around my IP addy without my consent. Yup, that sucks big-time... that the authorities need a warrant, yet Google can invade your privacy uninvited and collect info without one.
Nope, don't like Google at all. 
