from nokia candybars and palm pilots to having a an always on camera, microphone, location and wifi sensor controlled by foreign advertising companies

We could build things with all that tech outside of those group's control. That's what brought you here to the Fediverse isn't it?

For example I like Smart Home stuff. I've got dozens of devices I can control through my phone or automations etc around my house. My lights even. But I only like it because I control it thanks to FOSS stuff like Home Assistant. It's local. Not reliant on external servers and works exactly how I like. If you bought cheap-o wifi gadgets that all rely on 20 different apps you'd have a really shitty experience and all your data harvested and your lights not turning on because whatever company shut down.

We can take control of phone tech in a similar way. Unfortunately I doubt we will as a whole but I think it may be possible for the more technically minded to carve out a small niche in the hellscape.

More like linux in the 90s