I hear a lot of people saying to clean the port and I agree. I've found with usb c it's often very difficult to find something thin enough, but I've found a staple to be surprisingly good at the job
closed unless it's hot. closed gives me privacy and quiet and makes it darker, but if it's too hot having it open gives me better airflow.
It's sad that they were bought by an ad company and it's something I didn't know about. However, my data has been everywhere for years. I generally accept privacy policies knowing full well companies sell my data. It's something I think people should definitely be aware of, but when it comes to me personally I'm generally okay being a product to ad companies especially since I'd rather see ads that are interesting to me than random crap. It really is just my personal opinion though and I genuinely think people should be educated about their online privacy.
I'm loving my paid version of Nova. there's a great free version if you wanna try it out too and there's a crazy amount of customization. I'm on a Pixel 5a right now and with the Pix Material You Light/Dark icons it's quite nice. I do think the default Pixel Launcher is more polished, but Nova just has so many options that I've gotten used to enjoying.
Just because the world is negative doesn't mean everyone in it has to be too. This is the real world, and it could use more good.