at least I don’t have to worry about my car’s radio system being a little snitch

I feel your pain. It's nearly impossible now to buy a disconnected car, and over time, pre-connectivity cars will become old and less reliable.

I need to look out the windows/windshields to back up.

Which is getting harder on some models of hatchback where it's difficult to see out the rear window. My car is like that. My old car was a 4 dr sedan and you could easily see behind. In my new car I would not feel safe backing up without the camera due to how bad the rear visibility is. Especially in parking lots with the risk that a child below window level had run out from somewhere into my blind spot. That's what keeps me tethered to my backup camera - the fear of hitting another person I couldn't see. Otherwise I would do exactly what you are doing.

I bike whenever I can, but sometimes, I must drive.

Another problem is that on some newer cars, the "little snitch" part of the car is the same subsystem as other features of the car you need, like the directional blinkers. You rip out the snitching part, and you also lose safety features you need legally and ethically.

I hate this. All of this. I hate that the default for so many devices now, not just cars, is surveillance.