Ubuntu - Right or Wrong Direction?

Hey,

So, I used to contribute to the forums (somewhat sparsely) in the way of tech support. Eventually, I got really in to PC gaming, and left Linux. Now, given that Windows 10 not only sees everything I literally say and do, and with the forced upgrade, I've ran ran back to Linux. So, glad to be back.

Introductions being out of the way, I have to be honest: Ubuntu is my favorite distro. Yes, I've ran Debian (loved the stability), Fedora (So many features), Elementary OS (very nice GUI and apps), Mint (Excellent combination of other distro's strong points), and others. However, I personally find Ubuntu to have the most polish, gaming support, and a great GUI. That being said, I do have a question: is Ubuntu, as a distro, going the right direction?

For me, it's fairly unrealistic for a company to not collect some form of your information. IP addresses have to be taken so the OS can communicate with the internet, drivers and patches have to be properly applied, so on and so forth. Ubuntu is still open source, though it is incorporating more and more proprietary software. Now, I've never been an open source purist. I just don't want my software to be borderline evil. That and the security and stability are excellent features. But, does anyone else think that Ubuntu could stand to give more privacy and be more free (as in press, not beer)? Keep in mind, Ubuntu quickly changed for the better after Amazon fiasco, so it's not unlikely to make Ubuntu change trajectory if need be.