I do not have much info to offer on the browsing thing. I would guess that one would want their browser history to be available to them rather than to some --albeit benevolent-- organization. There are pieces of hardware that run Linux and are gaining popularity. There is this $200 ARM-based laptop. There are some "open" hardware platforms that are under development. There is hardware that is "vetted" to not have any backdoors, primarily in the BIOS, etc. I wish I had links to share, but somebbody here will point them out, I am sure.