Re: Apps vs web?
"Well, if your browser is Chrome "
Ah, I see I should have clarified that more explicitly than just saying "your browser shouldn't have much access to much of your personal data". Call me a dinosaur, I go back to Lynx and beyond, a browser's function imo is largely to request and receive HTML and display it, and to do a bit of associated housekeeping, not hoovering up all kinds of stuff it has no reason to need.
Consequently I'm not using Chrome anywhere, and unlikely ever to be using Chrome anywhere.
I assume people who care about (and are informed about) privacy don't use Chrome, for the very reasons you mention, which are similar to the reasons I choose not to use Google calendar, and the reasons my gmail account is never used for anything significant, etc.
Currently still browsing with Firefox but open to suggestions.
Further input on browsers vs apps, and apps vs the Web, still welcome.