Which has clear logically consistency, at the app owner level, which is the context of my reply.

If the app owner can't obtain PII, I don't believe the app owner is spying.

Is Apple spying?

> Routing like this requires trust

It depends on if you trust them, and their privacy policy. If they're functioning as a PII stripping proxy, as they claim, then I would claim no, to the extent of what's technically possible. I would also claim that a trustworthy VPN is not spying on you. YOMV.