Agents running as root and data to be secure do not fit well in the same sentence

I agree, and it's not necessary for agents to run as root and full access to data.

There has always been a trade off sold to consumers of security vs convenience and a belief that giving up a little security gets a lot of convenience.

It ends up being often about a convenience of adopting the new tech, not necessarily in a way that's in the best long term interests of each party.