Do you have a car? Docking station? Printer? Scanner? IoT device?

And let’s not talk about what your Intel process has built into it that you don’t know about that leaks data.

That’s a closed source OS.

That’s true of any closed source OS, of which I’m sure you run at least 2.

They have SSH.

They have one but the management is via the admin console.

Separate thread; how can Ubiquiti “do whatever they want with it”? You control the updates.

If you stop paying for the Meraki cloud, you can’t manage your Meraki hardware.

Full stop.

Meraki: That’s a nice network you got there; I’d be a shame if something happened to it

Only used Unifi and their stuff is pretty solid. Better than Meraki where you never truly own your hardware.