You might choose to not have control. The reason people protest is because we should have more control over the things we own. Sure this might create a better market for alternatives but it is worse for most people. F-droid is spectacular.

> What makes it “yours”?

The law. The contract. The money I paid.

> the reality is that we don’t have control over devices we paid for

So, the reality is that a company is exerting ownership rights on things they don't own. If that is exclusive, then that is called theft.

> What makes it “yours”?

You answered the question here:

> You paid for it

If you paid for hardware, legally that makes it yours.

> Google still has the control

Therein lies the problem. Google should not exercise such control over devices which are yours, not theirs.

Microsoft got penalized for way less.