So here you have Ghostery asking for phone home on a new installation(though it asks as well if you upgrade a existing version, then it will ask when you open it's panel.) After declining, open the options -> support Ghostery: The phone home option they talk about is indeed disabled, but now there is a second one that they didn't ask about and is enabled by default. Here's also the explanation on the first phone home option to understand the difference between them: Nice, thanks for your input!
@BoerenkoolMetWorst: I played around with 7.whatever for five minutes awhile ago. I did see what you are talking about and it rubbed me the wrong way too. Also, the "big yes, small no" tactic. Which was also used in a subsequent Create Account prompt. IIRC, in order to properly enable/configure blocking I also had to access the Advanced Blocking option which required an Internet connection to function and load https://extension.ghostery.com/en/settings. At that point Instant Gratification Monkey arrived and steered me towards Feynman talks. Time better spent IMO.
..and that "little" detail is what, on it's own, seems harmless enough, but the thing is all these tactics should be seen collectively in the aggregate. For example, when I go to purchase a particular food item, and requiring it to be from my own country, they have everything on the label in larger readable letters, but the country of origin in microscopic type. I've complained but of course it's all about being fashionably deaf. Little by little these companies use these sneaky methods, and more and more they're getting away with it. It is of no surprise, that Ghostery is moving in this direction.
Ghostery (allow Google Analytics) + Google's own Analytics opt-out are the best combination for people wanting - no adblocker-wall prompts - content to be seen (reason to allow Google Analytics and add analytics opt-out) - Ghostery's dynamic content feature warns you when to allow trackers to enable video players ect. What looks worrying is the fact that by supporting Ghostery they 'sell' block data to advertisers to improve advertising. Simply opt-out to this support (and I also disable purple dot) and block all trackers by default in advanced settings. When selling this data to adservers prevents me running into ablocker walls and it is still possible to pot-out, I don't mind for the time beeing.