My experience is that Google app and system updates have a tendency to force/trick/nag you into giving up privacy.
As example, the old weather widget from Google's "News & Weather" was replaced by Google Now. That provided a similar experience for some time but then stopped working with another update that required search history to be enabled and/or some other setting in privacy control.
Also the launcher integrated Google with a system update(Moto G line of phones). I have since replaced launcher, browser, search app (all with open source replacements), weather app (with a paid service). Convenience has suffered...
Indeed; after a time they required search history to be turned on in order for commuting traffic information to be supplied, which was not initially the case.
At that point I turned it on but deleted* the search history each day, until such point as they changed the delete controls to be more of a nuisance.
As example, the old weather widget from Google's "News & Weather" was replaced by Google Now. That provided a similar experience for some time but then stopped working with another update that required search history to be enabled and/or some other setting in privacy control.
Also the launcher integrated Google with a system update(Moto G line of phones). I have since replaced launcher, browser, search app (all with open source replacements), weather app (with a paid service). Convenience has suffered...