Hello,
Zorin OS 16 includes privacy controls out of the box which can be found by opening the Settings app and going to the "Privacy" category.
It lets you easily toggle Location Services, File History, Screen Lock and a few other privacy settings.
In the same Settings app, there's also a category called "Applications" (right above the Privacy category) which gives you permission controls and sandboxing settings (as well as other app-specific preferences) for supported Flatpak and Snap apps.
These settings wouldn't extend to all traditional deb/apt apps as sandboxing isn't available for them due to how Debian packaging is designed on a technical level.
In Zorin OS 16 if you're using the microphone in an app such as the Sound Recorder it shows a microphone icon in the taskbar where the other indicators are, to show that it is in use.
Regarding the Privacy Policy, it was drafted by our lawyers in accordance with Irish and EU law which has more stringent requirements than US law and therefore requires more verbosity.
Thank you for the suggestion regarding the warrant canary. We have now added one to our Privacy Policy in the "How we protect and store your information" section under the "Transparency" heading.