"But they do it too!"
This is such a schoolyard retort! Anyone that defends someone like Microsoft's atrocious privacy invasion practices with the defense that Google/Android is "just as bad" is:
A.) Completely failing to address the point raised
B.) Presenting a false choice
People very concerned with privacy can leave that beaten path and install vanilla Android/ModOS/some clean ROM with little effort, or pay a techie to have it done. Nobody is making you install Google Play services. You can get apps from lots of places.