* It treats the Browser Sync service as spyware
* It treats automatic updates as something spyware does
* The initial launch connections it has issue with are the captive portal detection, TLS certificate updates, addon blocklist updates, safebrowsing updates and the release notes.
For comparison it rates Pale Moon as "Top Tier". PM does similar to the above (including auto-updates), and it also connects to start.me as it is the default home page, which loads Google Ads and Analytics. According to its privacy policy:
"Among the types of Personal Data that start.me collects, by itself or through third parties, there are: Cookies; Usage Data; first name; last name; email address."
What definition is it using for spyware and why does it only apply to browsers it doesn't like is beyond me, but the author clearly has a bone to pick.