Rooting your phone and it being secure are two completely different things my friend.
Modern smartphones are basically spyware distros. I would argue it's far more secure to run a decent distro (Lineage/Replicant) with root, than it is to run any SamWeiMi crapware without root. Oh yes, the manufacturer's crapware has system privileges whether you ask for it or not, and so does Google Play Services, Google's universal backdoor for Android.
On paper, no root is better. In practice, even on a crap distro, rooting it will enable you to remove most crapware to reduce attack surface.
Also related: if you're concerned about security, you should probably only use applications from F-Droid.org repos. Google Play Store (and others) are just full of spyware! See also the Exodus Privacy project tracking trackers via static analysis of APKs.
Basically, you don't log in to your Linux box (or Windows, Mac, etc) as root for day to day use and same thing goes for your phone.
Rooting is not incompatible with security. Trusting carrier distributed software on a locked down device is far less secure than using a custom install of something like Calyx or GrapheneOS.
In my view, trusting Google, Apple, Verizon, t-mobile, or at&t is incompatible with security.
The idea that people having administrative access to their own devices is inherently insecure is vicious anti-consumer nonsense.
thou for non-technical users, rooting a phone is a bit like going back to windows xp.
https://madaidans-insecurities.github.io/android.html#rootin...