Much safer. Ideally internal lens repairs should be done in a laminar flow cabinet (which produces a constant dust-free & fungal spore free wind to blow any contaminants out of the cabinet), but those are a few thousand dollars.

Defederation means you don’t see their posts. It does NOT mean they can’t see your posts.

I still don’t think federating with them is a good idea, but defederating won’t preserve privacy. It’ll just cut down on the “influencer” BS Meta promotes.