Play Protect Reactivates Itself on Android

When Play Protect recently started removing KDE Connect obtained via F-Droid from Android phones without warning (see https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37861467), I (and presumably many others) deactivated Play Protect. Imagine my joy when I saw this notification from Google Play Store hidden away in the Silent section of my notifications a little while ago:

"Google Play Protect is turned on

This feature protects your device from harmful apps"

So I checked in the settings, and yep, it had magically turned itself back on. Apparently, refusing to turn it on the million times it harasses you all over the Android interface isn't enough to get it to stay off because to Google, no doesn't mean no. So those of you who deactivated it in the past to maintain control over your apps instead of letting Google nuke whatever they want, be on the lookout.