> why protests and actions that doesn't necessarily "fix" an issue directly are important and not (necessarily) an ego trip for the protestors

The point is to think through (and shape) the consequences.

Trash bag is nice but leaves interpretation to the viewer. Trash bag with a sign is better, but the ambiguity of the action together with the conciseness requirement of physical signage makes for a difficult combo. Trash bag with a QR code highlighting (depending on your town's partisan lean, of course) when "authorities in Texas performed a nationwide search of more than 83,000 automatic license plate reader (ALPR) cameras while looking for a woman who they said had a self-administered abortion, including cameras in states where abortion is legal such as Washington and Illinois" [1], or that Flock Safety "is building a product that will use people lookup tools, data brokers, and data breaches" [2] is better still. (Best would be something that concisely conveys the problem while blocking the sign. I'm not having anything readily come to mind...Lady Liberty holding her palm to the camera is kitsch.)

Still, just raising awareness is table stakes. Ideally such activity comes ahead of a petition drive, or town hall where a series of plants raise objections to the company.

[1] https://www.404media.co/a-texas-cop-searched-license-plate-c...

[2] https://www.404media.co/license-plate-reader-company-flock-i...