It is totally possible to turn off the spyware in MailChimp.  You just
need to buy an actual commercial account rather than using their
"free" service.  To save $13 or $20 per month, you are instead selling
the privacy of every recipient of your emails.  See:

  https://mailchimp.com/help/enable-and-view-click-tracking/

  "Check the Track clicks box to enable click tracking, or uncheck the
  box to disable click tracking.  ...  Mailchimp will continue to
  redirect URLs for users with free account plans to protect against
  malicious links.  ...  When a paid user turns off click tracking,
  Mailchimp will continue to redirect their URLs until certain account
  activity thresholds are met."

Don't forget to turn off the spyware 1x1 pixel "web bugs" that
MailChimp inserts by default, too:

  https://mailchimp.com/help/about-open-tracking/

        John