I'd imagine they'd just say "no" to that because almost certainly somewhere in their ToS/PP they got "explicit" consent from you to sell your soul and everything that goes with it.

Remember, all you need to know from them is what they do and when they do it. You don't need or want them to make a judgment call on the legalities or morality or anything else when responding; you can do that yourself later.

To that end, I'd word it like this:

"What are all the situations in which your apps read clipboard contents, and why is it necessary in each case?" (Obviously pasting would be one scenario, to which you'll just nod and move on...)

(And I would ask the same about microphone data, location data, etc. too, not just clipboard contents.)