Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Alternatives to Google Products

restoreprivacy.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

101–110 of 527 posts

Re: Alternatives to Google Products

#101

Post by marricks »

duckduckno wrote: post #98

I used to be a privacy advocate until I realized the futility of trying to thwart the data collectors. Our Information is everywhere whether we like it or not and the only way to avoid its aggregation is by not associating with the world and abandoning the convenience of modern technology. I feel like at some point we just have to accept the loss of privacy to gain better harmony within our communities. I would recom…

I could empathize with your viewpoint more if not for the fact the lack of privacy wouldn’t be symmetrical. The middle and lower class will lose all semblance of privacy while the elite will be able to buy it. Case in point Mark Zuckerberg buying up that Hawaiian island.

Not only is it unfair but when the rich are just getting richer them having privacy while no one else does just allows for so many more ways for the poor to get screwed.

Re: Alternatives to Google Products

#102

Post by groyperist »

GuB-42 wrote: post #73
auslander wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple makes its money from expensive hardware. And respecting your privacy and security helps selling it a lot . And they earned trust by being serious about it for a long time.

Uhm 2014 ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ICloud_leaks_of_celebrity_phot... By comparaison, while there have been a few issues with Google, for a company that processes so much personal data, their track record is excellent. I can't think of any major personal data leak that could be attributed to Google. Maybe Apple got better within these 4 years, TBH, they most likely did. However, I don't consider 4 years to be…

Did you even read the Wiki article you linked to? Even if we ignore your conflation of information security and privacy, the Fappening was not caused by a security breach at Apple, but rather through the use of targeted phishing attacks.

Re: Alternatives to Google Products

#103

Post by thdxr »

nemothekid wrote: post #2

I'm a little discouraged when I see articles like this that seem to be completely tuned for developers or look over completely decent pro-privacy alternatives like Apple. For example, the "best" calendar alternative is Etar which looks to a Github repo. Really? At the very least you could mention Apple Calendar. Is Maps.Me (which uses AdSense) really better than Apple Maps? I'm not a fan of hooktube either - it just…

There is a difference between privacy by charity and privacy by design

Re: Alternatives to Google Products

#104

Post by miguelrochefort »

grzm wrote: post #10
miguelrochefort wrote: post #4

What's wrong with data collection and tracking? Privacy seems extremely overrated here on HN. Am I missing something? Why would anyone take such efforts to avoid using Google products? That doesn't seem very rational...

There are plenty of discussions on HN (including ones where you've participated) regarding privacy. Different people value privacy differently (and privacy means different things to different people). You may not value it as much as others, and that's fine. Ignoring this as you have here with what appears to be a naïve question amounts to trolling. Please don't.

I recognize that other people value privacy more than I do. I also recognize that privacy is unsustainable and unlikely to survive in the future.

I see people seeking privacy as I see technophobes. I'm sure they're genuinely concerned, but I can't help but think they're mistaken. I think it's important to change their minds, as they're otherwise making the transition to a post-privacy world very difficult.

I've asked this question many times before, and nobody managed to explain how privacy would survive through the next 100 years of technological progress. That alone makes me think privacy is not a long-term solution.

Only a handful of people have clarified their position in defense of privacy as temporary and pragmatic (as opposed to ideal). They think that privacy is bad, but they prefer it to the alternative given today's context. I can appreciate this position, and I find it a lot more reasonable than the usual "privacy is good" most people seem to blindly accept.

Ultimately, I'd like to discuss strategies to make the transition to a post-privacy world smoother. This whole pro-privacy sentiment makes it very difficult.

Re: Alternatives to Google Products

#105

Post by reshie »

malloryerik wrote: post #68
mailbomb wrote: post #40

Besides the Gmails alternatives: 1. Mailfence – Based in Belgium – 500 MB free; 20 GB Pro 2. Tutanota – Based in Germany – 1 GB free; 10 GB Pro 3. Mailbox.org – Based in Germany – 2 GB storage 4. Protonmail – Based in Switzerland – 500 MB free; 5 GB Pro 5. * * Runbox.com - Based in Norway * * They forgot #5, runbox.com

If you use something like protonmail aren't you sending a signal like, "Look at me I've got something to hide!"? If I were role-playing as some mighty and wealthy intelligence bureaucracy, I'd likely monitor anyone using such services as well as Tor, etc. No? I do like protonmail btw and am concerned about privacy in general, esp for the maintenance of democracy. And I'm not at all against the intelligence bureaucrac…

or promoting secure communications and having your own privacy too. if everyone is using these means do you still stand out.

it can make you stand out but if the security is good they may have to use indirect means to compromise you you would need to be quit a person of interest i would think though for that.

Re: Alternatives to Google Products

#106

Post by mirimir »

deadcast wrote: post #59
auslander wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you live in China its game over anyway :) Get a VPN, somehow, and create non-Chinese iCloud accounts. Always on VPN is actually a good thing everywhere.

Haha yeah I'm going to get express vpn now thanks to this article. I can also pay with bitcoin! Yes! :)

But ExpressVPN does admit to keeping

> connection logs including the date of the connection (not the time) and the server used. The total amount of data transferred per user is also monitored. ExpressVPN doesn’t log your IP but the connection logs are tied to the user account.[0]

0) https://www.comparitech.com/vpn/vpn-logging-policies/

Re: Alternatives to Google Products

#107

Post by mc32 »

astronautjones wrote: post #41
miguelrochefort wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As much as I like Microsoft, Bing is awful. Ive used it, and I tried to like it. It can't find anything.

Bing's video search (particularly for porn) is the best in the business.

Its image search is also pretty good. If I'm not successful on a google image search, bing usually comes up with quality images. Their maps also tend to better render local businesses and it's easier to navigate the results than google, surprisingly. On the other hand technical searches are way better on google.

Re: Alternatives to Google Products

#108

Post by trumped »

You probably should install something like LineageOS to replace stock Android and avoid installing any Google apps/services if you want to be Google-free... (use f-droid or Yalp to find apps). Because if you replace all Google products with alternatives but have a Google service running on your phone 24/7, what's the point?

Re: Alternatives to Google Products

#109

Post by sharcerer »

flafla2 wrote: post #85
anonu wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't disagree that Apple looks really good nowadays from a privacy perspective. They treat their customers with respect and don't sell their data.... until they do. How can you trust a single point of failure to "do no evil"?

Apple doesn't have the data that Google et al has. All of the ML that apple does for example is done on-device or is privatized [0]. This goes for all of their services that Google has built their business off of: Messages, Siri, Maps, etc. People don't respect Apple's security because they trust Apple, they respect it because Apple has intentionally shot themselves in the foot if they wished to sell their data in th…

Dude, google has been doing diff. privacy earlier than apple. Even now, their researchers( one of them the great Ian Goodfellow-inventor of GANs) is working on federated learning. Heck google had even open sourced their diff. privacy system. Apple just made a big deal put of it when they started diff privacy.

Re: Alternatives to Google Products

#110

Post by duckduckno »

marricks wrote: post #101
duckduckno wrote: post #98

I used to be a privacy advocate until I realized the futility of trying to thwart the data collectors. Our Information is everywhere whether we like it or not and the only way to avoid its aggregation is by not associating with the world and abandoning the convenience of modern technology. I feel like at some point we just have to accept the loss of privacy to gain better harmony within our communities. I would recom…

I could empathize with your viewpoint more if not for the fact the lack of privacy wouldn’t be symmetrical. The middle and lower class will lose all semblance of privacy while the elite will be able to buy it. Case in point Mark Zuckerberg buying up that Hawaiian island. Not only is it unfair but when the rich are just getting richer them having privacy while no one else does just allows for so many more ways for the…

I don't think I quite understand your argument, could you please elaborate a bit? I have always been under the assumption that fame grows linearly with wealth and the more famous someone is the less privacy they hold. Is that inaccurate? I could tell you that Warren Buffet is 1.78 m tall and that I know where he was born but I honestly know nothing about the minimum-wage-working Bob Smith.
Post reply on HN