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How to leave Google and why

jach.me

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Re: How to leave Google and why

#101

Post by AdrianB1 »

pleeb wrote: post #74
logicchains wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought one of the big selling points of IPhone vs Android was greater privacy protection, and the fact that Apple's business model isn't based around selling user data? There's also the possibility to use a de-Googlified version of Android like https://lineageos.org/ .

After extensive research, this was ultimately my conclusion: Going iOS. My rationale was that it is significantly easier to de-Google an iPhone then it is to de-Google and android phone. I can also lock down an iPhone more easily (Disabling iCloud, using DNSCloak, etc). There are plenty of projects that aim to remove Google from an android, but I question their security; even if the privacy is good, there could be ex…

This comes with a price: the cheapest iPhone SE costs 3-4 times more than a new low end Android phone and 2 times more than a decent Android phone. An iPhone 12 is more than the average monthly pay, so in price-sensitive markets (or price-sensible in the common sense way) going iOS is out of reach for most people.

Re: How to leave Google and why

#102

Post by tmarice »

theshrike79 wrote: post #31
jrib wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What did you end up using for email?

Not the parent, but I switched to Fastmail. It was the only one that provided large enough storage quotas for my Gmail inbox at a reasonable price. 5€/month for 30GB of storage + domain aliases + native iOS application. Protonmail is SuperSecure and all that, but they only have 5GB of storage and for the 4€/month account, getting it close to 30GB would be 6x that. (The quota was much lower when I evaluated the servic…

I also switched to Fastmail 6 months ago, and I'm content. It's not bad, but the UX is nowhere near Gmail. I didn't understand how useful was automatic email classification (Updates/Promotions/etc.) until I stopped using it.

Re: How to leave Google and why

#103

Post by LadyNike »

berlam wrote: post #82
judge2020 wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At least on a standpoint of what ‘partners’ or ‘developers’ can access, Google hasn’t had a Cambridge Analytica scenario play out (that we know of) so all of the data they have gained via web tracking for the purpose of ads is securely stored in a Google silo.

I agree, but would like to remind you of the Google+ data scandal in 2018, which did not increase my confidence in Google's security measures. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_Google_data_breach

> Within November 2018, another data breach was found within a Google+ API software update. The bug was fixed within a week and there was no evidence that any third party developer compromised the system.

Please explain how this is anywhere near the level of FB & CA?

Re: How to leave Google and why

#104

Post by freeflight »

numlock86 wrote: post #87
nathias wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can avoid facebook completely, I can't avoid google.

Care to elaborate? My previous post had an argument about how you can't avoid Facebook, as someone who uses Facebook probably already shared your contact information from their phone with them without you knowing anything about it.

Anybody using an android device will help Google aggregate data about you because as soon as your details are added to the contacts app those will be cross-referenced with other data Google has about you.

That’s exactly how Google ended up in possession on my mobile phone number in relation to my mail address: A friend added the same e-email address I use for YouTube to my android contact, which also included my phone number.

His android contacts app then proceeded to use my YouTube profile picture for my contact with my phone number.

Re: How to leave Google and why

#105

Post by addicted »

I really disagree with the Why of this article.

I think there are good reasons to move away, or at least consider reducing dependence on Google, and the last point about the change in Google Photos policy hints at that (but even there it creates a kind of conspiracy theory where none is needed).

For me, the Whys would be:

1) Far too much dependence on Google. It's probably not a good thing to have so much dependence on any single entity if its avoidable.

2) Google is extremely unreliable in maintaining their services. We have all seen them randomly discontinue services, even successful ones, because their standards for success are also Google scale. This means that anything you're using is at risk of being discontinued and forcing you to find an alternative in a rush, as opposed to doing it ahead of time when you can pick the time and choosing of finding the alternative.

3) Constantly changing UX. Based on HN comments, it appears Google has an internal culture that rewards constant churn. PErsonally, for example, Google Maps has always been untouchable for me. Until their UI changes have started hiding so much data, that just this weekend, it was almost impossible for me to find the address to a destination so I could enter it in my rental car's Nav system. After a few minutes of fumbling around I switched to Apple Maps, for the first time ever, where it was trivial.

Re: How to leave Google and why

#106

Post by johnbrodie »

tmarice wrote: post #102
theshrike79 wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not the parent, but I switched to Fastmail. It was the only one that provided large enough storage quotas for my Gmail inbox at a reasonable price. 5€/month for 30GB of storage + domain aliases + native iOS application. Protonmail is SuperSecure and all that, but they only have 5GB of storage and for the 4€/month account, getting it close to 30GB would be 6x that. (The quota was much lower when I evaluated the servic…

I also switched to Fastmail 6 months ago, and I'm content. It's not bad, but the UX is nowhere near Gmail. I didn't understand how useful was automatic email classification (Updates/Promotions/etc.) until I stopped using it.

I've made the same switch and had the same thought. In response I just unsubscribed aggressively from most everything. Much cleaner mailbox now, and I really never took any action on almost any promotional/update style email anyway, so less noise overall than Gmail now. It's actually been a good switch.

Re: How to leave Google and why

#108

Post by jblwps »

arvindamirtaa wrote: post #56

I'd love to leave! As soon as someone comes up with a half decent hosted calendar service that's half as good as Google Calendar. People like to give GCal a lot of shit while comparing it with local apps; there's very few hosted services that are so versatile.

What do you need in a calendar service that you can't find elsewhere?

I use the Calendar app with NextCloud[0] for a CalDAV server + calendar web interface. It's fully-featured as far as I can tell. I use its CalDAV functionality to sync to my Android phone using DAVx^5[1], which integrates the calendars natively so that you can use whatever calendar app you want on your phone (I use Etar[2]).

[0] https://apps.nextcloud.com/apps/calendar

[1] https://www.davx5.com/

[2] https://github.com/Etar-Group/Etar-Calendar

Re: How to leave Google and why

#109

Post by tantalor »

Block certain ads > Turn off personalized ads

https://support.google.com/ads/answer/2662922?hl=en

Once you've turned off personalization, Google will no longer use your info to personalize your ads. Ads can still be targeted with info like your general location or the content of the website you’re visiting.

Re: How to leave Google and why

#110

Post by spacegangster »

arvindamirtaa wrote: post #56

I'd love to leave! As soon as someone comes up with a half decent hosted calendar service that's half as good as Google Calendar. People like to give GCal a lot of shit while comparing it with local apps; there's very few hosted services that are so versatile.

I'm working on https://lightpad.ai, which includes a timeflow calendar. Many features from GCal are missing though. If you can give it a shot and a hit me with a critical review – this could push me in the right direction.

I'm set on going towards privacy/transparency/local-first-data.

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