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How to leave Google and why

jach.me

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Re: How to leave Google and why

#111

Post by derwiki »

AdrianB1 wrote: post #101
pleeb wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

On the other hand, you can buy a used, working iPhone for less than a new low-end Android.

Re: How to leave Google and why

#112

Post by theshrike79 »

roblabla wrote: post #44
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…

Big +1 on fastmail. However, the big upside is that I have my own domain now, so if I need to migrate to something else (be it self-hosted or another provider) I can easily do so without losing all my contacts.

Exactly, I've got a filter in Fastmail that collects mail that's still delivered to my old @gmail.com account (I still have forwarding there).

When I get bored, I wade through it and either change the address to my current one (with my own domain) or unsubscribe.

Re: How to leave Google and why

#113

Post by ricardo81 »

addicted wrote: post #105

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…

Think your points broadly cover the consensus. I usually refer to [0] for people looking to alternatives though [1] was pointed out to me on here which also looks good and breaks the choices down by operating system.

[0] https://degoogle.jmoore.dev/

[1] https://prism-break.org

Re: How to leave Google and why

#114

Post by neltnerb »

imafish wrote: post #84

There are a lot of great services coming out of both Facebook and Google. Why on Earth is the seemingly most popular solution to "cancel" them? That is such a waste. I firmly believe the best remedies are regulation (to protect privacy) and breaking up monopolies.

It is because their size and monopoly position makes then threatening of course. I imagine they will be less threatening after getting broken up but so far there's little evidence that will actually happen.

I'd say it's realistic at this point to just assume they will stay unregulated monopolies and protect yourself as much as you can. It's not like it's even possible to actually "cancel" companies like this, that's just silly.

Re: How to leave Google and why

#115

Post by bluGill »

AdrianB1 wrote: post #54
logicchains wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It might work for some of those: Maps - They massively hiked API prices a couple years ago, literally by orders of magnitude (a kind of breaking change?). They've also broken a bunch of user-facing features and made it slower; it seems a common complaint here that maps now is a worse product than it was 5 years ago. Search - They seem to have gone all-in on AI, and I've seen a lot of people complaining here that it's…

So what would the solution for Android phone be? Buy a new Android phone or buy an iPhone? They are very similar from the perspective of your data being owned by the phone OS maker.

There are a few linux phones now. None are ready for prime time yet, but all are close. Contribute to development (either by writing code, or just funding it) and they will be sooner. I'm excited about the pinephone, but there are a few others.

Re: How to leave Google and why

#116

Post by kingosticks »

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 know it's not the same, but after going on an unsubscription drive, I've had pretty good success with simple address-based rules to move new mail to folders.

Re: How to leave Google and why

#117

Post by berlam »

LadyNike wrote: post #103
berlam wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

> However, approximately 52.5 million non-public profile fields were exposed to alternative apps that requested access to individuals Google+ ID, and created access to other profiles that had shared information with each other.

It's not on the same level as CA but should remind you that even a corporation like Google can have such data breaches, regardless of whether they were gaps or poor design. The investigations were initiated only after the CA scandal. Would the gap have been discovered in time without CA? Who knows. Even if it is assumed that this gap was not exploited, 52 million affected users is not a small number.

Re: How to leave Google and why

#119

Post by fitblipper »

One of Google's largest PR mistakes has been not distancing itself more aggressively from Facebook. Everywhere I look I see criticisms of these 2 companies together being poor stewards of user data but almost all the articles focus on Facebook's track record.

I'm not saying Google is completely clean in this regard but it has never had breaches of data or trust that even compares to Facebook's. In this article for example, they can point to Cambridge Analytica for Facebook (which was bad IMO) and can point to Google Photos charging for high quality photos (uh... what?)

Even when it comes to government surveillance, Google was the first to release the transparency reports and from my understanding, even when requested to keep requests from data for law enforcement they'll often push back and notify the owners of the accounts when their data was requested and delivered to their government (according to a few lawyers I've spoken to which have had experience with Google provided data).

Re: How to leave Google and why

#120

Post by local_dev »

tantalor wrote: post #109

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.

While those are nice words to read, I simply don't believe them. I've had personalized ads turned off on my google account since the feature was available and I still get personalized ads everywhere that they show up. That isn't damning evidence because Google isn't the only ad network, but for me it is enough to not believe those words.

I also completely realize this is an irrational opinion. I'm extremely jaded by advertising and want the major ad companies to have as little of my data as possible.

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