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What I use instead of Google services

gabrielweinberg.com

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Re: What I use instead of Google services

#241

Post by theshrike79 »

lallysingh wrote: post #38
oconnore wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The difference between data privacy now, and data privacy 10 or 20 years ago has little to do with how many people have access to it, or how secure it is. It mostly has to do with who can analyze it. An example: where you walk in public is public information, but for most of human history, no one has had the capability to keep a database of that information and query it retroactively. Your location information is the…

is Apple?

Apple's business model doesn't rely on storing personal information, they get their money from devices and apps and services made for those devices sold through their store.

They are the one company that has the ability to really push for user privacy, it's a route Google cannot follow - it would hurt their core business (advertising) too much.

Re: What I use instead of Google services

#242

Post by joeclark77 »

rtpg wrote: post #221
joeclark77 wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That may be true of doctors with coffee bars, but it is absolutely NOT true of Google. Google is an advertising company, period. All of the thousand things they do are for one purpose: to sell advertising based on getting better and better at knowing the customer and targeting ads you're likely to click on. Even if Google does say that some app is firewalled, the implied follow up is "...until customers stop caring"…

This is such a reductionist argument it can be applied to any action done by any group of people. "Anything any company does is in the end goal to make money" is basically this argument. "Anything a university does is to get grants". You're reducing the agency of people who work there and their personal objectives to nothing. Google has many different projects which aren't just about pushing ads . How are driverless…

The issue under debate is not profit but rather the use of private data. Americans do not begrudge anyone their right to free enterprise. But many (including the OP) do care about the uses of their personal data. Google's activities are all oriented toward using and learning from personal data.

In the hypothetical doctor's office with attached coffee bar to which I was responding, we can see how it would be money-making but there's no good reason to assume that there would be a misappropriation of personal data between the two parts of the business. In Google's case it's the opposite: by default everything they do is oriented toward collecting and using data, as personal as possible. Sensible people would assume that if Google hasn't yet used the driverless car to find a way to better target advertising, they've got top minds thinking about how to do it.

Re: What I use instead of Google services

#243

Post by x0x0 »

Is there a good, paid, gmail alternative with the same conversations, labels, keyboard controls, and decent search? Ideally with both webmail, calendar, and an app? Also, ideally not associated with microsoft, yahoo, or even the valley? I keep seeing fastmail but it looks like just another email provider.

I keep pondering creating a service like this for say $40/year, but I'd rather to it than build it. I'm currently a tuffmail subscriber but I really want gmail with a clone of their android app, just in exchange for money and a strong privacy policy.

Re: What I use instead of Google services

#244

Post by microtonal »

theshrike79 wrote: post #241
lallysingh wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

is Apple?

Apple's business model doesn't rely on storing personal information, they get their money from devices and apps and services made for those devices sold through their store. They are the one company that has the ability to really push for user privacy, it's a route Google cannot follow - it would hurt their core business (advertising) too much.

They are the one company that has the ability to really push for user privacy, it's a route Google cannot follow - it would hurt their core business (advertising) too much.

On the other hand, Google needs their users to trust them. If they walk away from Google services, Google loses.

If Apple on the other hand, loses an iCloud customer, their lock-in is reduced, but probably the user will continue to use their Apple devices.

In the end, paid services are probably the best for users who want privacy, etc. Losing trust immediately results in a loss of income. But since the user is paying, they don't have to use and link user data for advertisement or sell the data to third parties.

Re: What I use instead of Google services

#245

Post by r00fus »

microtonal wrote: post #244
theshrike79 wrote: post #241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple's business model doesn't rely on storing personal information, they get their money from devices and apps and services made for those devices sold through their store. They are the one company that has the ability to really push for user privacy, it's a route Google cannot follow - it would hurt their core business (advertising) too much.

They are the one company that has the ability to really push for user privacy, it's a route Google cannot follow - it would hurt their core business (advertising) too much. On the other hand, Google needs their users to trust them. If they walk away from Google services, Google loses. If Apple on the other hand, loses an iCloud customer, their lock-in is reduced, but probably the user will continue to use their Apple…

> On the other hand, Google needs their users to trust them. If they walk away from Google services, Google loses.

Google has dominance in search, webmail, maps, and a very strong mobile presence with Android.

Even if you don't trust Google, it's hard to avoid using their services - they're so good, they have few competitors worthy of note (e.g. Apple Maps or Bing).

Re: What I use instead of Google services

#246

Post by lvillani »

cellover wrote: post #96
lvillani wrote: post #30

Personally, I have a VPS where I keep my own mail server, webmail, ownCloud instance (calendar, address book, file storage, etc), IRC bouncer... All courtesy of Sovereign ( https://github.com/al3x/sovereign )

Very interesting resource, thanks for posting ; even if not for the playbook itself, the collection of tools is interesting. Having your own server is definetely a good solution, it just needs experience and comes at a certain price, even if it stays reasonnable. But most people just don't want to be bothered with maintaining the box (hosting payment, security updates, domain name renewal, SSL ceritificate renewal an…

Well, if you use the supported Debian 7 pointing Ansible to your box is all that's needed. Since I decided to go with Ubuntu 14.04 (unofficially supported), it took a little longer and I had to submit a couple of patches to make it work there. The "hardest" part was figuring out how to set-up the DKIM and SPF records in my registrar's DNS control panel (namecheap). Other than that, I don't really have to babysit the thing: I get a weekly logrotate report by email and rarely, if ever, SSH into the box to check that everything works. From time to time I re-run the Ansible script to ensure everything is in proper order but, still, I almost never have to spend more than 10 minutes a fortnight.

Re: What I use instead of Google services

#247

Post by khc »

dskhatri wrote: post #99
astrocat wrote: post #75

> "Like most people, I don't like to be tracked. I also am the founder of the search engine that doesn't track you, DuckDuckGo." It pains me to hear intelligent people talk about being "tracked" as something "bad" a priori. While there are certainly plenty of examples of abuse of knowledge, I tend to think of most "tracking" not as "stalking" but as "relationship building." Let me explain... Google is a service provi…

His point is more about not putting all your eggs in one basket; you certainly don't tell your barista about an upcoming physician's appointment, or that you are in the market for a house. Your barista is also disconnected from parties who may leverage the information you provide him/her. Similarly, you don't tell your broker that you prefer Ethiopian coffee. Google offers so many services that it has a much broader…

If the intention is to avoid putting all the eggs in one basket, then one doesn't need to avoid any use of google services.

Re: What I use instead of Google services

#248

Post by khc »

andersonvom wrote: post #190
sliverstorm wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If knowing that I prefer Ethiopian coffee helps my broker better serve me, I'd tell them in a heartbeat.

What if knowing you prefer Ethiopian coffee would make your insurance company charge you more because statistically these people are more prone to medical issues? Would you tell them in a heart beat? The pendulum swings both ways, and this is the reason why all of this should be opt-in.

Should insurance companies charge smokers more because statistically those people are more prone to medical issues?

Re: What I use instead of Google services

#250

Post by _delirium »

sosborn wrote: post #19
larrys wrote: post #6

While it's not trivial it's not that hard to spin up a mail server on a VPS (which can run smtp, imap and/or webmail). For that matter you can run it off a static internet connection or even a dynamic IP from your home or office PC. (Running linux or Mac OSX never done it with windows although I'm sure you can).

Spinning it up is easy. Maintaining it is arguably not.

I find it pretty easy to maintain. Well really, Postfix and Debian do the hard work of actual maintenance. I just apply updates.
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