How to Try and Get the Tech Moguls Out of Your Life

So, are you sick of how the tech moguls are using your personal data to enrich themselves at the expense of your privacy? Do you even know the degree to which they've infiltrated your life? Do you have any clue how much of your personal data they've aggregated from your online activities over the years?

The worst is Google. Every time you've installed something from Google, such as Gmail or the Chrome browser, you had to agree to their terms in their end-user license agreement (EULA). It's that massively long document that you have to say you've read and agree to.

Within that document is language which, once you've agreed, grants Google permission to gather data from you and use it for whatever purpose they choose. Selling that data was how Google's founders initially made their fortunes (which they now freely use to support MAGA and Project2025).

I decided a long time ago to get as far away from Google as possible, and I'm here to tell you that you can (mostly) defenestrate Google out of your life. 

These are some alternatives to what Google offers:

Gmail:
I use Proton Mail for webmail. It's an encrypted service based in Switzerland that is known for its high level of security. Both Yahoo and AOL still offer webmail, too.

Chrome:
I primarily use Firefox and Opera. Both are open source and don't share data. Other alternatives are Vivaldi and Safari (on Macs)

Search:
I use DuckDuckGo for everything. (You can switch the default search engine in your browser's configuration settings,) Bing is an alternative, but I don't want anything to do with Microsoft, either. Yahoo and AOL both still offer search functions, too.

Maps:
MapQuest has exploded in popularity for standing up to the Dark Lord in the face of Google and Apple Maps kowtowing. But actually I prefer OpenStreetMap. It's completely open source and non-commercial. It works great in web browsers, but not so much on mobile devices.

Mobile Devices:
And of course, speaking of mobile devices, if you use an Android-driven mobile device, you're kind of stuck. Android is actually a flavor of Linux, which is open source, and has pretty strict rules for it's usage. I honestly don't know if Google collects data from Android users, but I'm guessing they do.

I personally have an iPhone. I'm not happy with Apple either, but of the two, I much prefer it to Android and Google. However, if you're a bit adventurous, there are open-source alternatives. This article discusses them extensively.

Social Media:
I have been advocating for years that people get off the oligarch-controlled platforms. The only reason I'm still on Facebook is that that's where my friends are, and I haven't been able to convince them to dump Zuckerberg and Meta. I wrote a whole essay on this topic, which you can find HERE.

Workspace and MS Office365:
I use LibreOffice. It's excellent, but it's not cloud-based. Here's a list of alternatives: