15 Comments
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Linda's avatar
Aug 5Edited

Few people understand how precarious their data, files, pictures, digital-life-in-general is. Reliance on big tech, or digital-only for important documents and memories, is building on shifting sand. This is a valuable wake-up call!

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Secrets of Privacy's avatar

Well put. 👏

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Greg Reid's avatar

Any suggestions for alternatives to @gmail ? I started out with an ISP's domain, but they got bought out and I didn't want to stay there longer term. Still despite making the transition over several years the change was somewhat onerous.

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Secrets of Privacy's avatar

The top privacy options are proton and Tuta. We use proton as our primary and tuta as a secondary email provider. Forward your old email address to your new one until people catch on to your new address.

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Alex K.'s avatar

People we email is not the problem. The issue is the email address user to registering to various online shops and websites. For example, I’m registered to over 100 sites between personal uses, my side business, and hobbies. I really don’t want to spend a day or two updating my email address on every account.

I don’t use Google though. Avoid it like plague. I pay for a private email service which now is deemed not so great as the country where it’s based is one of the 5 eyes. I want to switch to Proton but just can’t bear spending two days of my life mindlessly updating my email address at all my accounts (along with various capatchas and code confirmations etc)

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Secrets of Privacy's avatar

Can always start with any new accounts, and then update over time. Less daunting in our experience.

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Alex K.'s avatar

That would also mean paying for two private email serviced till i finally can terminate the old one. Less daunting maybe but an unnecessary cost

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Lyn Norman's avatar

What’s an option for google docs?

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Secrets of Privacy's avatar

Only office, proton has a docs option, and nextcloud.

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Petra Kehr's avatar

@Sam with uncountable actions you're at least subject to Google analytics. Apart from Maps I do not use any of G services but still I'm pretty sure they have lots of information anyway.

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Secrets of Privacy's avatar

Avoiding Google Analytics is not really possible if you use the internet. You can make things difficult for them to the point where the interactions are meaningless.

Fully agree that Google Maps is really hard to ditch.

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Petra Kehr's avatar

Agree, at least it works to the degree that I get very small amounts of targeted ads.

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Petra Kehr's avatar

My method is to use numerous mails for different tasks and spheres, never real name, Swiss providers like Threema for messenger and Proton for Mail/VPN/Data pass/Cloud. Both can be booked anonymous. F-Droid where possible to avoid play store a. s. o.

Search machine for randoms is duck, for critical Qwant.

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Sam's avatar

I don’t use Google products for anything, it’s not the hard and it’s not the least bit inconvenient

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Secrets of Privacy's avatar

Good to hear. Most of our subscribers use gmail accounts, so it must be a hard habit to kick for some.

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