I am looking for some not-overly-paranoid guidance on all things privacy and how to minimize any unnecessary intrusions by the mass surveillance panopticon we are all enmeshed in. I avoid the most egregious self-owns such as using Facebook (never have, never will), X, Chrome, Google.com, Co-PIlot, Gemini, and the like. I stopped buying from Amazon over a year ago. Out of sheer lack of interest, I use my cellphone relatively little, some days not even turning it on at all.
However, I have still not yet successfully migrated, even partially, to Linux nor have I entirely freed myself (yet) from Gmail (looking at various options). I find Android Auto, especially Google maps to be extremely useful. My life of commuting to work, the grocery store, road trips to the SF Bay Area, and the occasional trips to Europe is superficially dull as hell, but I nevertheless am not happy with big tech/AI knowing every damn thing I do. You show me the man, I’ll show you the crime…
In any case, what are your trusted sources of information on this topic, including books, journals, magazines, blogs, and the like? Am I a nut for considering buying a cellphone Faraday bag? (FWIW, some reputable sources have tested these and, they do appear to work as advertised.)
Email: Own domain + Fastmail, 60€ annually
Maps: OrganicMaps
Weather: Windy.com
Cloud Storage: Self Hosted Nextcloud, although any popular alternative is good enough, like Proton
Photo Storage: Self Hosted Immich
OS: Arch Linux and base Android in the FP6
Search Engine: Startpage, although I am starting to search for alternatives as they use google and it is sucking more by the minute, see this, and this, and this
Software: All FOSS except Bitwig Studio and a few plugins, which all work offline and Bitwig is European and not a tracking/spying vector.
I get my info from other people and just reading around. Things are not too hard to discern. Big tech is usually a big no go, and then you do a small research for each individual service you want to use.
I believe a faraday bag for your phone is a bit too much. Just turn it off I believe being worried about cell tower tracking is taking it a big too far currently (this could change as govs get ever more authoritarian, soon enough you need to wear a gps tracker everywhere you go to ‘protect the children’).
Edit: A big privacy problem is my bank. For example, when I go to the dentist or a private clinic, exactly after I pay, I get an SMS and Email, from the bank, advertising their health insurance to me… I also have Revolut which does not do this, but which itself is an iffy bank. Are there any ethical fintech banks in europe?
Thanks. I am looking at getting a new cellphone fairly soon. I am interested in Fairphone (remember you mentioned this), GrapheneOS, LineageOS, and the like.
Thanks for all those suggestions. Lots to learn here.
As for weather, I have used Wunderground for years, but once I started monitoring my core temps, I discovered that it is running TONS of crap, at least in an unhardened browser. After installing Vivaldi and LibreWolf, temps dropped back to the 30s with this webpage. Probably time to ditch it in any case. Windy looks great.
I can’t avoid Android. But at least I can avoid siloing my data into a single hylerscaler.
Mapy.com for maps, Windy.com for weather, Feedbin.com for RSS, and Raindrop.io for bookmarks. Zen browser or Helium on desktop, Firefox on Android. Thunderbird on desktop, obviously, and FairEmail on Android. Mailbox.org for email/calendar/contacts, synced to Android via DAVx. Antennapod for Podcasts. NewPipe for YouTube, or at least deactivate the Youtube app and use it in the browser instead.
Obviously, I avoid Amazon. There are plenty of other stores much more deserving of my money. Buy used wherever practical.
FUTO keyboard for Android! That one is essential.
A Steam Deck (or alternative SteamOS handheld) for video games. Incredibly freeing! And one less reason to run Windows. Kobo builds amazing E-Readers that can read any old epub or PDF, not just Amazon’s.
But yeah, there’s no avoiding some things. The Fairphone is great hardware, as is the Surface tablet, but they run Android and Windows. Google Maps/Android Auto are just extremely useful.
Remember that you can rent streaming services on a monthly basis. I usually do subscribe to one at all times, but a different one every month.
I am a subscriber to Qobuz and am very happy with them so far. Hopefully they are OK. Maybe I am a menace to society because I listen to Bach and Coltrane (and truly twisted stuff like Pauline Oliveros)
This is a timely thread (at least for me), since I’m presently in the middle of trying to up my privacy game and go further down the de-Googling road (I’m still using Gmail, Google Maps and Google Calendar).
All this stuff is a little more important since the CLOUD Act was passed. Edit: TL/DR you need to pay attention to whether a cloud provider is US-owned, as well as where your data is stored.
Email: I’m presently evaluating Tuta Mail, ProtonMail and Typewire.
A note regarding Fastmail: I believe they store data in the US.
Maps: I have tried OSM, but I’ve seen several other ideas to check out on this thread. I have yet to find something that replicates StreetView.
Calendar: Probably go with the companion to my choice of email service.
Desktop OS: Mostly Ubuntu, but one Win11 that I can’t get rid of (long story I’m not going to get into).
Mobile OS: current Android; open to considering GrapheneOS etc. Apps from F-Droid when possible. FUTO keyboard.
Weather: I use WeatherCAN (it’s Canada-specific and not data-hungry).
Cloud storage: None at the moment. Evaluating sync.com and Proton Drive. Just looking for vault, not file sharing. Possibly a separate service for a virtual go bag.
Browser: mostly Firefox, also have Waterfox and LibreWolf where I can keep certain things separate.
I de-googled my life back in 2012-2013. Back then it was easy (ish) to do, because not everyone was so heavily invested in google’s software/app store. I run lineageOS on my phone without GAPPs or micro-g (which allow for google play store access and many apps). I get by with some apps from F-Droid and the few programs which enable you to get a direct download from the company. I am pretty conservative with what apps I allow on my phone, and most people are shocked at how little is used.
If you do a lot of banking on your mobile device, I would caution you. In the US most banking apps will not work without this functionality. Or some work around. I do not know if grapheneOS can get this working.
Given the changes that are supposedly coming to Android regarding side-loading, I worry that even lineageOS and grapheneOS might not be around in another decade.
On privacy: does someone know of a good solution for a hardened USB drive or card to keep an encrypted password database stored physically in remote sites?
I am thinking about catastrophic events where I lose both my phone with its authenticators, my server, etc, and need to restore from my cloud backups, which require both the password and the authenticator backup keys.
Maybe even a few sheets of paper that can be read with OCR and then decrypted using a memorized password?
I believe being worried about cell tower tracking is taking it a big too far currently (this could change as govs get ever more authoritarian, soon enough you need to wear a gps tracker everywhere you go to ‘protect the children’).