My thoughts on migrating away from using Google
This article is a work in progress. - November 2019
I have long been using Google's free products for a long time. They are free, easy to use and reliable. But Googles privacy practices are frankly disturbing.
See articles:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privacy_concerns_regarding_Google
- https://www.forbes.com/sites/daveywinder/2019/06/23/google-confirms-creepy-new-privacy-problem/#3044be5d9d8b
- https://podcast.asknoahshow.com/149
- https://podcast.asknoahshow.com/150
- https://podcast.asknoahshow.com/151
among many other articles online.
The problem isn't just Google it's just too tempting for any cloud based service to misuse the data they collect about you. For this reason among others I have endeavored to create my own cloud using servers and resources in my home using a business class account and in some cases virtual private servers on hosting providers but using encryption.
Note I am Apple user and developer but I am having issues with Apple as well.
Also your house it not a data center (power loss , redundancy and hurricanes oh my!).
Suggestions for replacements:
| Google product | Suggested replacement | My notes about the transition |
|---|---|---|
| Fitbit fitness tracker | Apple Watch or Garmin https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/cIntoSports-c571-p1.html | |
| Search | https://duckduckgo.com/ | |
| https://tutanota.com/ | ||
| Google drive and storage | https://syncthing.net/ + FreeNAS + ZFS (hosted and or at my house) | |
| Google Photos | Frankly I am writing my own but I can recommend https://piwigo.org/ for self-hosting. | |
| Google Docs | TBD | |
| Google Maps | https://www.openstreetmap.org/ | |
| Phone | Apple iPhone or Sony phone and SailFish OS | Keep in mind I am somewhat limited by the apps I require |