Degoogling myself
Over the last few years, I've become increasingly aware of how much I relied on “free” services online, how “free” means supported by ads and my data, and how much I resent this model.
So I've set out on a mission to “degoogle” myself as much as possible by identifying alternatives to such services that truly respect my privacy and that I can support by other means than my data.
Finding and joining data.coop has been a fairly big driver in this process. It's a great community and I hope to be able to contribute more in the future. I recommend checking it out, especially if you're based in or around Copenhagen.
Here's a break-down of where I was and where I am now:
| Type of service | Previous service(s) | Considerations | Switched/switching to | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gmail, MS 365 | Tuta | Proton Mail (*) | $3.49/month | |
| Socials (generic) | Facebook, Twitter | Had brief stints at scicomm.xyz and tech.lgbt | social.data.coop (Mastodon) | part of data.coop membership (300 DKK/year) |
| Socials (photos) | Have created accounts with Pixelfed.dk, but haven't used it yet | free | ||
| Books | Goodreads | StoryGraph | The Library of the Uncommons (Bookwyrm) | free |
| Search engine | DuckDuckGo (better, but still ads) | Kagi Search | $6.30/month (duo plan) | |
| Office apps | Google Docs | MS 365, Nextcloud Office | undecided, still trying out | (NextCloud) part of data.coop membership (300 DKK/year) |
| Maps | Google Maps | Apple Maps, OSM | haven't made the switch yet |
(*) this is my referral link so Proton will credit me if you use it
My journey is far from over, but I feel I've made significant progress in the last year. I hope to come back to this post and make more additions to the table above.
Are you also trying to degoogle yourself? What choices have you made?
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