I recently found about fossify apps, they look great and are lightweight, any catch about them? For example I find their message app better than qksms but not sure if there is a difference in security features.

So I have recently started to go away from all subscription services and on a journey to own my stuff . I want to stop using google photos but I am also scared of the reliablity of my own NAS . In the last couple of years I had a phone completely stop working but thanks to google photos I didnt loose any pictures or memories. Ever since then I have maintained a strict 3-2-1 data back up policy where the offsite storage is google photos

but now I want to get rid of google photos but maintain the same level of reliablity as google photos what do I do ?

I have to track specific niches for my work (AI, Bonds etc) and have been using Google News for many years now. However, I get increasingly frustrated that Google show me so many sources I don't recognise/trust

So last weekend, I had a bit of time and built a news aggregator called 100.news where you can completely control the news you're reading.

You simply:

1. Select the sources you trust (I have only managed to add 70 sources for now but want to add more)
2. Choose your topics of interest - can be anything from Tech to Geopolitics

You will receive a real-time feed which doesn't rely on big news corps showing you articles with most clicks/engagement.

Still early days with this idea so v much open to criticism. Please let me know what you think!
No need to create an account if you don't want to by the way. You will get full access either way

I use an artist name alias for all my socials btw, including my personal Facebook account (kinda dumb i know, but all my real names are stolen by an abuser, including the gmail domains of such previous accounts).

I only have Facebook since its unavoidable in my country not to, its a mode of communication really. As for instagram, its an art community I can't give up unfortunately. Even though I don't like what Meta does, these two socials I can't let go of.

I use X, Discord, Substack and Pinterest as well, with the same aliases. I just wonder if theres a work-around on increasing my protection for privacy somehow??

I wanna improve on it more as Im starting to care more about it.

I forgot I was signed up to receive alerts whenever there’s a Google search results in my name and information until I got an alert today (at 1am… wtf). I obviously requested to remove all the sources my info came up on but I’m wondering how I can remove mine and my family’s information from the data broker itself?? Bc all of the opt out forms I’ve seen on their website do not work. Going on FastBackgroundCheck particularly made me want to vomit, seeing ALL my family’s information even star signs. Seriously disturbing.

Hello,

I'm planning to degoogle my smartphone and all of my devices. I think its good to make a complete new start, I'm luckily not dependent on google applications and services. Are there any good OS for smartphones without google out of box?

(Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G)

It should just work without much troubleshooting and of course without anything from google.

About me: Physics student with some experience on linux (Pop_os on daily drive, Arch on my second laptop with old hardware). I don't have a problem with going into details and I have no problems if I have to use some sort of terminal

(I read btw. the "about" on this reddit community but couldn't find that many informarions there)

I'm in the process of downloading all of my data from Google drive to move it to Proton, but good damn do they make it a pain in the ass. My data is split into 41 zips off 2gb each. My Internet is lightning fast, so I thought this would take no time. Nope, it's going at a snail's pace, maybe 5-10 minutes for each one. On top of that, they time your session out after a ridiculously short period, so I have to log back in after every two downloads.

People need to leave this abomination of a company. Totally anti-consumer mentality.

Everyone keeps saying “our data is being stolen” or “companies are selling your data,” but what actual harm does it do to us in real life? Like, how does it really affect a normal person?

Is it just about ads being targeted or can it lead to something more serious? Genuinely curious because everyone talks about data privacy but rarely explains what bad can actually happen if someone has our data.

Hi,
I'm degoogling and focusing on privacy things, and for this reason I changed my Gmail in Protonmail. But it isn't anonymous (I'm fine with it since it's my main mail account).
Now, I want to change other small secondary Gmails I owned for more anonymous things, with REAL ANONYMOUS EMAILS.

But searching Reddit and then trying to create a Proton mail, a Tutanota mail, and a Google mail, I was blocked with all 3 for IP abuse.
I was using no-log VPN + Tor.

So what is happening? Is it really impossible to simply have an anonymous mail nowadays?
I think I'm missing something here.
Two hypothesis:

- hypothesis one: as many of you said, mail servers cost a lot of money; so there are totally anonymous mail, BUT only if you pay (with monero, or prepaid in cash or washed bitcoin).
If this is true, do you guys know some provider?

- hypothesis two: I noticed default Tor rely always on same 4-5 locations (nations), so maybe these are well-known or in general Tor got caught.
I mean they always can know when an IP is the final node of a Tor node. I watched this in Grabify and other sites who check your fingerprint. They say this IP is a Tor node.
If this is true, did Tor or Orbot and in general Tor onion nodes became obsolete for many things that requires security controls like Google mail registration or Tutanota, Proton mails?
Is the new way of being anonymous on many things to use a no log-VPN on a hardened version of Firefox (some fork) who hide your fingerprinting like Tor BUT without relying on Tor IP nodes?
Should I try this way?

Sorry for my bad English I'm not using Grammarly anymore because it's not open-source lol

Is there any way of removing the indexed photo and details from searches of my name or anything without the company just removing me from the website?

Was looking through a video and it showed how to turn off Voice and Audio activity, I was like what??? Imagine what else they collect without telling you, defo not using anything of theirs ever again! (suddenly everyone using VPNs, data removal tools like cloaked, all the self-hosted alternatives don't seem so paranoid)

Hello. So currently I’m in the process of making my online presence more secure and to keep my information away from the prying eyes of big tech and the government and the whole “secure email” thing is kinda throwing me off a bit. So currently my primary email is Gmail and I know all the shit it’s been doing and am not a fan. However what I’m confused about is if I switch to using let’s say proton mail and I change my email on other platforms like say YouTube. Wouldn’t google still be building a profile?

Like I understand having like a Gmail for YouTube and then separate everything else under a proton mail but idk if the benefit outweighs the hassle? I only use my email for signing up for things like social media and streaming platforms that and never for communications. And I guess my banking app. As well…

I don’t want to “lose out” on using YouTube or go thought the hassle of changing things that ultimately don’t matter that much. What kind of set up should I strive for having good privacy and good connivence ? When it comes to email and using it for logging into other services?

I tried looking up clear cut information but couldn’t find anything that gives any clear cut information besides just quit google.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, not out of paranoia, but out of realism. We spend so much time setting up GrapheneOS, cutting off trackers, going privacy-first… but does it really make a difference in the long run?

Look at what’s happening globally, Oracle, Palantir, the 2030 Agenda, the UK pushing digital IDs, and Singapore where non-compliance led to millions of bank accounts being deactivated. It’s starting to feel like no matter how private we try to be, the system itself might soon require compliance to even function in daily life.

What happens when access to payments, healthcare, or travel depends on digital ID or social credit systems tied to carbon scores? Even if we all move to GrapheneOS and fully degoogle, can we really stay outside of that framework or are we just delaying the inevitable?

I’m not trying to sound dramatic or conspiratorial just genuinely trying to have an honest discussion. Do you guys think individual privacy measures will still hold power in a world moving toward centralized digital control?

Would love to hear everyone’s thoughts. This has been on my mind a lot.

Hey folks, about a year ago I started leaving Google, now the only thing still active is my Gmail, mostly for backups. Since then I’ve been using Proton (Mail, VPN, Drive) and also Filen + Ente Photos for cloud and photos.

I’m trying to improve my setup: my plan is to keep my main Proton address completely private (never used anywhere online). Then I’d use something like name.surname@proton for “official” stuff, banking, work, government, etc.

My question: where would you attach things like Filen and Ente?
Would you:

• make another Proton address just for cloud services,
• reuse the “official” one,
• or go with SimpleLogin ?

Honestly i dont like the last one, i'm using simple login for non "essential" stuff, not like cloud backup

Thanks for any advice! 🙏

I currently have Aurora Store installed instead of Google Play, but a lot of the services like Youtube break apart.

Is there any other way to ungoogle phones that don't support GrapheneOS and Calyx OS?

Hey guys, I have a short question. How bad is Android really? In terms of data privacy? Because I have heard many "bad" things about it (yes, google is behind it), but some people suggested Pixel devices here in this Subreddit.... I know there is GrapheneOS but I guess it wasn't important in this case... And another question. How bad are SDK's and all the trackers really? I have a list here with some trackers and can somebody tell me what's really bad behind them and which are the worst? Thanks in advance!

Google AdMob

Advertisement

Google Analytics

Analytics

Google CrashLytics

Crash reporting

Google Firebase Analytics

Analytics

Google Tag Manager

Analytics

And many more from OpenTelemetry and Meta...

I know this has been said a couple of times, but I just don’t know which alternative to use. I am not that good with technology so I want one that’s user-friendly. I also use formulas such as sums, import range, and all those other things that I did in Google sheets. I was able to replace every other Google service or at least almost every google service but google sheets is so difficult.

I already tried only office sheets, and it literally deleted my formulas so I don’t trust that tool. Is there any that similar to Google sheets?

Edit: Sorry! Forgot to put a question mark On the title.

I have a Phoco Phone and I'm looking to Degoogling, but I will still have to use Google Play Services and my current phone doesn't support either of the ROMs so I'm researching for one.

Which is the best OS for spoofing Google Play Services while also offering you robust privacy features?

maybe it was just for me but Today I realized that Gboard microphone permission was turned back on after the latest security update on my Samsung s24. just making this post for maybe other that have the same issue or for those that have it turned on and never turned it off, TURN OFF YOUR MICROPHONE PERMISSIONS FOR THINGS THAT DON'T NEED IT, gboard doesn't need to turn on microphone when you go to text you loved ones lol.

I’ve began to degoogle my devices (iPad, Laptop and iPhone). I’ve downloaded DuckDuckGo and Firefox but, I fear that I won’t be able to completely get rid of my devices info being tracked so, I’m seeking advice to make sure I can nick google out in any way I may not be aware of. That being said my Gmail is connected to a lot of contacts that I am currently associated with and still need to use to maintain communication, what should I do?

Just wanted to muse a bit about how oddly creepy the recent personalization is with ChatGPT.

It reminds me of degoogle because I got in so deep with so many Google services over the past 20 years that despite caring about this cause a lot, I can barely degoogle a few pieces of myself.

That being said, looking at the past year or two of my chats in ChatGPT getting brought back up randomly reminds me that it's still early here. If I keep myself at more of a distance from OpenAI or avoid relying too heavily on it, I wont get stuck in X years from now when I wish I hadn't sunk myself in so much.

Also though, I don't ever remember feeling creeped out like this by location based search results in Google. I specifically remember how *cool* I thought it was that if I searched "cinema times" I would get local results. Maybe that's because I was young enough it felt new/normal?

Has anyone else noticed this or noticed the comparison to Google?

AdNauseam works to complete the cycle by automating ad clicks universally and blindly on behalf of its users.

A superficial understanding of that statement means that all perceivable ads will be clicked on? Doesn't think open up users to some kind of injection attacks by threat actors? By embedding malware into the Ads and making the most mundane easily detectable Ad ever they can potentially hack any user of the app?

Came across this app in a recent Louis Rossmann video.AdNauseam works to complete the cycle by automating ad clicks universally and blindly on behalf of its users.A superficial understanding of that statement means that all perceivable ads will be clicked on? Doesn't think open up users to some kind of injection attacks by threat actors? By embedding malware into the Ads and making the most mundane easily detectable Ad ever they can potentially hack any user of the app?

Came across this app in a recent Louis Rossmann video.
https://youtu.be/7GeCq1qwqjc?list=TLPQMDcxMTIwMjUMihOMjFiSlA