Do any of you ever feel the desire to go back to your “Google’d” existence? For some background, I have used Google for most of my life and have recently started following some privacy-oriented creators on YouTube. I created a Proton account and have started moving my stuff there but am still using a locked Pixel (will unlock when paid off).
It feels great to go with alternatives to Google (Proton, OpenStreetMap, OpenWeather) but there are definitely times when it feels burdensome. I am often tempted to sacrifice privacy for convenience and feel like there is no way to TRULY escape Google in my life.
Wasn’t sure if anyone felt the same way, or had any tips on following this privacy-focused lifecycle.
(I almost look at this like eating healthier–it feels great to do it, but seeing others in happy ignorance adds a challenge…)
Privacy isn’t the only reason to have alternatives app alternatives have the advantage that they might have different abilities then Google and thus could achieve more diversity of features though Google is pretty high quality different algorithms might produce different stuff.
It’s definitely a lengthy marathon and not a sprint. Google’s embedded itself into modern life intricately, but there was still a learning curve to get the most out of their services at first. Same goes for privacy focused alternatives, taking it slow and adjusting to one alt at a time should make the process easier to stay on course. For me, realizing how much Google makes selling data but never asks what user data is ok to sell or offering a small part of the profit to the user keeps me improving my online anonymity daily!
