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Alternatives to Google Products – The Complete List


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2018 Jun 11, 7:27am   4,029 views  43 comments

by Patrick   ➕follow (55)   💰tip   ignore  

https://restoreprivacy.com/google-alternatives/

Google’s entire business model is based on you surrendering to their corporate surveillance. That’s it. All they do is repackage mass corporate surveillance into convenient, free, trendy applications that suck up all your data. Your private data helps Google dominate the online advertising market.

You are the product.

The other key issue to consider here is that Google is tracking and recording your activity in order to build a user profile, which can be used for various purposes. Google has many ways to track your activity, even if you are not logged into a Google account:

Tracking through Google Adsense (all those annoying banner ads you see on most websites also function as tracking)
Tracking through YouTube and other Google-owned platforms and products
Tracking through websites that use Google Analytics (most websites use Google analytics – but not Restore Privacy)
All the data that Google collects about you is usually monetized through targeted advertising (Google is now the largest advertising company in the world). Your data may also be provided to government authorities (Google has been cooperating with governments for mass surveillance since 2009).

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2   Patrick   2018 Sep 25, 7:12am  

Latest abuse of users' privacy:

https://twitter.com/ctavan/status/1044282084020441088

Google's Chrome browser refuses to clear Google cookies or localstorage.

The only way to stop Chrome from spying on you is to delete Chrome.
3   NuttBoxer   2018 Sep 25, 7:18am  

I like Chrome, FOR ME TO POOP ON!
4   MisdemeanorRebel   2018 Oct 9, 6:28pm  

Brave is nice but has a ways to go.

Right now it's Firefox, until Brave gets some more extensions without having to install Chrome and moving those ext.s over.

I'll be migrating from Chrome on my laptop soon.
5   curious2   2018 Oct 10, 7:02am  

Firefox, StartPage (formerly ixquick).

https://searchenginewatch.com/2016/02/25/say-goodbye-to-google-14-alternative-search-engines/

If anyone develops a phone OS not dependent on JavaScript, please let me know.
6   Y   2018 Oct 10, 7:10am  

I can't give up Google syncing across all my platforms from phone to computers to Galaxy tabs. Book marking a page and having it everywhere is invaluable. Another way to fight adds is to email the ad companies and tell them you're not buying their products because their ads litter your phone and you're gonna make sure your friends don't buy their products either
7   zzyzzx   2018 Oct 10, 7:31am  



#fuckGoogle
8   Patrick   2019 Feb 4, 8:05am  

https://defn.io/2019/02/04/bye-bye-google/

I’m not even going to get into all the information they gather from people who use Android phones. While I don’t believe that folks working at Google are actively trying to do harm, I believe that, due to the sheer size of the company, no one is truly at the helm and this massive organism will tend toward maximizing profits at whatever expense so I’ve decided to do my best to support the smaller alternatives that are out there.
10   Booger   2019 Feb 4, 6:31pm  

https://www.infowars.com/youtube-looking-into-removing-dislike-button-after-gillette-ad-youtube-rewind-fails/

YOUTUBE LOOKING INTO REMOVING DISLIKE BUTTON AFTER GILLETTE AD, YOUTUBE REWIND FAILS
11   marcus   2019 Feb 4, 6:47pm  

Patrick says
I’ve decided to do my best to support the smaller alternatives that are out there.


This is admirable. I'm too lazy, and I like their products. Google drive and google docs are great.

Sadly, my nature is to wait until a competitors products are good enough to try them out. By then the competitors will have had the blessings of of the surveillance state or they will later.

Why fight it ?

Resistance is futile.

12   NuttBoxer   2019 Feb 5, 11:38am  

I recently switched to protonmail, everything is encrypted in your inbox, and the servers are in Switzerland, so fairly private.
13   theoakman   2019 Feb 5, 3:47pm  

I've created an alias for everything online where possible and have been using it for years.
14   Patrick   2019 Feb 8, 8:30am  

https://medium.com/@vvecsei/fighting-the-surveillance-economy-a-practical-guide-for-individuals-and-companies-cb9719fe1098

By placing a Google script or a Facebook pixel on your website and in app you pass on behavioral information of your users to these companies. This data is almost always “anonymized”, but it’s evident that customer profiles are connected to this information with high confidence, resulting in better understanding of their habits. Your usage of Google Analytics goes against the core principles of “caring about the privacy of your visitors”.

This is also true for any other third party tool that you use that processes customer data in some way — the issue of no consent aside intentional malevolence, sloppy internal policies and data breaches all pose a threat to the privacy of your customers. For (almost) every tool you use, there is a self-hosted and open-source alternative. Switch to Matomo from Google Analytics to collect and analyze visitor data. Use RocketChat instead of Slack to protect sensitive information you share within your team.
15   anonymous   2019 Mar 13, 12:48pm  

Google Hardware makes cuts to laptop and tablet development, cancels products - The group that brought us the Pixelbook and Pixel Slate is being downsized.

A report from Business Insider claims that Google has axed "dozens" of employees from its laptop and tablet division. BI's sources describe the move as "roadmap cutbacks" and also say that Google will likely "pare down the portfolio" in the future.

Google's Hardware division is run by Rick Osterloh and is expected to launch a game streaming console later this month. The division is responsible for the Pixel phones, Google Home speakers, the Chromecast, Google Wi-Fi, and lately, the Nest smart home division.

For "laptops and tablets," the group's most recent hardware products have been the Pixel Slate and Pixelbook. The Pixel Slate was a weird Chrome OS tablet with a detachable keyboard, made as a competitor to the Microsoft Surface and Apple iPad Pro. The Pixelbook, like the Chromebook Pixel before it, is just a high-end Chrome OS laptop. The tablet is, well, a Google tablet, and as usual, it debuted to a lukewarm reception. The Pixelbook, though, is a well-liked (if expensive) laptop for people who want a simple Chrome OS device in a high-quality package.

You could also call the "laptop and tablet" division the "Chrome OS" division. Both the Pixelbook and Pixel Slate ran Chrome OS, and they are the company's only products supporting that operating system. Is Chrome OS going to be OK? BI notes that manufacturing roles in the hardware division haven't changed, so in the short-term, Google's product lineup is likely to keep going. The report says that Google had "a bunch of stuff in the works" that now probably won't see the light of day.

The move comes after the group received pressure to turn Google Hardware into "a real business" from higher-ups at Google/Alphabet. It's easy to imagine that the laptops and tablets—which are Google Hardware's most expensive products—were selling the worst.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2019/03/google-hardware-makes-cuts-to-laptop-and-tablet-development-cancels-products/?comments=1
16   MisdemeanorRebel   2019 Mar 13, 2:08pm  

GMX has a calendar and mini office suite, free email.
https://www.gmx.com/
17   Patrick   2021 Apr 15, 2:38pm  

Another nice list of browsers here:

https://reclaimthenet.org/private-web-browsers/

I've been using Brave and think it's very good.
18   Patrick   2021 Apr 18, 9:40am  

https://www.go350.com/posts/replace-google-analytics-with-a-shell-script/

Lol, you can get most of what you want just by parsing your log files.
19   FortwayeAsFuckJoeBiden   2021 Apr 18, 10:04am  

Now that google stopped being a product, and offers propaganda filtered information I prefer not to use it. Value isn’t there.
20   just_passing_through   2021 Apr 18, 11:16am  

Patrick says
I've been using Brave and think it's very good.


Same here but yesterday (and still today) the Tor feature isn't working. It just says:

Tor Status
Disconnected

edit: The fix is to delete the data folder from the AppData tor folder.
21   Patrick   2021 Apr 22, 5:52pm  

https://reclaimthenet.org/switch-to-private-email-provider/

How to switch to a more private email provider
Follow these steps to easily back up and transfer your data.
22   Patrick   2021 Apr 23, 2:04pm  

https://reclaimthenet.org/google-drive-blocks-vaccine-side-effect-document/

Google Drive blocks access to document that compiled news coverage of COVID vaccine side effects

Google is blocking access to a PDF document that has compiled 106 pages of screenshots of mainstream media reports about people who have allegedly experienced negative side effects or died after taking a COVID-19 vaccine and social media testimony from those who have alleged adverse vaccine reactions.

The document is titled “Informed Consent Matters” and states that “it is everyone’s right to review the first-hand testimonies of the COVID vaccine adverse reactions without censorship.” It adds that by giving people access to this data, they can perform their own risk benefit analysis.


https://circleofmamas.com/health-news/frontline-workers-testimonials-vaers-reports/
23   richwicks   2021 Apr 26, 5:37pm  

Patrick says
https://restoreprivacy.com/google-alternatives/


I'm playing around with YaCy (a peer to peer search engine) - I've opened a port up on my machine if anybody wants to play with it. This is running on a raspberry pi. The address is:

http://samoyed.dynu.net:8090

If somebody wants to try it out. I hope somebody does, I'd be interested in how you think it compares to Google.

It's a little slow initially, but if you get 1000 results, clicking the next page is instantaneous. This is using a peer to peer system, which means no one entity controls it.

Patrick says
Google Drive blocks access to document that compiled news coverage of COVID vaccine side effects

Google is blocking access to a PDF document that has compiled 106 pages of screenshots of mainstream media reports about people who have allegedly experienced negative side effects or died after taking a COVID-19 vaccine and social media testimony from those who have alleged adverse vaccine reactions.


Here's what happens when I search for "covid vaccine side effects"

http://samoyed.dynu.net:8090/yacysearch.html?query=covid+vaccine+side+effects&Enter=&auth=&verify=ifexist&contentdom=text&nav=location%2Chosts%2Cauthors%2Cnamespace%2Ctopics%2Cfiletype%2Cprotocol%2Clanguage&startRecord=0&indexof=off&meanCount=5&resource=global&prefermaskfilter=&maximumRecords=10&timezoneOffset=420

This is what Google returns:

https://www.google.com/search?q=covid+vaccine+side+effects&sxsrf=ALeKk025re0NeZsd1ORNex_zwdOyZxXTuA%3A1619484274139&source=hp&ei=cl6HYICEBYiIsQWW0b2wCQ&iflsig=AINFCbYAAAAAYIdsgp21xR0IXPmCcIXcCyrV6JhijloR&oq=covid+vaccine+side+effects&gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EAMyBQgAELEDMgUIABCxAzIFCAAQsQMyBQgAELEDMgUIABCxAzIICAAQsQMQgwEyAggAMgIIADICCAAyAggAOgQIIxAnOgsILhCxAxDHARCjAjoICC4QsQMQgwE6DgguELEDEMcBEKMCEJMCOggIABCxAxDJAzoFCAAQkgNQ1gpYlylg5ipoAHAAeACAAaQBiAHYGZIBBDAuMjaYAQCgAQGqAQdnd3Mtd2l6&sclient=gws-wiz&ved=0ahUKEwiAhYGHmZ3wAhUIRKwKHZZoD5YQ4dUDCAo&uact=5
24   Patrick   2021 Apr 26, 7:57pm  

richwicks says
YaCy (a peer to peer search engine)


Thanks, this looks interesting.
25   richwicks   2021 Apr 26, 8:55pm  

Patrick says
richwicks says
YaCy (a peer to peer search engine)


Thanks, this looks interesting.


It's a bit wonky. It runs on a pi, but a Pi4 with 4GB of memory - not 1GB. I moved it to a VM.

I'm playing around so I'm starting and restarting it.

It's interesting that sometimes I get amazing results and sometimes, lousy ones. I wouldn't recommend running it on a VM with less than 2 GB, and even that might be tight. I'm being very permissive and using 8GB.
26   theoakman   2021 Apr 27, 5:09am  

Brave is a superior product to anything else out there. I used firefox for 20 years and was sold after only 1 week. In doing more research, I actually enabled the Brave ads on my computer. Their Basic Attention Token (cryptocurrency) ad system is a great idea and can potentially cut into the revenues of google, facebook etc... which are incredibly invasive. They give you a slice of their pie. I currently have $7 earned just for using their browser. If you don't want them, you can "tip" or contribute them to your preferred content providers.
27   Patrick   2021 Apr 27, 9:43am  

https://themarkup.org/privacy/2021/04/27/google-promised-its-contact-tracing-app-was-completely-private-but-it-wasnt

Privacy

Google Promised Its Contact Tracing App Was Completely Private—But It Wasn’t

Researchers say hundreds of preinstalled apps can access a log found on Android devices where sensitive contact tracing information is stored
28   Patrick   2021 Apr 27, 2:22pm  

theoakman says
I actually enabled the Brave ads on my computer. Their Basic Attention Token (cryptocurrency) ad system is a great idea and can potentially cut into the revenues of google, facebook etc... which are incredibly invasive.


@theoakman Good idea, I enabled their Basic Attention Token in Brave as well.

I feel a trust toward Brave the I absolutely do not feel with any Google product like Chrome.

How do you collect the money from Brave Attention Tokens when you have surfed enough ads?
29   theoakman   2021 Apr 27, 2:55pm  

You can activate the wallet in your browser. It will start the ads, and then it lists your rewards payout which happens monthly. I liked the system much that I purchased 200 in Basic attention token to support the system.
30   Patrick   2021 Apr 27, 2:58pm  

@theoakman Yes, I did that, but how do they actually pay you US dollars? You have to give them a bank account or something, right?
31   NuttBoxer   2021 Apr 30, 1:57pm  

This guy gets into everything, including alternative mobile app stores:
https://www.minds.com/embed/1233716368224440320
32   Patrick   2021 Apr 30, 6:34pm  

I like it.
33   Patrick   2021 May 1, 11:24am  

Finally watched it all, and it's a really good interview:

https://www.minds.com/embed/1233716368224440320
34   NuttBoxer   2021 May 1, 5:31pm  

Didn't know about router triangulation, that's actually pretty cool from a tech standpoint, but of course super creepy with Google. Also, not surprised to hear Google bought Android, reminds me of the Gates/Basic story.
35   Patrick   2021 May 12, 5:40pm  

https://reclaimthenet.org/free-speech-friendly-discord-alternatives/

Discord also censors on the basis of political views. Avoid them.
36   Patrick   2021 May 25, 9:40am  

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/may/25/gchqs-mass-data-sharing-violated-right-to-privacy-court-rules

The UK spy agency GCHQ’s methods for bulk interception of online communications violated the right to privacy and the regime for collection of data was unlawful, the grand chamber of the European court of human rights has ruled.

In what was described as a “landmark victory” by Liberty, one of the applicants, the judges also found the bulk interception regime breached the right to freedom of expression and contained insufficient protections for confidential journalistic material but said the decision to operate a bulk interception regime did not of itself violate the European convention on human rights.

The chamber, the ultimate court of the ECHR, also concluded that GCHQ’s regime for sharing sensitive digital intelligence with foreign governments was not illegal.

The grand chamber judgment is the culmination of a legal challenge to GCHQ’s bulk interception of online communications begun in 2013 by Big Brother Watch and others after Edward Snowden’s whistleblowing revelations concerning the interception, processing and storing of data about millions of people’s private communications by the eavesdropping agency.


Lawsuits are the answer! There still seem to be enough honest judges for lawsuits to work.

This organization started the suit: https://bigbrotherwatch.org.uk/
37   Patrick   2021 May 25, 9:42am  

https://apnews.com/article/europe-technology-business-d7c3819420c7bb5221e7ed8cb8042520

BERLIN (AP) — German regulators have launched an investigation into Google’s position in the market, and how the search engine and advertising giant handles user data.

The Federal Cartel Office, or Bundeskartellamt, said Tuesday that it has started proceedings against Google entities in Germany, Ireland and California based on new provisions in German competition law that apply to large digital companies. Similar probes were launched into the activities of Facebook and Amazon in recent months.


It also helps a lot that we do not yet have one world government, but various governments with different ideas on how to do things.
39   Patrick   2021 Jun 7, 2:57pm  

I'm in the beta of https://search.brave.com/

Going to use it for a while and see if it's better than DDG.
40   Patrick   2021 Jun 9, 9:51pm  

https://reclaimthenet.org/vivaldi-translate-email-calendar-rss-reader/

Vivaldi’s wide range of features have made it a compelling alternative to Big Tech browsers such as Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge.

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