Techflicted
I'm on a journey to make my digital life more private and more secure. I've put my notes below in case you're interested in doing the same.
In general I'm going for options that 1) are open source, which means anyone can review the code and verify security and privacy statements and 2) are end to end encrypted (E2EE) and 3) don't support Big Tech who have shown themselves to be sellouts.
NOTE: I have no aliance with any of the products listed here. I receive no funds or support from any of these companies. I am a customer of several of these companies, though, and speek from experience.
| Table of Alternatives | |
|---|---|
| Instead of... | Consider... |
| Google Chrome, Apple Safari, Microsoft Edge, Firefox | Brave Browser |
| Google Search or Bing Search | Brave Search |
| Android Messenger, Apple Messages, Samsung Messenger, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp | Signal |
| DHCP DNS (DNS from your ISP or dictated by DHCP), Google DNS | Cloudflare: 1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1 Quad9: 9.9.9.9 and 149.112.112.112 Cisco OpenDNS: 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220 |
| No VPN or shady free VPN | Proton VPN |
| X, Threads, Facebook | Bluesky or Mastodon |
| YouTube | Odysee |
| Flashes | |
| TikTok | Skylight Social |
| Gmail, iCloud Mail, Outlook Mail, Yahoo Mail, AOL Mail | Proton Mail or Tuta |
| Google Calendar/Contacts, iCloud Calendar/Contacts, Outlook Calendar/Contacts | Proton Calendar (and Contacts) |
| Google Drive, iCloud Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, etc | Proton Drive NOTE: If using Linux none of these are good alternatives. I've found Synology Drive, which uses your Synology NAS, works factastic though! |
| Google Maps, Apple Maps, Bing Maps, etc | Organic Maps |
| Any AI | No AI |
| Google ChromeOS (Chromebook), Apple macOS (MacBook), Microsoft Windows | Linux Mint |
| Google Android, Apple iOS, Samsung | GrapheneOS on Pixel phone |
| Google Chrome Passwords, Apple Safari Passwords, Microsoft Edge Passwords, 1Password | Proton Pass |
| Google Tasks, Apple Reminders, Microsoft ToDo | Lunatask |
| Google Keep, Apple Notes, Microsoft OneNote | Lunatask |
| Google Docs/Sheets/Slides, Apple Pages/Numbers/Keynote, Microsoft Word/Excel/PowerPoint | LibreOffice |
If you're interested in why I recommend any of these feel free to hit me up on Bluesky to chat about it!
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