My DeGoogle journey

April 3, 2026 Everything started when I found the /DeGoogle sub-reddit. Basically, the idea is to expel Google (and other big corporations) from your life. I could really relate to that. Why? I have always valued my privacy, not only on the internet. I know that the Big Tech knows everything about me, but I never complained about it before. "I have nothing to hide" was my argument. However, privacy isn't about hiding, it's about controlling what to show. The problem is that, depending on the services you use, you don't even have the option of deciding what to show or hide. Providers simply collect your data and sell it. You probably agreed to this when you clicked "I read and accept the terms". This mindset change led me to decide to start distancing myself from these companies. I realized that "being a product" is worse than I imagined. Your data is used to predict or manipulate your choices. The memes and news you see on Instagram, the recommended videos you watch on YouTube, and even the autocomplete suggestions on your Google searches are examples of how Big Tech manipulates your decisions, preferences, and even your sense of humor. If you think I'm crazy, just search "Facebook 2012 experiment". If you're too lazy to do that, let me give you a summary (AI-generated): Duck.ai response: "In January 2012 Facebook ran a week‑long experiment (revealed in 2014) that altered what ~700,000 users saw in their News Feeds to test “emotional contagion.” Researchers reduced positive or negative emotional content for randomly selected users and measured changes in those users’ subsequent posts. They reported small but statistically significant shifts: seeing fewer positive posts led to more negative posts, and vice versa. The study drew widespread ethical criticism for conducting research without explicit informed consent and prompted debate about online consent, research oversight, and platform responsibility; Facebook apologized for poor communication." Well, I don't want to be controlled and manipulated. You may think, "I'm not being manipulated by anyone", but that's exactly what a manipulated person would say. If you want to learn more about how Big Tech uses your data to influence your decisions, I recommend the book "The Tyranny of Big Tech" by Josh Hawley. Okay, now that the topic has been introduced, let's return to my journey. What have I been doing so far? In a way, I started this privacy journey years ago. I haven't had any social media for more than five years. I haven't checked the YouTube homepage in a while, and I only watch videos from channels I've subscribed to or from search results. So, I'm less affected by doom-scrolling and algorithm manipulation now. After learning more about how corporations use my data, I made changes to the services I use. First, as the title of this post says, I started quitting Google services. The first and most important thing, in my opinion, was the email service. I created a ProtonMail account and set up aliases on SimpleLogin to keep the original email address private. I won't go into detail about the specific purposes and functions of each service in this post. I'll probably do so in the future. For browsers and search engines, the setup was easier. I chose different browsers for mobile and desktop. I spent about two weeks studying and building a functional DeGoogled setup. I learned new concepts and discovered new tools and strategies, such as app compartmentalization on Android and blocking specific network requests by configuring a firewall. Now, let's move on to the final part: the list of my app choices. It's important to note that I only use these apps for personal use. I still use some Google services, such as Gmail and Google Drive, for work. - Browsers: LibreWolf on desktop and IronFox on mobile - Search Engine: DuckDuckGo - App Store: F-Droid, Aurora Store and Obtainium - Mobile Keyboard: HeliBoard - VPN: ProtonVPN and RethinkDNS - Password Manager: Bitwarden - Authenticator App: Ente Auth - Email: ProtonMail - Email aliases: SimpleLogin - Calendar: ProtonCalendar - YouTube: Invidious for desktop and NewPipe on mobile - AI Chat: Duck.ai - Notes: Notesnook - Storage: USB Drive (nothing on the cloud) - Docs: LibreOffice - Android compartmentalization: Shelter I plan to write more posts explaining these services, the strategies I use, and how I improve my privacy and security. If you've never worried about your data before, I hope this post has helped you understand why you should. I'm not saying you should be paranoid. I'm just saying you should be aware that the services you use are using you, too. See you next time! --- P.S. If you're interested in this topic and would like to find out more about the apps I mentioned, I'd highly recommend this YouTube channel!