Back in my last post I wrote about how slowy I was moving away from Google services in particular and how little I had achieved in the past eight months.
Soon after that I saw a post of a neat looking graphics by someone, that showed a list of services and their privacy friendly alternatives he had replaced them with. Apparently there is a website called privacy pack replacing google apps, that lets you create this graphics.
This inspired me to take a deeper look into what I might have already achieved overall regarding my digital autonomy and what I would like to achieve in the future.
“The List” Link to heading
| Application | Replace | With | Status | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OS computers |   |
Windows, macOS | Debian Ubuntu Manjaro |    |
✔️ |
| Word processing |   |
Google Docs, Micrsoft Word | Emacs, Org Mode, LaTeX, LibreOffice Writer |     |
✔️ |
| Spreadsheet |   |
Google Sheets, Microsoft Excel | Emacs, Org Mode, LibreOffice Calc |  |
✔️ |
| Web-Browser |   |
Google Chrome, Firefox | LibreWolf, Iceraven, Vivaldi, Tor-Browser, Emacs |     |
✔️ |
| Git hosting |   |
GitHub/CI, Gitlab/CI | Codeberg, Woodpecker |   |
✔️/✔️ |
| Social media |      |
Facebook, X, Instagram, LinkedIn, Xing | mastodon, pixelfed |   |
✔️ |
| Passwords, Passkeys | |
Google Chrome, Firefox | BitWarden, Yubikey |   |
✔️ |
| Hosting | Hetzner, Dokku |   |
✔️ | ||
| VPN | WireGuard |  |
✔️ | ||
| Web search |  |
Google Search | DuckDuckGo, 🖼️❓, 🎵❓ |  |
(✔️), ❓, ❓ |
| Authenticator |  |
Google Authenticator | BitWarden, Yubikey | |
(✔️) |
| Translation |  |
Google Translate, Bing | DeepL, 🇹🇭❓, 💬❓ |  |
(✔️), ❓, ❓ |
| Cloud drive |  |
Google Drive | File Browser, mailbox 1 |   |
✔️/⏳ |
 |
GMail | mailbox 1 | |
⏳ | |
| Calendar |  |
Google Calendar | mailbox 1 | |
🔍 |
| Photo archive |  |
(Google Photos) | (local) Immich |  |
🔍 |
| Maps |  |
Google Maps | OsmAnd, 📢❓ |  |
🔍, ⏳, ❓ |
| Home automation |   |
Google Home, Bosch Home Connect | ❓ | ❓ | 🔍 |
| Appliances |    |
Brother, Bose, Bosch Home Connect, Feelfit | ❓ | ❓ | 🔍 |
| Messenger |   |
WhatsApp, LINE | ❓ | ❓ | 🔍 |
| Music |  |
Spotify | ❓ | ❓ | 🔍 |
| Contacts |  |
Google Contacts | ❓ | ❓ | 🔍 |
| OS smartphones |    |
Android, ColorOS, Samsung | ❓ | ❓ | 🔍 |
| App store |  |
Google Play | F-Droid, ❓ |  |
❓ |
| Payment |   |
Google Wallet, Google Pay | ❓ | ❓ | ❓ |
| Health |    |
Fitbit, Feelfit, Health Connect, Samsung Health | ❓ | ❓ | ❓ |
About the contents of the list Link to heading
Each row of the list in the previous section consists of an application (eg. Web-Browser), services/apps/software I want to replace (eg. Google Chrome) with logos2, services/apps/software I want to use instead in the future (eg. Librewolf) and a status.
What the status means Link to heading
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ✔️ | fully replaced |
| (✔️) | partially replaced |
| ⏳ | scheduled |
| 🔍 | research |
| ❓ | no replacement found (yet) |
- ✔️
- Completely switched, without any exceptions. Like I switched to Linux in 1996 and only kept Windows on dual boot machine when it came preinstalled. Now all my computers run solely a variant of Linux
- (✔️)
- Switched with exceptions. Like I completely switched to DuckDuckGo for web search, but occasionally I need to search by an image that I provide. Then I have to fall back to Google image search, for not knowing an alternative
- ⏳
- In the process of switching. So I found a service/app/software I want to switch to, but switching needs some preparation or is a more elaborate process. Like switching from GMail to another service provider
- ❓
- Haven’t found a good replacement (yet). This could be for various reasons. Maybe I did the research and actually haven’t found any/good replacement (I would be more than happy to get suggestions in that case). But it also could mean, that it’s not a technical reason. Like I would love to ditch WhatsApp for Signal, but most people I care about and too many groups I’m interested in are on WhatsApp. Me switching to Signal will not just move them to Signal with me 🤷
Alternatives Link to heading
The chosen alternatives are no general recommendation, but are my personal preference. Like I do a lot of what could be called “word processing” using Emacs (like writing this post). But even I understand, that this wouldn’t be the first choice for most.
Personal trade-offs Link to heading
For some applications one could argue, that instead of switching to a privacy friendly alternative, it would be better to not use any service/app/software for that at all, like monitoring your vitals or your fitness. Let me just say, that in this case I decided, that the benefits for my personal health outweigh the admittedly high price I have to pay with my data.
Work might be different Link to heading
The list also only reflects my personal choices. In my professional life I regularly have to deal with service/apps/software/systems that I would rather not use, but where that decision is not mine to make.
Epilog Link to heading
There would be much more to write for each application, but that is for another post 🤞.
So after looking closer I got a clearer picture of what my dependencies are and I was kind of surprised how many there are and how deep they are going (And I haven’t even mentioned AI services yet).
Maybe this can work as an motivation for you to make your own “list” and start your personal journey to regain digital autonomy.
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All artwork is copyrighted by their respective owner. ↩︎