De-Google Your Life - Part 1: Start With Chrome
Summary
TLDRThis video script discusses the impact of Google's data collection practices and offers a guide for users seeking alternatives to Google's suite of services. It explores privacy-focused alternatives to Google Chrome, search engines, email providers, and photo backup services. The script also touches on DNS options and encourages viewers to consider these alternatives to reduce reliance on Google's ecosystem.
Takeaways
- 🔍 Google frequently shuts down popular services, making users reliant on their ecosystem.
- 🔐 Google collects vast amounts of user data to train machine learning algorithms and for advertising purposes.
- 🌐 Chrome alternatives like Firefox, Brave, and Arc offer better privacy protections and retain support for older ad-blocking extensions.
- 🚫 Alternatives to Google Search, like StartPage, DuckDuckGo, and Brave Search, offer enhanced privacy without tracking your personal data.
- 📧 Privacy-focused email providers like Tutanota and ProtonMail are good alternatives to Gmail, offering end-to-end encryption.
- 📷 Self-hosted photo backup options like Ente and Stingle provide private and secure alternatives to Google Photos, with varying features.
- 📡 DNS services like Quad9 and NextDNS offer privacy-focused alternatives to Google’s DNS, preventing tracking of your online activities.
- 🖥 Switching browsers, search engines, and DNS servers helps users reduce dependence on Google’s ecosystem.
- 💸 Many privacy-focused services, while free at basic tiers, also offer premium features for more control and customization.
- 📑 The video is part of a series called 'De-Google Your Life,' with upcoming episodes covering services like Maps, password managers, and YouTube alternatives.
Q & A
What are some of the main reasons people feel trapped in the Google ecosystem?
-People feel trapped in the Google ecosystem because Google products are highly convenient, widely used, and often free. However, these services come with hidden costs like personal data being collected and sold to advertisers, which makes users reliant on them.
What is 'Manifest V3,' and why is it a concern for privacy advocates?
-Manifest V3 is a new standard for Chromium-based browsers that restricts the functionality of certain browser extensions, particularly ad blockers, under the guise of improving security. Privacy advocates are concerned because it limits the ability to block ads and track browsing data.
Which browsers are mentioned as alternatives to Google Chrome, and what are their key features?
-Firefox, Brave, and Arc are mentioned as alternatives to Chrome. Firefox offers privacy-first features and will not adopt Manifest V3. Brave includes built-in content blocking and privacy options, while Arc offers a minimalist UI and encrypted sync options.
How does ungoogled Chromium differ from regular Chromium-based browsers?
-Ungoogled Chromium strips out all Google-related services and features, providing a more privacy-focused, stock browser experience. It also includes additional features like fingerprint resistance and customizable anti-tracking options.
What are some search engine alternatives to Google, and what makes them stand out?
-Alternatives like Startpage, Ecosia, DuckDuckGo, and Brave Search stand out due to their privacy-first policies. They anonymize search queries and do not track users, with Brave Search offering additional features like an AI-powered answer engine and anonymized local search.
Why should users consider switching from Gmail, and what are some privacy-centric alternatives?
-Gmail analyzes user behavior to target ads, and it compromises privacy by monetizing user data. Privacy-centric alternatives like ProtonMail and Tutanota offer end-to-end encryption, transparency reports, and features like alias email addresses for enhanced privacy.
What are some alternatives to Google Photos for backing up photos, and how do they compare?
-Ente and Stingle are privacy-focused alternatives to Google Photos. Ente offers on-device facial recognition and machine learning features, while Stingle offers secure photo storage at a lower cost. Both allow users to self-host and provide enhanced privacy protections.
What are some DNS services that can help users move away from Google, and what benefits do they offer?
-Quad9, NextDNS, and Cloudflare DNS are alternatives to Google’s DNS. They offer features like malware blocking and DNS over HTTPS, which prevents internet service providers or hotspots from snooping on users' browsing activity. They also claim to have better privacy policies.
How can users change their default search engine on various browsers?
-On Firefox, users can change their search engine through the search settings menu, while on Chromium-based browsers, it is located under 'Settings.' Safari users may need to install an extension if their desired search engine is not in Apple’s default list.
What are the main challenges and benefits of switching from Google services to more privacy-focused alternatives?
-The main challenges include reconfiguring profiles, migrating data, and learning new interfaces. However, the benefits are greater privacy, more control over personal data, and freedom from Google’s data collection practices.
Outlines
🔍 De-Google Your Life: Browser Alternatives
The paragraph discusses the impact of Google's omnipresence and how it can be concerning due to privacy issues and the discontinuation of services. It introduces the concept of 'de-Googling' and presents alternative web browsers to Google Chrome, such as Firefox, Tor Browser, and Brave. These alternatives are highlighted for their privacy-focused features, end-to-end encryption, and support for Manifest V2 extensions, which are being phased out in favor of Manifest V3 in Chromium-based browsers. The paragraph also mentions the benefits of Pulseway, a monitoring and management software, and encourages viewers to explore privacy-centric options.
🔎 Beyond Google: Search Engine Alternatives
This paragraph explores alternatives to Google's search engine, emphasizing the need for privacy and control over personal data. It introduces search engines like Startpage, Ecosia, and DuckDuckGo, which offer anonymized search histories and do not build user profiles. The paragraph also discusses Brave Search, which provides privacy protections and unique features like an AI-powered answer engine. Kagi is mentioned for its comprehensive privacy policy and machine learning tools. The importance of changing the default search engine in browsers is highlighted, with instructions provided for Firefox and Chromium-based browsers, and a note on the limitations for Safari users.
📧 Escaping Gmail: Privacy-Centric Email Options
The paragraph delves into the privacy concerns associated with Gmail and offers alternatives such as Tutanota and ProtonMail. These services are praised for their end-to-end encryption, independent audits, and lack of ads based on user data. The paragraph explains the process of migrating from Gmail to these services, which includes importing emails and setting up new email accounts. It also touches on the benefits of using custom domains and email aliases for better privacy and security. The paragraph concludes with a cautionary note about the complexity of running one's own email server and the practicality of using privacy-focused providers.
📸 Self-Hosting Photos and Secure DNS
This paragraph addresses the privacy concerns related to Google Photos and suggests self-hosting as a solution. It mentions open-source and self-hostable options like Nextcloud and PhotoSync for photo backup and organization. The paragraph also introduces the concept of using a VPN tunnel for secure access to self-hosted services. Additionally, it discusses the importance of secure DNS services to protect browsing sessions and prevent tracking. Alternative DNS providers like Quad9 and NextDNS are recommended for their no-logging policies and additional security features. The paragraph provides guidance on setting up alternative DNS services at various levels, including browser, operating system, and router configurations.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Google Chrome
💡Manifest V3
💡Privacy-first browsers
💡Ad blockers
💡Search engines
💡Ungoogled Chromium
💡DNS
💡Self-hosting
💡ProtonMail
💡Google ecosystem
Highlights
Google services are convenient, widely used, and often free, but they monitor everything you do to train machine learning algorithms and sell your data to advertisers.
Manifest V3 limits certain types of extensions, especially ad blockers, in Chromium-based browsers in the name of security.
Firefox, unlike many Chromium-based browsers, remains a privacy-first alternative without adopting Manifest V3 and is still a strong, fast choice.
Brave browser retains support for Manifest V2 extensions, offers built-in content blocking, and provides unique features like syncing that are end-to-end encrypted.
Arc browser provides a minimalist design with features like split view, vertical tabs, and sharable tab groups, though it lacks some features on Windows compared to Mac.
Ungoogled Chromium removes all ties to Google, offering a more private experience while still allowing extension installation, with added features like fingerprint resistance.
Alternatives to Google Search like Startpage, Ecosia, DuckDuckGo, and Brave Search offer privacy-focused options with anonymized search history and protection against data tracking.
Brave Search provides AI-powered answers and allows users to opt out of analytics, while Kagi Search offers premium features like machine learning tools and control over search rankings.
Proton and Tutanota are privacy-centric alternatives to Gmail, providing end-to-end encryption for emails and extra features like custom domains and email aliases.
For photo backup, privacy-focused options like Ente and Stingle offer open-source solutions with features such as secure facial recognition and cloud storage.
To avoid being tracked through DNS services, options like Quad9 and NextDNS provide malware blocking and DNS over HTTPS/TLS to prevent internet service providers from snooping.
Moving away from Google's DNS services is an important step in becoming less dependent on their ecosystem and avoiding data tracking.
Secure DNS options can be configured at the browser, operating system, or router level, ensuring broader protection against data leaks from connected devices.
Although changing your default search engine or DNS service helps reduce Google’s influence, the effort of switching browsers and syncing settings may still be a chore.
The video hints at a follow-up series to cover even more Google alternatives, including maps, ad-blocking, password managers, and cloud storage.
Transcripts
Google just killed your favorite service
again but what are you going to do about
it it's not like their ominous calling
card is wrong hundreds of millions of
people use Google products every day and
why not they're super convenient and
many are even free but that's the thing
is it convenient to have services that
you rely on pulled out from under you on
a regular basis and free is not free
they monitor literally everything that
you do to train machine learning
algorithms and to sell your data to
advertisers a function that they've
built right into the world's most
popular web browser I mean it's no
wonder that people feel trapped in the
ecosystem how do you divorce from the
world's third largest tech company
they're everywhere but it is possible
and we're going to show you how in a
series that we're calling de gooogle
your life and we're going to show you
our sponsor pulseway pulseway is it
monitoring and management software lets
you keep an eyee on your systems from
anywhere try it for free today and
secure 40% off any plan including
month-to-month options unlike Google
most of the Alternatives that we've dug
up have both strong privacy policies and
endtoend encryption because I mean
privacy might not be your main reason
for deg Googling but if you're putting
the work in anyway we feel that you
might as well minimize the personal
information that you're handing to data
brokers who are going to turn around and
sell it to everyone from insurance
companies to World governments let's
start with the product that you're most
likely to be using right now Google
Chrome thankfully there are alternatives
and I'm not just talking about Firefox
though that is a good alternative it's
gotten really fast in recent updates and
is one of the few remaining browsers not
related to chromium and therefore Google
this matters because chromium based
browsers are moving to the new manifest
V3 standard which seriously limits
certain typ of extensions in the name of
security notably ad blockers Firefox and
its privacy first descendants like Tor
Browser and mulad have no plans to drop
manifest V2 anytime soon there are still
some chromium based Alternatives that
are worth checking out though brave for
instance is also retaining support for
manifest V2 extensions it's got built-in
content blocking support and includes a
number of other cool features of course
it also has some web 3.0 stuff like
intend Ally viewing ads but their ads to
earn crypto tokens which personally I'd
turn off but that's a matter of taste
but one thing you can leave on are the
surprisingly robust sync options they're
endtoend encrypted so they're only used
on your devices another browser with
encrypted sync is Arc which started its
life on Apple devices just last year and
is just now available on Windows 11 it
boasts high performance and a minimalist
UI with split view vertical tabs and
sharable tab groups called spaces this
minimalism looks fantastic and with the
sidebar collapsed websites even look
kind of like dedicated apps but it does
take some getting used to and
unfortunately it requires a login to use
it also hides a lot of settings up front
and as of writing the windows version is
missing a lot of features that Mac users
enjoy like the library shelf the max AI
assistant and boosts webpage
customizations for something a little
more familiar feeling ungoogled chromium
is exactly what it sounds like offering
a very stock experience while stripping
out practically everything related to
Google including even the web store for
getting extensions thankfully there is a
setting that streamlines installing
extensions and an extension you can
download that allows you to still use
the web store like normal but you get to
choose when those extensions get updated
ungoogled chromium also includes a
number of extra features like
fingerprint resistance to foil tracking
and extra customization for ey Behavior
though its anti-tracking does fall short
of Braves capabilities it's a
community-driven product with no ties to
a particular company which may be
attractive to you now there are many
many others out there with particular
focuses but we don't have time to go
over all of them in this video so I'd
recommend taking at least a handful of
them for a test drive before committing
to fully switch cuz it can be a little
bit of a chore for example Firefox can
import your history autofill and your
bookmarks which will get you most of the
way moved in but it can can't directly
copy your Chrome profile so you're going
to have to install your favorite
extension separately from there you can
just open both of them side by side and
match your settings or you can see if
you can find the option to export your
settings to a file and then import them
to your new browser going between
chromium based browsers is both easier
and more difficult at the same time
first you need to close your browsers
and figure out where your profile folder
is here are a couple of examples next
copy the user data folder to your new
browser and you're done you will need to
relog into some of your websites but
your extensions bookmarks history and
everything else should come along for
the ride there is one small problem
still though your new browser probably
still defaults to Google for the task
that you do most often search Google's
longest lived and most recognizable
service to date has degraded to such a
point that it is now arguably one of
their least usable services but we put
up with it because who else do you turn
to when you need to Google something
well there are competitors the next
biggest ones in North America would be
Bing and Yahoo but that feels a little
like saying I'm giving up craft dinner
to stay healthy and then switching to
the house brand mac and cheese from
Walmart luckily there are many lesser
known search engines available some of
which even offer results from major
search indexes so if all you want is to
Google without Google start page or
ecosia provide exactly that both of them
claim to anonymize your search history
and claim to not build a profile based
on your usage and start page was one of
if not the first such search engine with
root daating back to the 9s doc Dogo
meanwhile tour browsers default search
engine is another old name in the space
that in this case uses results from Bing
and offers a bunch of Handy extras like
bangs which let you search via other
engines or websites all three of these
have strong privacy protections showing
only ads that are related to individual
search queries and iosia is kind of cool
they use their proceeds to plant trees a
powerful and increasingly popular
alternative is brave search it uses a
well-regarded engine with strong privacy
protections and offers features that
Google currently lacks like an AI
powered answer engine that summarizes
results for you the ability to drill
down into subtopics with goggles and
anonymized local area search results
unlike duck Dugo Brave does collect
analytics by default but you can opt out
in the settings page and turn off any of
the extra features that you don't use
Brave also offers premium ad free search
for $3 a month speaking of Premium kagi
is a subscription only search engine
besides speed they offer the most
comprehensive privacy policy of any of
the engines we're discussing and they
have a robust Suite of machine learning
tools including assistants that interact
with popular machine learning models and
the ability to summarize basically
anything lenses is a feature that works
similarly to Braves goggles for drilling
down into subtopics and you get direct
control over page rankings with helpful
information like domain age and tracker
count to guide your decision- making
they offer 100 searches for free and
then you'll need to decide whether it's
worth opening up your wallet duck Dogo
Brave and kagi all claim to run their
own search indices in some capacity
allowing them to do their own page
ranking and serve original search
results but only Brave claims to have a
completely independent index now of of
course there are a whole host of other
options available including cirs which
you can even host yourself so don't take
what we've highlighted as the only
options but getting off of Google even
to a search engine that uses Google's
results is a huge step toward becoming
less dependent on the alphabit company's
whims the easiest way to wean yourself
off is by changing your default search
engine unfortunately that is super easy
Firefox heard you like search so they
made a search for searches so you can
search for your search if you're using a
chromium based browser though it's
usually right there under settings and
will automatically populate with engines
as you use them once you found one that
you like click activate if necessary
then the three dots and then make
default it's that simple that is unless
you're a safari user because Apple
knoweth best or at least gets payeth
best so you'll need to download an
extension if your search engine isn't on
the short list that Apple gives you by
default now let's talk about email not
only is Google inserting ads into your
Gmail inbox now but to Target Those ads
they are analyzing your habits and okay
no one is reading your email obviously
but that doesn't mean that they won't
anonymize it and then use it to train
the machine learning algorithms that
power features like smart compose and
help me write now most of your
mainstream options to escape Gmail
happen to also be big Tech and while
some of them are better than others none
of them are squeaky clean so in the
spirit of De Googling we're going to be
avoiding those and we're going to focus
in on a couple of privacy Centric
providers that also happen to be free I
mean not entirely free they pay well
some of their features after all if
you're not giving them money or your
data then they're just taking a loss on
you but their free tiers aren't that bad
offering a gigabyte of data to go along
with their improved privacy and those
paid tiers are not just paying money for
nothing they give you access to cool
features that Google doesn't offer like
the ability to use a custom domain
outside of work spaces obviously extra
email addresses and this is cool quick
to create hide my email aliases that can
help you manage spam and prevent one
website security breach from spreading
across all of your accounts now while
Tuda is primarily focused on email
proton is cool because they have a suite
that is basically the Privacy focused
equivalent to many of Google's core
Services they've both been independently
audited and everything is end to-end
encrypted meaning that neither of them
could read your email even if they
wanted to much less Target ads from it
Tuda claims to go one step further
encrypting more of your emails metadata
than proton does but realistically I
don't expect that to make much of a
difference and when it comes to law
enforcement requests both of them
provide biannual transparency reports
and detail the number and type of
requests that they respond to migrating
to either of them is easy since all of
these options support the ability to
import your mail from popular services
so just find one you like settle in and
give Google The Finger by nuking your
Gmail inbox oh and by the way yes we are
aware that you can run your own email
server but that is well beyond the scope
of this video and honestly not something
that we would recommend for most people
photo backup on the other hand is
something that you could realistically
self-host and let's be real a huge part
of Modern Life Google photos has a lot
of people locked in and for good reason
not only is it cross platform unlike
iCloud but it's sharable and searchable
with cool features like the ability to
create fun little slideshows for you but
wait hold on a second how do they do
that unless they know what you look like
know where you go and know who you spend
your time
with unlike browsers and email there
aren't a ton of players in the photo
backup game but two of them stand out
for being both open source and self-
hostable the first ente has the more
expensive cloud storage Serv service
with no free tier but they offer on
device secure facial recognition that
never makes it to the server machine
learning categorization and Maps
integration it's an experience that's
pretty close on paper to what you'd
expect on Google photos with the caveat
being that you need to enable those
extra features on every device you use
and since it's all generated locally it
probably won't be as accurate or
powerful as Google's super computer
powered Mega models stingle meanwhile
offers better pricing for cloud storage
than ente plus they have a complete
breakdown of how they secure your
photos but that's about it they don't
offer much more other than albums and
secure sharing and their development
blog is eerily quiet still if all you
need is back up and you're cool with
manual organization like the good old
days it's less expensive and it's very
transparent now if you just want to back
your photos up to cloud storage no
matter which one or maybe even spread
them across multiple varietes then you
can use phot sync not all of its
features are free but the majority of
backup targets including to a PC or a
Mac running the companion software don't
require a premium subscription another
self-hosting option is image this came
up a lot in the comments on our recent
video on building a DIY Nas to avoid
costly monthly Cloud subscriptions and
we'd be remiss if we didn't mention them
here like ente it offers facial
recognition map integration and
automatic backup but it also offers
Google like features like memory
memories slideshows and a scrubbable
timeline just follow the docker compos
steps to get started on your desktop or
your Naas of choice you are going to
want to use a VPN tunnel like openvpn or
tail scale to access it on the go unless
you have a Dynamic DNS name and are
comfortable with port forwarding which
reminds me not every Google service that
you use is obvious but even the
invisible ones can be used to track you
DNS is the service that devices on the
internet use to convert domain names
like LTT store.com to an IP address and
commonly the one that you're using is
Google's and even if you're using the
DNS server from your internet service
provider for example they might still be
using Google's DNS somewhere Upstream so
it's not super intuitive to avoid
thankfully there are free Alternatives
many of which claim not to log your
requests at all such as quad 9 and
nextdns both of them offer some extra
goodies to help protect your browsing
sessions including rules to block
malware and tracker domains meaning you
don't need to do it in the browser
making some of that manifest V3 stuff
less of an issue and another feature
they support that's becoming more common
is DNS over https or TLS which will
prevent your internet service provider
or a wireless hotspot from snooping on
what sites you're visiting quad 9 offers
easier setup while nextdns provides full
control albeit with a limited number of
blocking requests for free free the main
downside to using an alternative like
these is that responses can be a little
slower and you can check out our
cloudflare DNS video for more
information on that who by the way is
also a viable option for spreading your
data footprint around while being
arguably even more widespread online
than Google cloudflare has a pretty good
reputation for not being evil so far and
they offer optional malware blocking
just like quad 9 and nextdns as long as
you don't want any customization
whatsoever beyond that you can set up an
alternate DNS service in a few different
ways in your browser in your operating
system or in your router and while I
would recommend using a secure DNS
option where you can I would not
recommend stacking more than one of
those methods unless you know what
you're doing setting it up inside your
browser tends to be the more tedious
option since it'll need to be done not
only on every device you own but on
every browser you use and it only really
works on desktop thankfully it doesn't
take long in Chrome descended browsers
you can find the setting here and it's
here in Firefox just toggle it on paste
the address in the box and you're good
to go a better approach for most people
though is probably operating system
level DNS overrides Windows 11 fully
support secure DNS just go to the
network and internet settings page
choose the interface you'd like to
configure and click edit on DNS server
assignment set it to manual paste in the
values you got from your provider and
you're done for everyone else I'm unless
there's an app or you're running Linux
and you want to set up a DNS proxy
you're not going to use secure DNS OS
wide but that's fine we're not going to
go through every OS since the major
providers realistically have
step-by-step instructions on their sites
that you can follow based on your needs
as for the third option configuring it
on your router well this is cool because
it automatically applies to every device
that's connected to your network that is
unless they have their own overrides
which makes it a great option if you
want to set it once and forget it forget
it until you run into a random issue on
some app on your smart TV that's not
working you spend two hours fighting
with the thing until you remember oh
right I'm using custom DNS as for how to
do it if you want to do it the actual
configuration changes a lot depending on
which router you have so we're not going
to get that deep into it but what I will
say is you probably would want to set
this one up in addition to one of the
other options so that let's say your
phone for example is still using your
preferred DNS settings if you leave the
comfort of your Wi-Fi range because it
will only affect those devices when
they're connected to that router it's
great though for making sure that
non-configurable gear like the
aforementioned Smart TV gets the right
DNS settings though and in general
you'll find it under internet setup then
under DNS by default it will probably be
your isp's DNS but you should be able to
change it to a manual override some
routers also offer secure DNS here but I
wouldn't count on it now now I know
right now you are in the middle of
typing up a Manifesto about how we
missed your favorite alternative not to
mention that we haven't even covered the
majority of Google services but guys
that's why this is just part one okay
our plan for part two is Maps pirate I
mean ad blocking uh password managers
cloud storage and yes YouTube but before
we can do all that hey I got to pay the
team that worked on this and since most
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