If It’s a Digital Coup
There needs to be a digital rebellion
Act fast.
We already had digital surveillance in this country but over time they will surely be weaponizing technology and data against dissent. They don’t need tanks in the street. The powerful digital tools at their disposal would make past authoritarians jealous.
Make it harder for them.
The digital tools and platforms at our disposal are formidable too. Evaluate all of them.
Here’s my tech-rebel checklist (not comprehensive, more of a starter pack) for better privacy, safety, and overall anti-oligarch counterpunch. Many of these you could easily get going in one sitting.
Signal app not WhatsApp or texting.
Bluesky not X.
DuckDuckGo search and browser - non-tracking and great privacy features.
Proton email/drive/cal/VPN bundle.
A VPN should be standard if you want extra privacy. Do a little research to get a good one.
Cancel Amazon Prime and only use Amazon if there is no alternative (ruthlessly shop local/indie).
Extract from Meta as much as possible without compromising your important communities.
Freeze your credit now that your data might be sloshing around there. Takes about ten minutes.
Get off Google (including Maps)
Wait, what was that last one again??
Get off Google. Yes, it can be done.
They track us relentlessly and hoover up our data. We are just used to it and long ago decided to go along. Still want to do that? Their CEO was right there in the oligarch suite at the inauguration.
Now Google has bent to ‘Gulf of America’, like Apple Maps, and taken the likes of Black History Month, Pride, and other ‘woke’ commemorations off its calendars.
Do you realize how much Google Maps tracks and harvests our data? I didn’t. It’s crazy.
I’m no expert but does anyone have more tentacles into us, over so many years, than Google? Sure they won’t throw us under the bus?
How about if we just stop? Disentangle.
Here’s how I’ve been doing it:
A while back I stopped searching with Google and switched to DuckDuckGo search. Then I started using the DDG web browser, which doesn’t track you and has great privacy features. It’s fantastic. Avoid Chrome.
I switched to Proton Mail instead of gmail. Emails are encrypted only if sending to other Proton addresses or if you manually set up each email you send with a password. That actually works well if/when you need it, but most people usually don’t. For normal emailing it’s maybe more important that they are based in Switzerland, so they only answer to Swiss authorities and privacy rules. If you really don’t want to change your email address cold turkey, forward your gmails to Proton for a while.
I also got their Proton Drive, Cal, and Password Manager. All are secure, no fuss, and work great. They also have a high-quality VPN bundled in. I haven’t deleted my gmail account, just keeping it dormant awhile in case I need something. I’m downloading from Google Drive and moving over to Proton Drive. Not that hard if you have good internet.
Instead of Google Maps, just yesterday I did a bit of research and found Organic Maps and HERE WeGo. I downloaded and peeked at both, they look nice, don’t collect your data, and offer easy to use downloadable maps to work offline. Organic is open source and I read that HERE WeGO is a solid, popular alternative in Europe.
Both use ‘Gulf of Mexico’.
Nothing is sure-fire these days. To me these are all just the best sensible defaults, a new wartime baseline.
We really can’t afford to be tech-complacent at this point. If you’re looking to take action, put your small symbolic dent in the billionaires, or just protect your everyday privacy, this is a good way to armor-up for whatever’s coming next.
Great post, Bill. Thank you.
Thank you Bill. Saved me a lot of time....