How To De-Google Your Life And Why You Should Find Alternatives

Google is the largest search engine in the world - but they do so much more. They are the largest advertising firm (where they use tons of data about you to market ads to you). They run a lot of services: email, maps, documents, storage, and more.

That's a lot of information to have about you. And it's not just Google. All the social media sites, many companies, and even governments look at your public and private information to "connect" the dots. It's sparked a trend: De-Googling.

De-Googling is the attempt to take back your online privacy (I say attempt because there are always trade-offs and choices, and it's not easy). Yes, Google is the "biggest" place to take back your online privacy, but this also means protecting your identity from identity theft, blocking advertising trackers from social media companies, and more. It goes far beyond Google.

And the trend is popular. The De-Google Sub-Reddit has over 115,000 members.

Here's what I'm working on and thinking about for online privacy, along with some of the tools I'm looking at.

Why You Should Focus On Privacy And Rely Less On Google

The fact is that Google has created one of the best suites of products available to users online - mostly for free. Their search engine used to be the best (I'd argue that's changed significantly over the last 12-24 months with their integration of AI and poor search results).

But beyond search, they have Gmail, which is one of the largest free email providers. But in exchange for free, Google will look at your emails and deliver you advertisements based on them.

They have Google Drive, which includes documents, slides, and more. Again, it's free, but it could use that information to sell advertising.

They have their Chrome browser, which collects your data and uses it for search results and advertising (despite previously saying they don't).

Beyond Google, there's the constant threat of your information being leaked and used. There is a major data breach at least once a week, and this information that includes identifying information, email addresses, and more should all spark concerns.

The bottom line is that now is the best time to think critically about your online privacy and start taking steps to have "better" online behavior.

Key Things To Think About For Online Privacy

There are a few key things you should be thinking about when it comes to online privacy.

Personal Physical Information: It shouldn't have to be said, but be extremely mindful of your personal information online. This includes name, address, phone number, SSN, driver's license. You should only ever share this with trusted sources.

Online Identifiers Like Email: Your email is the "key" to so many logins and services. If your email is compromised, it can be trouble. You need to protect your email. If you have the option to use a login that's not your email, do that instead!

Passwords: When data breaches happen (everyday), the email and passwords are typically leaked. Programs then simply take that information and test it on other websites. The bottom line is that you should never re-use passwords.

Web Browsing Privacy: Your browsing history is constantly being monitored, usually to serve you advertising. But do you want that? Remember, if the product is free, you are the product. Also, there's a user experience aspect here.

Ownership: While this might not be a huge factor, owning your own services and data can be powerful. Both from a privacy standpoint, and from not having to rely on cloud services that can increase prices or shut down.

Costs: There is always a trade-off. If you're getting a product for free because they are monetizing via ads, trying to substitute the product will likely require you to pay. That could be a trade-off you aren't willing (or able) to make. The alternative products may also not be as user-friendly as the free ones. Another trade-off. However, I've found as a business owner that the alternatives have actually been less expensive than Google products as well.

Moving away from Google increases your online privacy and potentially increases your security if you do things properly. I always think about this diagram when it comes to online security and privacy (and anonymity):

Tools To Use As Google Alternatives

Let's start with some of the big Google alternatives that you can use to start to de-Google your life. Honestly, this list also does go from "easiest" to "hardest" in terms of ability to switch.

Web Browser

If you're ready to leave Chrome, there is really one major alternative a two smaller ones:

Firefox: Firefox is probably the most well-known Chrome alternative, and has a host of privacy features. If you're worried about security, there are also a lot of Firefox versions that are even more hardened than the basic version.

Brave: Brave is another popular choice, but it's still built on Chromium, which has some people wondering how much you really are getting away from Chome.

Arc: Arc is a new choice that has been growing in popularity. They have redesigned the brower to be more modern, and they focus on privacy. However, they have had some growing pains as they are a new team.

Search Engine

Honestly, Google search was the stalwart of search for years. But the search results have become terrible over the last few years, and the amount of ads and other products (boxes, AI, etc.) have really made it unusable at this point. Here are some privacy focused alternatives to Google:

DuckDuckGo: DuckDuckGo is a privacy-first search engine, that honestly (after about a year of using it full time) delivers 10x better results that Google for most searches. I've really enjoyed how they sort relevant/new content in search.

Startpage: Startpage is a lesser known search engine that focuses exclusively on privacy. It delivers Google-like results, but with no search history or personal information transmitted to them.

Email

Taking back control of your email is essential to protect your privacy. Not just from Google, but from all the other logins and services that rely on email.

Proton: Proton is a privacy-focused email provider that has all of the features you can expect from a mail provider, including supporting multiple domains, aliases, tagging, labels, and more. Their email filters are better than Google and they also offer end-to-end encryption if you need it. Their app for iOS and MacOS is fantastic. Furthemore, for running my business, it was less expensive to use Proton for multiple email addresses compared to Google Suite.

Tuta: Tuta is Proton's biggest competitor in the privacy-focused email space. Similar to Proton, they offer mail, calendar, and contacts, all encrypted, and a host of features.

Calendar

Your calendar app goes hand-in-hand with email, but there are alternatives.

Proton Calendar: Proton also has a good calendar app that works well on both their desktop app and mobile. However, because of the encryption aspects, it can have issues with shared calendars. If you rely on shared family calendars, you may have to do some odd things to make it work.

Tuta: Again, the main competitor to Proton is Tuta, which also has the same issues because of the way encryption works for calendar apps.

Storage

Where are you storing your documents? If you're following the rule of 3-2-1 to backup your data, it means you should store your items in 3 places, two different media, and at least one offsite.

For example, I save my documents on my computer, on my local Synology NAS, and in the cloud.

Dropbox: Dropbox may not be the ideal choice for cloud storage because it doesn't have all the privacy, but it's not Google, and it works really, really well. They offer cloud storage that syncs with your computer so you don't have to think about it.

ProtonDrive: ProtonDrive is another option that is still in its infancy. They offer fully-encrypted cloud storage, but as a result, it's a bit slow.  

Documents

Google Docs have become ubiquitous for most people, but if you're trying to leave Google, you have to leave the online docs behind. Yes, that can be a hard one, but I've found it to be easier than I originally thought.

Side note: Proton is coming out with documents, but it's really in its infancy at this point.

Office (Word): Office used to be the standard for documents, but it faded a bit with the rise of Google Docs. If you have a PC or like cloud software, this can be an excellent choice to de-Google.

iWork (Pages): Pages is the Apple version of docs, and if you have a Mac, it comes built-in for free.

** I'm continuing to look for alternatives here and I'm open to suggestions!

Note Taking

I love taking notes, and I also store a lot of files as notes. This was never something I leveraged Google for, but I wanted to share my favorite tools.

Standard Notes: Standard Notes is my favorite note-taking app, and it was recently acquired by Proton. They offer encrypted notes, security first, and a whole host of note-taking options (even the ability to store code). 

Evernote: Evernote was the gold standard for note taking apps for may years, and they still offer a great service. However, they've run into some issues over the last few years, have laid off a lot of staff, and have been raising prices extremely.

Maps

I never realized how much data Google was consuming about me until you realized all the location data as well. If you're leaving Google, also consider a map alternative.

Apple Maps: Apple Maps is built-in to the iPhone, and it's a solid choice that has really been improving over the last few years.

OpenStreetMap: OpenStreetMap is dubbed the Wikipedia of maps, as it's built around an open source map community. It has a lot of good features and gets the job done.

Business-Specific Tools

If you're running a business, it can be hard to avoid Google as well. Here are some ideas to think about here:

Analytics

Google Analytics used to be the best analytics tool out there (and it was free). But like so many Google products, they destroyed it for the average user with their rollout of GA4. So, even if you're not into the privacy piece, as a business owner, its essential to have a good anaytics platform.

Umami: Umami is a simple, lightweight anayltics tool that you can self-host or pay for them to host for you. It's privacy-focused and provides all the reports you could need.

Wireboard: Wireboard is becoming one of my favorite options because of their robust real time analytics. If you're a media company, real time stats is key and this tool provides them.

Fathom: Fathom was my choice for a long time, but their recent pricing increase made it a bit unaffordable compared to other options. They are another great, lightweight, privacy-focused tool.

Email

Business email is a little different than personal email because you need so many different email addresses under one domain. Luckily, there are still options for it.

Proton: Proton offers a great option for business owners that need separate email addresses. Beyond the basics, you get all the Proton features including encryption and drive.

Privacy And Security Tools To Think About Beyond Google

There are many other things to think about when it comes to privacy and security online beyond Google. These tools can really help you increase your online security and privacy - and honestly need to be essentials in your toolkit. 

Here are more tools to think about:

Password Manager

Everyone needs a password manager. The reason is that you should NOT use the same password for every login. Plus, your passwords should be long and complex - 16 characters, crazy symbols, make it impossible to crack. But how do you remember your passwords then? That's where a password manager comes in.

These tools will store your passwords securely (or even passkeys now) so you don't have to remember them. And that's needed - I just checked when writing this post and I have over 700 passwords stored.

Bitwarden: Bitwarden is one of the best password managers because it's open sourced, can be self-hosted, and it offers a lot of features at a reasonable price (including a free tier). Plus, it's great for family sharing as well.

Dashlane: Dashlane is another solid password manager that has flown under the radar for the last few years but has done a good job of just working. Dashlane is more expensive than Bitwarden though.

Two-Factor Authentication

It's good practice to keep your password manager separate from your two-factor authentication. And please STOP using SMS/Text Message two-factor if you're able to. It's not that secure.

The goal of two factor is that you have two things: a password and a physical key. The password could get hacked, but unless someone is physically with you, they can't get the second factor.

YubiKey: A YubiKey is a tiny piece of hardware that you keep in your possession that has a unique code to allow you to login. This is more secure than an app or text message, and more and more places are allowing you to use it. I have three. One in my computer (so you'd have to steal my computer), one in my desk (in case my computer does get stolen), and one in my safe deposit box. Just like backing up documents, the rule of three is a great idea.

Authy App: If you need to generate a code, use an app vs. text message. The Authy app is one of the best apps for this, and it's great because you can save and sync your two-factor for backup purposes.

DNS

DNS is the "tool" that allows you to change the website name you type into your browser into the real address of your browser. From a privacy standpoint, whoever sees your DNS knows every website you've gone to. But DNS also allows you to do things like filter ads, and prevent children from going to certain websites.

NextDNS: NextDNS is my choice for DNS because it allows multiple profiles (I have a work one, and a family one), and it was really easy to setup.

VPN

A VPN is the next level up above DNS - it's a virtual private network. This is basically a tunnel from your computer to some other server, so you appear to be in that location. This is incredibly useful for privacy, but also for security when you're travelling (i.e. you never know who else is on that coffee shop wifi and could try to steal your information).

ProtonDNS: Proton is one of the best VPN networks currently available. They have a lot of servers, a lot of bandwidth (I've still been able to get 1GBPS downloads), and a lot of tools to help - like ad blocking.

Fighting People Search And Data Brokers

Your personal information is also likely online from the people search platforms and other people information data brokers. There are hundreds of these companies, and it can be hard to get your name and information removed. Here's what I've done:

DeleteMe: I use DeleteMe as a service to remove my information (and my family's) from all of these data services. There are hundreds of services and there's no functional way you can really do this manually. And your information will continually get re-added as you live your life (and new data sources emerge). So paying for a service is just helpful. Here's an example of the last report:

Real Estate Listings: Another thing to think about is removing photos of your home and address online. There's a few paths to go about this. You can make sure the listing agent of your home removes the listing after close (sometimes you need to negotiate this into the purchase). You can also file removal requests on big sites like RedFin or Zillow. You can even go as far as getting the picture removed from Google Streetview. It all depends on the level of privacy you're looking for.

A Side Note About Family

If you're a family, it's essential that you get them to follow these best practices as well (especially email and password).

That's where tools like Bitwarden come in handy because you can share passwords together in the family for shared logins (or in the event of a bad event).

You should also encourage all your family members to follow the password and email best practices. If you have childern, get them started on the right foot!