perplexity.ai for search. TRY IT.
Firefox with uBlock origin for a browser with ad blocking. Works on Windows, Mac, Linux, and Android. Youtube without ads.
Chrome is a google product.
perplexity.ai for search. TRY IT.
Firefox with uBlock origin for a browser with ad blocking. Works on Windows, Mac, Linux, and Android. Youtube without ads.
Chrome is a google product.
Kagi or DDG for search.
Proton for email.
Get a router, or set up a pi-hole, that will allow you to switch DNS servers and switch it to either CloudFlare (1.1.1.1) or Quad 9 (9.9.9.9)
Grab a used office PC and set up a private NextCloud instance. That will allow you to get away from most Google services like Photos, Calendar, etc. You can swap your mail to here, too if you buy a domain name and forwarding service. Use an application like SyncThing to automatically move the data off the phone and onto the server.
None of it is too far down a rabbit hole, but it requires a bit of a technical bent.
Browser wise, FireFox with the following addons allows you to control your information quite a bit better:
CrustyRedXpress said:porschenut said:Why the hate for these guys?
Because a lot of us are tired of tech bro billionaires getting wealthy while making all of us worse off.
Resistance is never futile.
From what I have seen over the last 30 years is just one tech bro generation after another doing the same thing. Find software bug(s)? That means we can have a next generation and charge money to fix our mistakes. Now I own tech index funds and share the money. Not as much but enough. In a different industry, **** jacked up my insurance rates last year more than I like to see. Of course it was due to "increased costs". I looked up their stock and found that the increase was twice the percentage of the increase.
In reply to The0retical :
Using the multi account container plugin negates the need for the Facebook container. I use that to lock several of the big 5 into their own containers which seems to reduce the tracking somewhat.
I walked into this thinking this was about divesting from companies like Blackstone, Boeing, Lockheed, airchina. ect... ect.. Definitely misread.
Just a FYI if you shop at whole foods they are owned by Amazon. I had a farm share for 5 years, I would recieve fruit and vegtables for 5 months, I learned how to ferment and try new veggies. I am looking for one now, if I had a additional freezer I would buy a cow or pig.
porschenut said:Why the hate for these guys? Amazon to me is very useful, the returns process cannot be beat. I compare pricing on most stuff and after paying shipping Amazon usually wins. Facebook marketplace has passed CL for results, and I just ignore everything else. If you object to them making money from your information buy some of their stock. Then you too will share in the profits.
Resistance is futile.
That return policy from Amazon is one of the biggest problems. If you buy something from them, there's a non-zero chance you'll get a returned item that's used, damaged or just plain fraudulent. A friend of mine runs a small business selling kitty litter trays through Amazon and sent me some of his products to try out - they came from the return bin. One was used (yes, a used catbox), one was a competitor's product reboxed in his box and one was something totally different thrown in the box. Or maybe you'll get a low quality counterfeit product. The way Amazon bins like products means that if one of the vendors for a product sends them some counterfeit, they will send it out for any vendor selling the same thing using FBA.
Also, this "no questions asked" return policy has trained consumers to act the same way with other vendors. They'll buy something and then return it because they didn't think about their purchase. This costs money for the vendor in employee time if not in shipping. Guess where that money comes from? For myself, I almost always find the same products for sale elsewhere for less than Amazon charges - with shipping. Especially if it's cheap random Chinese crap, you can get that from Aliexpress just like the original vendor. Real brands will sell direct for less or the same price.
I've moved on from a Pihole, I now use nextdns.io. The advantage is that my phone and laptop are still protected even when I'm not at home. $20/year is well worth it and it's crazy easy to set up. I have all FB domains blocked.
The nice thing about DNS level blocking is that it speeds up the web and helps protect you against malware and phishing and the like. I also block anything on a .ru domain because there's nothing worthwhile to be found there.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
I actually run a small VPS with a VPN endpoint that's got a DNS adblocker configured for when I'm traveling. Costs a bit more than $20/year though and at this point I'm actually considering doing away with it just getting a VPN (probably Proton) that also supports filtering.
And yes, I realize that setting up one's own VPN is not something a lot of people would want to do or have the technical know-how to.
Re the retailer named after a river - at least in my experience, the return policy isn't what it used to be. I've had at least one case where I had to return an item because they sent me the wrong item (like a pack of adult diapers instead of an Iron Maiden CD) and then charged me again because I didn't return the item they never sent. YMMV.
And yes, I'm a hypocrite because I both complain about and use Amazon. However...
The 'zon is a quasi-monopoly when it comes to online shopping. Only very niche retailers can get away with not selling on Amazon, and between the high fees and Amazon's policy of requiring any seller on Amazon to not sell items cheaper anywhere else, it has led to general increase in prices because people have to account for the by now very high fees. So they convenience of the Amazon shopper does come at a cost for everyone. And yes, there's reputable research on this from non-foily people.
I still use Amazon because I live in the sticks, and at the same time try to actively search out retailers and buy from them directly. Especially when it comes to items that have a high risk of being knock-off items on Amazon or eBay. You know, like NGK spark plugs and similar. Of course what would help if some of the retailers actually would give of a vibe that they actually want to sell something to you, but I don't want to get into that rant right now.
My reasons for avoiding Amazon are more ethical than practical. They're gleeful monopolists (look up Project Nessie and their "flywheel" concept just for starters), they treat their workers badly (both white-collar and blue-collar), I'm pretty sure they read the first part of Marshall Brain's Manna and treat it as an instruction manual, they might be the most tax-averse and union-averse company in existence, and they squeeze out small e-tailers in the same way that Wal-Mart does to brick & mortars. And half the stuff on there is just items from AliExpress with a lot of extra cost tacked on. They arrive in the same 2-4 weeks in the same plain packaging. Might as well cut out the middleman...
These are a lot of great suggestions, I knew about duck duck go, I didn't know about the others. Also to OPs message, part of the reason I'm learning python is so I can write a script to replicate an RSS feed.
The issue isn't necessarily how much one is posting on FB itself. The Meta tracking pixel is pretty much everywhere these days, so unless you isolate the Meta products from the rest, they can still associate your FB identity with you browsing for car parts on other websites and doing subversive things like learning how to rebuild a carburetor, even if your FB footprint is essentially non-existant other than what you post and look at on Marketplace.
None of the browser offer that much protection against tracking out of the box, although with Firefox (and Brave, and Vivaldi) you can generally crank up the out of the box tracking protection easily in the settings.
https://www.thisiswhyimbroke.com/ca/human-grade-tin-foil-hat/
In reply to SKJSS (formerly Klayfish) :
Nononono, you need to buy this in person and pay cash. Make sure to wear a disguise so it can't be traced back to you.
That said, trying to preserve what little shreds of privacy are left is a worthwhile endeavor in my book.
In reply to BoxheadTim :
You know the store has video cameras right?? 
In reply to SKJSS (formerly Klayfish) :
Hence the need for a disguise 
.
BoxheadTim said:The issue isn't necessarily how much one is posting on FB itself. The Meta tracking pixel is pretty much everywhere these days, so unless you isolate the Meta products from the rest, they can still associate your FB identity with you browsing for car parts on other websites and doing subversive things like learning how to rebuild a carburetor, even if your FB footprint is essentially non-existant other than what you post and look at on Marketplace.
None of the browser offer that much protection against tracking out of the box, although with Firefox (and Brave, and Vivaldi) you can generally crank up the out of the box tracking protection easily in the settings.
Also don't forget regardless of what you use, your smartphones are always listening.
In reply to GameboyRMH :
It's kind of ironic how one megalomaniac billionaire is so bad, but another is more than ok- his mistakes are not to be questioned.
TravisTheHuman said:I'll check Barnes and noble. I listened to 42 books last year. About 30 came from libraries but their selection is definitely limited. I have two different library cards and I use both Hoopla and Libby.
Stick to the library. B&N bricked two devices of mine just because. The river may not be good, but neither is the competitor.
In reply to 03Panther :
Big 5 would be the FAANG companies - Facebook (Meta), Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Google (Alphabet). Maybe the most prominent threats to your privacy, but only Facebook and Google are really among the worst (Netflix is not even really a blip on the privacy threat radar). Apple's not too bad on privacy either but they like to lock their customers in to their closed ecosystem.
Bigger threats to privacy than Apple or Netflix would be TikTok, Spark Networks, your local ALPR service provider, probably your cell phone provider, and every faceless Internet advertising/marketing company in existence.
In reply to 03Panther :
It's bad to point out hypocrisy? Why?
And FWIW, I'm not talking about any elected person at all- so why would posting that not be allowed?
The0retical said:Proton for email.
Overall, I like Proton, and I definitely recommend it, but I think you have to set your expectations. It is currently not quite as refined as Google. For example, when I used Proton's widget to copy calendar data over from Google, Proton wasn't able to deal with any events that sent me email reminders instead of popups. Hopefully, they've fixed that by now. Another minor-ish issue is, if you're using their desktop app, you have to download an encrypted copy of your mail in order to search the bodies. On the other hand, because I'm paying for it, when I have a problem, I submit a ticket, and a real person replies, and they've been helpful when I needed to contact them. Oh, their calendar can't be changed work on mobile if you're offline.
Finally, I still have my gmail account active after 2 years because every once in a while, I get an email there that I want. I could just forward all of them, but because the account has basically become a repository for bullE36 M3 email I don't want, I haven't done that.
Re: companies owned by Amazon, Goodreads is also owned by them. I've seen StoryGraph recommended as an alternative and the app has a way to import your data from GR.
Also, for those of us who have to be on Meta for work or other reasons, you can at least restrict how much data they can use from your activity outside Meta products by going to settings > accounts center > your information and permissions > your activity off Meta technologies > clear previous activity, then manage future activity > disconnect future activity
They're going to keep moving that settings page around in the user interface as more people learn where it is. It's already in a different place now than it was when I disconnected my activity.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
A friend of mine is a independent author and sells on Amazon. The return policy for e-books is the worst. First - how the hell should you even be allowed to return an e-book? That just seems wrong... Anyway, the way she's described it: someone buys the e-book. Amazon gets their cut. She gets the rest. Buyer returns e-book - she has to refund the full amount to the buyer. Amazon still keeps their cut. So when someone returns an e-book, the author is essentially paying for someone to read the book.
That's berked up...
Nicole Suddard said:Re: companies owned by Amazon, Goodreads is also owned by them. I've seen StoryGraph recommended as an alternative and the app has a way to import your data from GR.
Also, for those of us who have to be on Meta for work or other reasons, you can at least restrict how much data they can use from your activity outside Meta products by going to settings > accounts center > your information and permissions > your activity off Meta technologies > clear previous activity, then manage future activity > disconnect future activity
They're going to keep moving that settings page around in the user interface as more people learn where it is. It's already in a different place now than it was when I disconnected my activity.
Thank you for this. I just followed those steps!
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