There are far more to the story beside not watching YouTube, not using an Andriod phone, not using Google Maps, AND not using Gmail as a e-mail client.

There are plently of websites that uses OR even allowing Google to use Google-related trackers and/or bots to make certain functions work on those websites. And remember, THIS is Google [the company, not just the search engine] that is all in the business of collecting data of what you do, what you are looking for, what are your exact locations, etc.

With that said, Google alternatives do exist. If you value all or at least most of your web privacy, I highly recommended checking out these alternatives. Even if you cannot last a week, a month, a year, or the rest of your life without Google in your professional/personal life, stay away from most of Google products will still do yourself plently of service.

SOURCES:

https://restoreprivacy.co...ernatives/

https://degooglisons-internet.org/en/

https://spreadprivacy.com...ve-google/

https://gizmodo.com/i-cut...1830565500

[Edited 6/22/20 23:18pm]

That Gizmodo article really broke down why it's almost impossible to break from Google. It's kind of frightening when you consider how many other apps won't function without them.

Monopolies are typically broken either because of public concern (like this post) or because of federal intervention. With the tentacles reaching as far as these go into our lives, this is more than just a monopoly.

Just like Fakebook, as long as you understand that you (and what you do on the internet) are the product they're selling, there should be no suprises for people.

Thanks for this post. Even though I knew this already, it's a reminder that people need.

Talking of Youtube, I've always said that it's Frightening having a nerd, Senor Pichai, in charge of culture! But hey, that's just an offshoot, a by-product, of what the internet age has given us

Downloading music, shopping, and chatting with us aren't necessary? I'd love to know which activities ARE on your "necessary" list then...?

[Edited 6/24/20 19:00pm]

wuts an app

S2DG said:

That Gizmodo article really broke down why it's almost impossible to break from Google. It's kind of frightening when you consider how many other apps won't function without them.

Monopolies are typically broken either because of public concern (like this post) or because of federal intervention. With the tentacles reaching as far as these go into our lives, this is more than just a monopoly.

Just like Fakebook, as long as you understand that you (and what you do on the internet) are the product they're selling, there should be no suprises for people.

Thanks for this post. Even though I knew this already, it's a reminder that people need.

You're welcome.

EmmaMcG said:

I could easily go without the entire internet for the rest of my life. All I use it for is game updates, downloading music, checking in here every now and then and buying stuff from Amazon. And none of those things are necessary.

There is no shame in living or partying like it's pre-1994.

yes

Yeah. The Tube kicked my music channel to the curb a few years back so

Thanks Tony, these links are always helpful and usefull for those who want different options and didn't know how to go about it.

I started uncoupling myself from Google and most of the major players in tech a decade ago. If you use Android, you can't connect to my home's WiFi router, a couple of folks are annoyed but that's too bad. However, S2DG is correct, its all most impossible to cut Google gathering our data. To block Google data gathering requires a deep understanding software and computer science/security / code. At some point were are going to have to have conversations about privacy and data collection; laws will have to be pass to protect people data especially those who don't even use Internet.

What we can do today? Move away from the major players services, become computer literate, and start paying for something. I still have a bullshit email service for which my personal info is bogus, but I have a pay for email service.

Buy refurbished hardware and only hardware you can repair and upgrade yourself. The majority of people use their computer to surf the net, noting more nothing less. I"d recommend single board computer but the OS still aren't as smooth as they should be.

EmmaMcG said:

The first time I used the internet was in 2005, when I was 15. At my boyfriend's house. Because I never owned a computer. I've never had much use for the internet.

ok then no video games! No checking you ABD for Daily Miles!

TD3 said:

Yeah. The Tube kicked my music channel to the curb a few years back so

Thanks Tony, these links are always helpful and usefull for those who want different options and didn't know how to go about it.

I started uncoupling myself from Google and most of the major players in tech a decade ago. If you use Android, you can't connect to my home's WiFi router, a couple of folks are annoyed but that's too bad. However, S2DG is correct, its all most impossible to cut Google gathering our data. To block Google data gathering requires a deep understanding software and computer science/security / code. At some point were are going to have to have conversations about privacy and data collection; laws will have to be pass to protect people data especially those who don't even use Internet.

What we can do today? Move away from the major players services, become computer literate, and start paying for something. I still have a bullshit email service for which my personal info is bogus, but I have a pay for email service.

Buy refurbished hardware and only hardware you can repair and upgrade yourself. The majority of people use their computer to surf the net, noting more nothing less. I"d recommend single board computer but the OS still aren't as smooth as they should be.

1. If you ever posted your music videos elsewhere, send me a link in an orgnote.

.

2. Never apologize to anyone, myself included, for your wi-fi router set-up. You did what you had to do to maintain most of your privacy in the best of your abilites AND budget! My Android phone [an Alcatel model, no less] is the first and only smartphone that I've ever own. And one of these day, budget permissable, I thinking of getting a Librem 5 and/or Pinephone as the replacement phone. You know it cost money to keep things private these days.

.

3. Google is not the only data collector, but it is definitely the primany heel. And lets not overlooked Amazon, Facebook, & Oracle [yes, Oracle too!]. I cannot even begin to tell you or anyone how often I have to block most trackers for those companies.

TD3 said:

To block Google data gathering requires a deep understanding software and computer science/security / code.

Hm. Are you sure, TD? If you give them data, they will snoop on you, that's pretty much all you hafta know (and it's the "HTTP Referer header" that's the bitch, at least the way *I* see it). Is there anything else? (I'm not doing anything tech -much these days... )

Btw, the BRAVE web browser (which I'm on right now), says it blocks ad-trackers well, if that's worth anything. It's made by Brendan Eich, who created the programming language of the web (called Javascript), and Firefox (I think!), before he was Ousted, and left to form, well, BRAVE....

hey, I just came across this article, might be interesting to you guys:

https://secondbreakfast.c...rning_brew

I predict Amazon to be the first to break up. You can't be the store and delivery for not just your products but your competition. That is like if Sears back in the day owned the railroad and delivered their products and their competitions as well. That is a monopoly.

kewlschool said:

I predict Amazon to be the first to break up. You can't be the store and delivery for not just your products but your competition. That is like if Sears back in the day owned the railroad and delivered their products and their competitions as well. That is a monopoly.

I hope not... I love being able to order something at 9PM and get it by noon the next day. I ordered a few things from other places and it took SO LONG (like 3 days) to get it!

but Amazon doesn't own any means of shipping other than its own and other companies ship their own wears... it is not new. Hell the post office sells stuff...

But yeah amazon's shipping and fulfilment organizations do not interfere with the post office or ups or fedex or dhl... I do not agree that it is anything close to a monopoly... I do not see how it is in any danger of being broken up... but if it was....then they could just start a shipping company that competes directly with UPS and USPS...

kewlschool said:

I predict Amazon to be the first to break up.

Check this out, there are *indications*, though I can't be authoritative about this, that this could be the Amazon killer:

www.openbazaar.org

It's Blockchain, ie. there's no central entity getting paid. At least that's what the site says....or something

OnlyNDaUsa said:

kewlschool said:

I predict Amazon to be the first to break up. You can't be the store and delivery for not just your products but your competition. That is like if Sears back in the day owned the railroad and delivered their products and their competitions as well. That is a monopoly.

I hope not... I love being able to order something at 9PM and get it by noon the next day. I ordered a few things from other places and it took SO LONG (like 3 days) to get it!

but Amazon doesn't own any means of shipping other than its own and other companies ship their own wears... it is not new. Hell the post office sells stuff...

But yeah amazon's shipping and fulfilment organizations do not interfere with the post office or ups or fedex or dhl... I do not agree that it is anything close to a monopoly... I do not see how it is in any danger of being broken up... but if it was....then they could just start a shipping company that competes directly with UPS and USPS...

Amazon in itself is a store. Other stores sell on their website (Amazon's store, if you will). Therefore, Amazon holds absolute power over the other store(s) on how many people see their products, where their products end up on the list of choices not to mention that they now have their own delivery service. So, now that store maybe required to use such service not giving them a choice. If 80% of all on line merchandise is sold through Amazon website that in itself is a monopoly. Because they are controlling 80% of all on line stores (not just Amazon merchandise). And THAT is how you become a monopoly.

domainator2010 said:

TD3 said:

To block Google data gathering requires a deep understanding software and computer science/security / code.

Hm. Are you sure, TD? If you give them data, they will snoop on you, that's pretty much all you hafta know (and it's the "HTTP Referer header" that's the bitch, at least the way *I* see it). Is there anything else? (I'm not doing anything tech -much these days... )

Yeah its me!

That wasn't my point. For those who've or plan to de-couple from Google, its more envovled. I now see Google like an insidious weed. For example all router /modem manufacturers are in bed with Google. There's open source software DD - WRT routers, to maximize your data security but you have to know how your DD-WRT router is is setup.. what to tweak or not.

What I'm trying to say you need to become computer literate and most folks are willing to learn nor are they willing to keep on top of the tweaks you'll need to do, from time to time.

Browsers are now using fingerprinting, its a work around to "unblock", add-on extenstions (blockers).

https://restoreprivacy.com/firefox-privacy/

https://restoreprivacy.co...rprinting/

Rasperry Pi / Pi-Hole

https://pi-hole.net

You can purchase a DD-WRT Routers and using VPN maybe an option.

kewlschool said:

I predict Amazon to be the first to break up. You can't be the store and delivery for not just your products but your competition. That is like if Sears back in the day owned the railroad and delivered their products and their competitions as well. That is a monopoly.

Can Amazon be defined as monopoly because its well known? I agree these days a lot of sellers and their online shops, ship through Amazon, whether they sale on Amazon website or not. Those sellers can hookup with UPS, DHL, Fed X, or USPS... they have choices. Media Steaming thre are up-teem options free, paid, legal and illegal. The same products you find on Amazon and be purchased on other sites cheaper, reasonable shippig and lower sale tax rate.

It been reported (Wall Street Journal & NYT) in the past 24 months Amazon lost ~ 5% percent of their sales to other sites because of shipping issues. I'm not ready to define Amazon as an monopoly, yett. What I do and contiue to take issue with is Amazon labor practices, hence I don't use Amazon.

I think the folks in Washington - all sides - are kicking Amazon around for different reasons.

What labour practices? I'm curious....

Hey, I just came across this, take a look:

https://www.technologyrev...8.non-subs

I couldn't survive without Google Sheets, Drive, or Lens for more than a day.


Forms, I can use Microsoft's version, which is just as robust for my needs.


Wierdly, I almost never touch MS Office now because of Google apps, and Apple Keynote.

TD3 said:

Yeah. The Tube kicked my music channel to the curb a few years back so

Thanks Tony, these links are always helpful and usefull for those who want different options and didn't know how to go about it.

I started uncoupling myself from Google and most of the major players in tech a decade ago. If you use Android, you can't connect to my home's WiFi router, a couple of folks are annoyed but that's too bad. However, S2DG is correct, its all most impossible to cut Google gathering our data. To block Google data gathering requires a deep understanding software and computer science/security / code. At some point were are going to have to have conversations about privacy and data collection; laws will have to be pass to protect people data especially those who don't even use Internet.

What we can do today? Move away from the major players services, become computer literate, and start paying for something. I still have a bullshit email service for which my personal info is bogus, but I have a pay for email service.

Buy refurbished hardware and only hardware you can repair and upgrade yourself. The majority of people use their computer to surf the net, noting more nothing less. I"d recommend single board computer but the OS still aren't as smooth as they should be.

The irony of this is that your router is likely being used by Google to triangulate location data. When someone is in your neighborhood and your wifi signal is visible, Google apps on someone else's phone can read the router info to get location, they don't have to be connected to the network.

Android actually offers a lot finer control over the phone if you know how to do it and use things like a firewall app to limit what apps get to access the internet. I've been de-Googling my android quite a bit in the last few months, although I still use Gmail, Google Calendar, and Maps (there's really no good open source alternative for maps that I've found tbh.) If you have a phone with an unlocked bootloader you can even flash custom roms with a lot of the tracking stuff stripped out, and there are even apps you can get if you're unrooted that have trackers and such stripped out.

[Edited 7/10/20 17:51pm]

TD3 said:

kewlschool said:

I predict Amazon to be the first to break up. You can't be the store and delivery for not just your products but your competition. That is like if Sears back in the day owned the railroad and delivered their products and their competitions as well. That is a monopoly.

Can Amazon be defined as monopoly because its well known? I agree these days a lot of sellers and their online shops, ship through Amazon, whether they sale on Amazon website or not. Those sellers can hookup with UPS, DHL, Fed X, or USPS... they have choices. Media Steaming thre are up-teem options free, paid, legal and illegal. The same products you find on Amazon and be purchased on other sites cheaper, reasonable shippig and lower sale tax rate.

It been reported (Wall Street Journal & NYT) in the past 24 months Amazon lost ~ 5% percent of their sales to other sites because of shipping issues. I'm not ready to define Amazon as an monopoly, yett. What I do and contiue to take issue with is Amazon labor practices, hence I don't use Amazon.

I think the folks in Washington - all sides - are kicking Amazon around for different reasons.

The difference is the volume of sales and control over the merchandise. If any store does 80% of all sales (in this case on the internet) that in itself can be a monopoly. Look at the phone companies in the 1970's and the break up. We are due for breaking up the monopoly.

kewlschool said:

I predict Amazon to be the first to break up. You can't be the store and delivery for not just your products but your competition. That is like if Sears back in the day owned the railroad and delivered their products and their competitions as well. That is a monopoly.

COINCIDENTALLY... when Sears was going bankrupt, I read an article stating that Sears missed out on becoming what Amazon has become. They HAD the mail-order experience (which should've seamlessly transitioned into online)...they had the infrastructure (the stores, the warehouses, the shipping routes)...it was just horrible, horrible mismanagement at the hands of a hedge fund manager who was just interested in tearing the company apart for profit.

PurpleJedi said:

kewlschool said:

I predict Amazon to be the first to break up. You can't be the store and delivery for not just your products but your competition. That is like if Sears back in the day owned the railroad and delivered their products and their competitions as well. That is a monopoly.

COINCIDENTALLY... when Sears was going bankrupt, I read an article stating that Sears missed out on becoming what Amazon has become. They HAD the mail-order experience (which should've seamlessly transitioned into online)...they had the infrastructure (the stores, the warehouses, the shipping routes)...it was just horrible, horrible mismanagement at the hands of a hedge fund manager who was just interested in tearing the company apart for profit.

guitarslinger44 said:

Android actually offers a lot finer control over the phone if you know how to do it and use things like a firewall app to limit what apps get to access the internet. I've been de-Googling my android quite a bit in the last few months, although I still use Gmail, Google Calendar, and Maps (there's really no good open source alternative for maps that I've found tbh.) If you have a phone with an unlocked bootloader you can even flash custom roms with a lot of the tracking stuff stripped out, and there are even apps you can get if you're unrooted that have trackers and such stripped out.

[Edited 7/10/20 17:51pm]

Guys, I've never been a smartphone user in my life, but I got to know of these, check them out, they might help:

https://maemo-leste.github.io/

https://lineageos.org/

https://maruos.com/

https://postmarketos.org/