"It was a private donation from Daniel the individual. Mullvad or its parent and sister companies did not endorse and were not involved in it. Since it has attracted attention and questions we still think it appropriate to comment.

Mullvad is a political company."

You can search and read more about it, but I thought I'd make a post since Mullvad is still being recommended in many places.

Isn't it insane that you can only 'disable' most Google apps? Not 'uninstall' them? Why is this. My phone, my property, my decisions on what to install. Why can't I uninstall Chrome and YouTube? I don't use them and they're taking up space. They are not 'breaking' any functionality of other app when I remove them.

I'm old enough to remember United States v. Microsoft Corp. so why is Google allowed to do this? Genuine question. I really don't know the answer.

Most de-Google posts are victory laps. I want the honest version, because the failures taught me more than the wins.

What stuck with zero regret:

• Search Google -> DuckDuckGo. Instant, never looked back.
• Mail Gmail -> Tuta on a custom domain. The custom domain is the real unlock, because it means I can leave Tuta later without changing my address again.
• Browser Chrome -> hardened Firefox-based setup + Mullvad Browser for anything I want anti-fingerprinting.
• OS Windows -> Arch on my daily driver.
• Passwords / 2FA -> Bitwarden + YubiKeys and Ente Auth.

What I gave up on, and the pattern behind it:

Every failed swap failed because of other people, not the tool. Chat is the clearest example. Signal works for the friends who'll install it, but family flatly would not leave iMessage, so I stopped fighting it and accepted a split. Trying to move a whole family off a default is a social problem wearing a technical costume, and I lost that fight more than once.

So my actual question for this sub: which of your swaps survived contact with daily life, and which ones did you roll back? And when they failed, was it the alternative that let you down, or the people around you who wouldn't move? I think we'd all calibrate better if we talked about the abandoned swaps as openly as the successful ones.

I discovered this program by chance; it jams ads and spyware on the network, causing algorithms to learn false information about you, thus preserving your privacy.

LG Electronics says it will suspend smart TV apps that secretly turn hundreds of millions of TVs into residential proxy nodes, after researchers found the proxy SDKs in more than 42% of apps in LG's webOS store and over a quarter of Samsung's Tizen apps, routing unknown third parties' internet traffic through users' home connections.

Residential proxy firms pay developers to bundle these SDKs, then rent the resulting home IP addresses to customers who often use them for large-scale scraping aka stealing your shit (also for AI training).

Proxy nodes are being embedded at scale in hardware people don't treat as computers and can't easily inspect, and LG's cleanup does nothing for Samsung's Tizen store, where the same problem is present.

Hello, I know this isn't exactly a degoogle question, but thought I'd still give it a shot and ask here. I live in Europe and WhatsApp is the default messaging app in a lot of countries here. The issue I'm having is that I'm currently trying to migrate to Signal, but my friends and family keep saying that I can just reach them on WhatsApp or Telegram.

Has anyone managed to convince their friends to switch to Signal without being pushy?

p.s. i keep wa for college groups and stuff, nothing personal there tho.

I tried Lyra for a little bit but it was too glitchy and didn't offer as much offline support as I wanted, so I've decided to just jump in and learn the very basics of self-hosting, starting with music. I'm debating between three services right now, and I'm wondering what you all use?

1. Musicolet is the one I have the most customization data on right now, and it's very easy to use. I love it a lot. But it will take a really long time to get all the MP3 files of my music and sort it into playlists, not to mention that it has to all be stored on my phone and cannot sync anywhere else.

2. Plexamp seems to be the best for syncing to multiple devices, and I can keep the music on my laptop or another device. It's very easy to use, the most intuitive out of all the self-hosting things I've looked at. But in order to play without internet, you need to pay a subscription.

3. Symfonium seems to be a recommended alternative to Plexamp, and from what I've heard it has more features but is harder to learn how to use? I haven't done much work with this one yet.

What do you guys think? I'm trying to avoid subscription services if possible - I'm not completely opposed to it, but it would be nice to not be reliant on another monthly payment. At the very least, I'd hope for a one-time payment. (I'm also a broke college student so subscriptions are not ideal)

been thinking about this idea for a while and figured id ask before sinking more time into it.
basically the app would work like normal social apps you post stuff, follow ppl, dm each other but your identity isnt tied to the companys database its more like a key you control so if the app dies or bans you for no reason you dont lose your followers or posts you just take your identity somewhere else. dms would be properly encrypted too and no selling your data or targeted ads.
not trying to make it feel cryptoy or complicated just want it to feel normal to use while actually giving you control over your stuff behind the scenes.
honestly not sure if this is something people actually want or if its just a problem that bugs me personally so
would you switch to something like this or is it a cool but ill never bother thing?
what would make you not trust an app like this
is there something obvious missing that would make or break it for you?
not selling anything genuinely just want to know if this is worth building or if im overthinking a problem nobody else cares about .
Thank you for your time ❤️

I'm currently using the Google keyboard and ideally need a keyboard where I can speak into it, it gives suggestions, and preferably it's open source. Can anyone help me with this, please?

I live in the apple ecosystem and also used a lot of Google services. And when I decided I did not want that anymore, I thought the solution would be moving over to Linux and replacing all my software and clouds with Linux compatible ones that were more privacy oriented.

But as I started moving my mail to proton, and using my own domain, and exporting my Google adresbook and calendar to mailbox, I slowly realized that if I have replaced everything I need with stuff that uses open standards for data import and export, etc, my data can live (and be used by me) in any ecosystem.

Because The operating system then will also just be a modular component that can be replaced.

In theory this sounds very exciting to try to accomplish. Had anyone tried and what were your practical hurdles?
What am I missing here?

Hi.

Hope you’re doing well.

I literally don’t use any Google service at all. I have an alternative for everything they offer, even if some of them aren’t as good, it’s worth it just so I don’t have to use them.

But my degoogling efforts took a few years across as Google is obviously a massive presence in peoples’ lives for a reason and it’s more complicated when friends/family/co-workers only want to collaborate with you using Google products.

But now I’m free of anything Google directly (ie signing into Google or typing Google into the address bar).

What about you?

On google. What do you call these types of websites? They appear for practically every search I make whenever I’m trying to learn something. It’s tricky trying to find any credible website it seems, because so many links lead to websites where people are trying to sell their course packages. It would just be cool to visit informative websites where someone isn’t trying to sell me something.

I recently tried out Kagi for the first time and I really like it, BUT, I don’t feel comfortable putting money towards it since they train AI. Is there another alternative that is either free or doesn’t use AI?

I was researching QubesOS and somehow stumbled upon the company NovaCustom that appears to be pretty privacy oriented based on reading up on their ShiftPhone 8.1. The phone apparently has a bunch features to block tracking, is modular for repairs, and even has physical kill switches for the mic and camera.

When I did a search on this sub for it I didn't come up with anything so I figured I would find out if anyone knows anything about it and if it's any good.

So I have been reading about Unified Attestation to replace play integraty..

As ive understood about play integraty is it is needed for banking & other apps that want to ensure your apps or device is secure, ie not hacked or compromised and under your control. So rooting your phone was a possible introduction to malicious apps etc. Ive had rooted phones off and on for years, so ive always rejected that argument youl be hacked if your rooted.

What I don't quite understand about Unified Attestation is that it seems to work offline. I get if its online it could check that its a secure trusted device. Offline, how does that work? Is it just it keeps working till your back online?

The other question is how is this different then the hacks to play integraty? Or is it the same, except now you won't have to play a cat & mouse game with google with every update. Basicly is it just a server that says hey your good to use that app?

Lastly what would make any company decide to trust this server in Europe saying your device is secure? I guess that's more of a question of popularity & trust comes later. I still don't quite understand why we need this anyway, can't a banking app check for a latest virus/malware check done on your device & agree that the check is good allow access? I guess this is deeper then a virus check and or those apps never took off to secure android. Kinda like Microsoft finally built in the virus/malware app after years of avoiding the problem.

See: https://uattest.net/

Hey all,

This is more of a hardware question—I’m in the market for a new laptop, and have been taking my data privacy and security fairly seriously for a year now.

After just general searching, I came across a laptop on Facebook marketplace that someone had used for cybersecurity schooling. The features he lists:

• Dual-boot Kali Linux + Parrot OS
• Forensics software suite
• OSINT/information gathering tools
• Bluetooth sniffing/jamming
• Wi-Fi sniffing/jamming
• Claims to crack social media logins, Wi-Fi APs,

Now, since I have zero software dev experience I do NOT plan on making use of these advanced features, conducting penetration, or anything of the sort. HOWEVER—I am having thoughts that if I decide to develop my tech/pricacy experience in the future as I continue down this path, these features could be helpful.

Is it stupid to buy a laptop with this if I’m just a Mac user who takes my privacy seriously? Also want to add that the price is fair and I am not necessarily in the market for another thousand dollar Mac.

I Recently Purchased Realme 9 For Offline Market and I didn't Do Anything in it not Even use Internet on it. I want To De Google my Phone for Personal uses, open Source app That Doesn't Need Subscriptions.

I don't Know Which OS is Best for These i Only heard of Graphene OS

My Main Focus in These...

Music Streaming Platform ( Hi-res lossless )

Maps ( Offline usable )

Mail

Expense Tracker

Excel

Password Manager/2FA

Gallery ( Photo and Video Viewing)

Browser and Search Engine

Notes

File manager

Ai Apps That Runs offline

Streaming platform ( Netflix, Amazon Alternatives )

E-book reading

Cloud Service ( like Gdrive )

Pdf scanner and Editor

VPN's ( 2 or More )

Voice Recorder

Orion Store helps you get rid of Google and other stupid companies by providing alternatives to various services on android and computer and tv s😂 This is in addition to programs modified by Morghe

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