this post was submitted on 08 Jul 2023
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It's not unlikely be an NSA thing which allows them to access everthing. That sounds paranoid, but Snowden happened so we know they were doing stuff like this 10 years ago:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANT_catalog
To be honest, I think we just have to accept privacy is dead. The only real choice that remains is whether to regularly teabag our phones on on the off chance someone's looking.
Your privacy is only dead if you let it be. Like others have said you can ungoogle an Android phone with custom OS, or worst case go back to a non smart phone. But it's not dead. The 4th and 14th amendment legally should cover everyone from this type of spying.
I run a degoogled Pixel 6A with GrapheneOS and Linux on my desktop. I logged in to Google once on my phone and still haven't logged in a single time on my desktop. I don't use any of the gsuite apps.
I don't think the average person should or could reasonably do this. Google is so closely ingrained in society that removing it from your life requires a significant amount of effort to make sure you can still have as much of the stuff you need to participate in society as possible. Some of that stuff just doesn't exist now without Google.
I'm glad that the software and tools and resources exist to de-google yourself for those that want to but its just not an option for most people.
I disagree. EVERYTHING Google offers has some sort of alternative. Will it take more effort? Sure. But I have been Google free for over 2 years now and I have not once been unable to do anything because Google has some imagined exclusivity.
Start here for apps
CalyxOS
GrapheneOS
And for the diehard there's the Fairphone
I'm typing this message on GrapheneOS. My point isn't that it's completely impossible but rather that degoogling basically has to become your hobby in order to fully do it. It requires a level of effort that's not practical for the average person so its unreasonable to expect everyone to do it. Also, FOSS and non-google alternatives are often not as good as the service google provides for free, like Google Maps. I use OSMAnd as my daily maps app, but its pretty finnicky and isn't anywhere close to the smooth, polished experience of Google Maps, and its lacking some important functionality. I still use it, because I'm committed to trying to avoid Google software as much as possible, but its definitely not the best experience.
Also, a lot of institutions andemployers use the G-Suite and so its impoesible for people that have to do business with those organizations to be entirely free of google. My university uses the G-Suite and when school comes back in the fall I'll be stuck using it again. The local school district does too.