How to 'Divorce' Google

Newser ^ | 04/02/2013 | By Evann Gastaldo

[Responsibility2nd]

(Newser) – When Google's controversial privacy policy went live, Tom Henderson "divorced" the company. A year later, he writes in ITworld, things are going just fine. "I'm in a much happier place. It can be done." Here's how he did it:

• He uses the DuckDuckGo search engine, and occasionally Yahoo.
• He has his own email server, but also uses Yahoo's mail service.
• For maps, he prefers Yahoo, but Mapquest works, too. He eschews GPS entirely.
• Unfortunately, there's no real replacement for YouTube. But he uses Spotify for music and Vimeo for videos, and sometimes searches for videos on other sites.
• For images, he uses Flickr and Shutterfly, with his privacy settings locked down.
• For social networking: Facebook for friends and family, LinkedIn for everyone else, and occasionally Twitter.
• Babelfish works for translation.
• He's not big on apps or digital books, but Amazon works as an app retailer.

 

While using these alternate services, he always pays careful attention to terms of service and privacy policies, blocking scripts, and erasing cookies as he goes. "Google and SEO and tracking have soiled the web in unbelievable ways," Henderson writes. Online data gathering has become "pervasive," and "Terms of Service privacy invasion and data sharing are now so wide-spread and out-in-the-open." The only way to change that is to starve companies like Google of fuel, aka our personal information. Click for Henderson's full column.

 

 

[Biggirl]

Dogpile is a good site also.

[Lancey Howard]

If you’re concerned about privacy issues so much that you “divorce” Google, yet you Facebook - then you definitely have issues.

My first thought exactly.
Also, are there still people who don't have abine on their computers?

[Lancey Howard]

Yep, ixquick and startpage are both excellent search engines.

[Lancey Howard]

...but want an email server that respects privacy.

Rush has been advertising reagan.com specifically for that purpose.

[caww]

Ha! I did a few days ago....actually found Bing much better!

[El Cid]

During the removal process, it came up with a Google screen asking why I was doing this. I replied “You are a bunch of Commie f@cking bastards and I hope you die.”

Hah! I did something like that a few weeks ago. Like you, I installed some Adobe update and did not notice that it also loaded in Google Chrome (it was buried down there in the fine print. I could have checked 'no, don't install', but I didn't notice it). I don't remember exactly what I wrote for the reason for my uninstall -- but it definitely was along the lines of 'you are a bunch of privacy infringing commies...'
So they have at least two people calling them out as the commies they are.

[haffast]

Thanks for the post.

Google Employees - It Gets Better
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=pYLs4NCgvNU

Google Chrome: It Gets Better
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAKtEI7PBho

15 Major Brands That Unabashedly Support Gay Marriage
Business Insider ^ | 03/27/2013 | Laura Stampler
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3003316/posts

[Red Badger]

Don’t put anything on the ‘Net you don’t want to be seen.......

[Richard_Stairs]

What we really need to be concerned about are the backroom deals Google is making with Obozo and the rest of the security state. I’m sure they already have unfettered access to our lives but Google is making it that much easier.

[gibsonguy]

Good Search contributes to Planned Parenthood. The left is an endless snake that creeps into every opening no matter how small.
http://www.goodsearch.com/charitylist-p33.aspx

[Mr Ramsbotham]

I don’t get my religion from Google, so it’s all moot as far as I’m concerned.

[HokieMom]

When you sign up on Good Search, you designate the recipient charity. My designated charity is, of course,something other than Planned Parenthood.

[SuzyQueIN]

When I need info, I “bing” it. Haven’t used google for years and never missed it.

http://www.bing.com/

[upsdriver]

I also use startpage.

[DeprogramLiberalism]

Google is hardly the only one gathering your information. Download Ghostery and you'll find that virtually everywhere you go on the internet the same twenty or twenty-five trackers are sucking up info about you.

Ghostery allows you to stop trackers and bugs. But it isn't fool proof. Many advertisements also track your movements. Learn to use your Hosts file. It is part of the Windows OS and allows you to block advertisements, much malware, and keeps you from accidentally stumbling into many toxic sites. To learn more about Hosts go here: SomeoneWhoCares

Divorcing Google is not an option for me, because I like to use the best of things available, and Google does some things best. Fortunately, you can still use many Google features without allowing them to map your life. Chrome is by far the fastest browser on my primary computer system, with the fewest glitches. Chrome does not send your movements to Google, except for when using the address bar as a search feature along with the suggestion service. This can be turned off, if desired.

The Google search engine is by far the best available, with many unique customization features which I use regularly. For routine searches StartPage uses Google results while blocking any tracking and providing proxies to anonymously visit sites through - nice added touch. IxQuick is a sister engine with its own results - again they promise no tracking and offer proxies.

Learn how to edit your browser cookies. This very important. Cookies are necessary for login sites and some in-site features, but many are just for tracking. Limit your cookies to the sites that you need them for and block the rest.

Learn how to clear your history folders - there are lots of them. They can be used for tracking by revisited websites and downloaded programs as well. I use Free Internet Window Washer

Learn how to edit your Startup configuration and browser add-ons, because many of your downloaded programs and add-ons start automatically in the background of your OS or browser, collect info and send it out. If this author isn't being careful with these, he probably isn't as divorced from Google as he thinks he is.

Also, learn how to edit Services in Windows. The OS itself keeps Microsoft informed about you to a certain extent. This can be minimized with appropriate Services edits, as well as limiting the abilities of many programs from automatically gathering info.

Don't ever download anything from Softonic - they are even worse than trackers. For some reason they show up high in searches for many utility programs. I don't know why they are not flagged as malware. Maybe they pay off the search engines.

To learn about the above things try a Google search - using StartPage, of course. ;-)

[Revolting cat!]

What about us Google Hater Haters?

[DeprogramLiberalism]

Buy an Android phone. Google will know EVERYTHING about you.

[Revolting cat!]

Do you use a credit card, a supermarket “club” card? The bank, the grocery merchant know more about you than Google every will!

[petro45acp]

Saw the TED presentation on “The Internet Search Bubble,” and it was www.duckduckgo.com from then on. No tracking, no add ons. The only time anything follows is if one makes a purchase online. Recommend using ‘private browsing’ in Mozilla, or ‘inprivate browsing’ in internet exploder.

[DeprogramLiberalism]

There is InPrivate Filtering in IE as well. Chrome calls it Incognito.