How to Actively De-Google Your Life
In the age of surveillance tech, it’s important to me to break up with it as much as I can.
I’m trying hard to break up with AI (more here) and Amazon (more here) so my personal next step is Google. But it sounds like a lot of you are interested in this as well.
Let’s talk about De-Googling!
First, it sucks that a lot of the options will be switching to another giant tech company. I wish that wasn’t the case, but sometimes it is.
This list is also not conclusive. I’m still learning so please drop your recommendations below!
Why De-Google
According to Wikipedia, “The DeGoogle movement is a grassroots campaign that has spawned as privacy advocates urge users to stop using Google products entirely due to growing privacy concerns regarding the company.”
My last straw was when I noticed targeted ads based on my emails. They use AI in their tools to scan your data, your creative projects, your work, and more and use it to train their LLMs. They also began a fully AI search engine starting May 26th. If you’re anti-AI, you may want to get away from Google, too.
So, step one, turn these AI features off, especially if you cannot do a full de-Google.
Next, check out the next few slides on how to get away from this invasive and environmentally harmful company.
What if I can’t De-Google?
I, too, cannot fully De-Google. Well for one, you may be watching the video that accompanies this post on YouTube, owned by Google. That’s how I make 30% of my income. For now, I’m not able to get a different job and I truly believe I can use my platform for good, so I’m sticking wit this.
Not only this, but I’m a full-time student and my school uses Google Suite. I cannot communicate with fellow classmates and professors without Gmail.
That being said, if you’re in the same boat, just do what you can. If you can’t give up Gmail, opt out of other Google services like Chrome and Drive. Even if you can’t give up any of the following services, just limit your usage of them. Every single small swap we make matters. Ever dollar we divert, every piece of our free data that we give these companies that we divert makes a difference.
One way to limit that usage is to be mindful of your accesses and permissions that you give these platforms. Here are a few you can turn off to protect your data:
Stop training Google’s AI via your email
Head to the gear icon in Gmail
Click on “see all settings”
Scroll down to “smart features” and ensure this is UNchecked
Turn off targeted ads. Targeted allows Google (and other companies) to gather pattern of life data on you, learning your behaviors, clicks, and favorite things.
Go to “my ad center”
Click the "Personalized Ads" toggle at the top of the page
Select "Turn Off”
Go to the “Google Privacy Checkup” page
Turn off Web & App Activity: this stops Google from saving your searches and the websites you visit.
Turn off Location History: this stops Google from tracking where you go.
Turn off YouTube History: this stops Google from saving the videos you watch
Block 3rd-party apps that have access to your Google data:
Go to the Google Account Security page
Scroll to "Your connections to third-party apps and services"
Select the app you want to remove
Click "Delete all connections”
I’m sure there’s more, so drop your tips below!
Google Search Engine
Ecosia: uses AI, but plants trees per search. The AI feature can be turned off.
DuckDuckGo: uses AI, but is secure. The AI feature can be turned off.
Mojeek: uses AI behind the scenes but is limited for the user aspect.
Vivaldi seems to be both AI-free and secure
Other Big Tech options that also likely use AI and won’t be secure, but are not Google:
Edge
Firefox
G-Mail
There are other big tech options:
Yahoo
Hotmail
Outlook
Or here are some smaller services that are secure:
Tuta Mail
Proton
Zoho
Google Calendar
Notion: like Google Calendar, you can sync this between devices. But, they do use AI and are extremely pro AI
Built-in phone calendar
Paper calendar
Google Tools Suite
Scrivener for writing documents
Proton replaces Google Docs
Canva is great to replace Google Presentations. Though they are also pro-AI.
Microsoft has a full suite of tools to replace Docs, Sheets, and Slides, but they are pro-AI and may even use your work to train AI
Try taking notes physically
YouTube
Yup, Google owns YouTube. As a YouTuber, this is hard for me. I find ways to support my faves off YouTube such as Patreon or their direct website. Recently I also bought a CD for my favorite Lo-Fi artists so I can listen while I work without using YouTube.
Unfortunately, every other major social media player is another giant tech company:
TikTok is owned by AI company, Oracle
Facebook and Instagram are owned by tech giant Meta
Twitch is owned by the Amazon empire
Twitter is owned by the world’s richest man
There isn’t a great swap here that I’m aware of. I just try to be mindful of my usage of the platform.
Google Tech
Continue to use the devices you have, but if you want to stop monetarily supporting Google, don’t buy their devices moving forward. If you’re dead set on them, opt for refurbished/secondhand. Full post on the most eco-tech companies coming soon!
For now, make your current Google tech last as long as possible. Keep a case on it and repair it where possible. Moving forward, consider other, less harmful companies to support like Fairphone.
Again, this list is not conclusive. I’m still new to De-Googling, but it’s all about learning as we go! I’m still learning so drop your suggestions below. Let’s use this post less of a guide and more of a community forum for us all to learn together.
Every small action we take matters. Even if you can’t be 100% Google-free (like me, I can’t ditch it for school), just try your best!
As always, remember that your small actions make a big difference in the long run :)
Emma
