Stay on GMail, but don't log-in to the web interface. Instead use Thunderbird. That way you can read your mail without being forced logged-in to search or video

Stay on GMail, but don't log-in to the web interface. Instead use Thunderbird. That way you can read your mail without being forced logged-in to search or video. Google has been making this harder and harder though (now calling Thunderbird insecure, and requiring you to allow insecure app's in the options), but it is a good canary in the coal mine: Once I can't avoid this unified/universal log-in, I'll know Google turned me into an adversary. With this setup I deem Gmail to be the best service for privacy and security.