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I’ve never liked this argument. The Google ecosystem is more or less required these days unless you are a little more tech savvy than the average person, and yo

I’ve never liked this argument. The Google ecosystem is more or less required these days unless you are a little more tech savvy than the average person, and your job/education doesn’t require it, AND you have the patience to stitch together a bunch of (maybe) trustworthy services. It’s like saying, “if you don’t like your ISP, then find another one.” Then when they’re all doing the same crap going, “well then don’t use the Internet.”

leetcrew 6y ago
I don't really buy this. if your school/employer uses google products, then yeah, you're SOL. but otherwise you can get pretty far using apple products and duckduckgo. I guess if you count sending emails to people with gmail accounts as "using the google ecosystem", it's pretty much unavoidable.
- boomboomsubban 6y ago
  So many websites require Google scripts to operate, even if you personally use alternatives whenever possible you are stuck in their ecosystem.
- searchableguy 6y ago
  Wait till you find out about school forcing surveillance tech from the big companies. You don't have a choice whether you are at home or in school. During the lockdown, schools decided to force kids to install spyware and malware on their own devices. Literal hijacking of everything you do on the device and then pushed a COC on what you can and cannot do on that device. In developed countries or rich places, you might afford privacy but free services or traps offered by big companies see widespread use in developing countries. Schooling situation is worse and they are profit seekers who will sacrifice privacy for saving up few $$$. Privacy is not something to be bought, it's a right. To give you one example, google analytics and ads. An average person might be able to block that on desktop by simply installing a plugin but on phone, there is no way to install a plugin for your browser. Solutions like [0] blokada are not well known. Most people don't know how to configure a proxy, change dns and they won't install a different browser. And then there are apps which are way worse than websites. There is a reason why companies push you so hard to use the app. Reddit, Imgur, twitter, instagram, facebook etc. Why app? Also, windows, google captcha, amp, search, youtube etc. You can't escape them. 0] https://blokada.org/index.html https://blokada.org/index.html
  - gorhill 6y ago
    > there is no way to install a plugin for your browser Firefox for Android blocks trackers by default and supports installing extensions.
    - searchableguy 6y ago
      Yes, kiwi browser and yandex does too despite being chromium. I just mean the majority of browsers that normal users will have. If someone is using Firefox, they are already changing their defaults and are most likely aware of the privacy issues.
- BolexNOLA 6y ago
  > if your school/employer uses google products...you’re SOL Yes. That is literally what I said. That applies to millions of people.

leetcrew 6y ago

I don't really buy this. if your school/employer uses google products, then yeah, you're SOL. but otherwise you can get pretty far using apple products and duckduckgo. I guess if you count sending emails to people with gmail accounts as "using the google ecosystem", it's pretty much unavoidable.

boomboomsubban 6y ago
So many websites require Google scripts to operate, even if you personally use alternatives whenever possible you are stuck in their ecosystem.
searchableguy 6y ago
Wait till you find out about school forcing surveillance tech from the big companies. You don't have a choice whether you are at home or in school. During the lockdown, schools decided to force kids to install spyware and malware on their own devices. Literal hijacking of everything you do on the device and then pushed a COC on what you can and cannot do on that device. In developed countries or rich places, you might afford privacy but free services or traps offered by big companies see widespread use in developing countries. Schooling situation is worse and they are profit seekers who will sacrifice privacy for saving up few $$$. Privacy is not something to be bought, it's a right. To give you one example, google analytics and ads. An average person might be able to block that on desktop by simply installing a plugin but on phone, there is no way to install a plugin for your browser. Solutions like [0] blokada are not well known. Most people don't know how to configure a proxy, change dns and they won't install a different browser. And then there are apps which are way worse than websites. There is a reason why companies push you so hard to use the app. Reddit, Imgur, twitter, instagram, facebook etc. Why app? Also, windows, google captcha, amp, search, youtube etc. You can't escape them. 0] https://blokada.org/index.html https://blokada.org/index.html
- gorhill 6y ago
  > there is no way to install a plugin for your browser Firefox for Android blocks trackers by default and supports installing extensions.
  - searchableguy 6y ago
    Yes, kiwi browser and yandex does too despite being chromium. I just mean the majority of browsers that normal users will have. If someone is using Firefox, they are already changing their defaults and are most likely aware of the privacy issues.
BolexNOLA 6y ago
> if your school/employer uses google products...you’re SOL Yes. That is literally what I said. That applies to millions of people.