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I immediately feel "freer" just reading this. I have heard of DDG intermittently, but never remember to try it out with any consistency. I generally have my de

I immediately feel "freer" just reading this. I have heard of DDG intermittently, but never remember to try it out with any consistency. I generally have my default browser page set to about:blank, but I just updated it to DDG. Maybe that will prompt me to try it for a while. But, here's the thing: As an avid Android user (phones and tablets), it feels a little "insufficient" to just switch over my search engine in the name of privacy. After all, I use the big G for nav, contacts, and other stuff. Of course, it is easy to use their sevices by default, and I don't know what a viable alternative stack woukd look like. I disabled Verizon's Navigator because its click agreement seemed at least as onerous as what I have seen from G. So, even in trying to find alternatives, it does bring up the questions: to whom am I willing to provide my info, how much am I willing to provide, and in exchange for what?

Derbasti 13y ago
It is relatively easy to run your own contacts/calendar server. Just buy a Raspberry Pi, set up DynDNS, and hit apt-get install owncloud. This is really the way to go here. Also, there are plenty of email providers out there that are not Google (but it is often unclear whether they are any better privacy-wise. Also, arguably, no one is providing as slick a web interface for email as Google). I am not living in the US, so it makes sense for me to choose an email provider in my own country. Mapping is more difficult. Tomtom etc. have great navigation apps. But if you just want to look at a map, GMaps is still far superior to most OSM based map apps. Skobbler has a few great ones.
- bad_user 13y ago
  Depends on where you live. In my city and its surroundings, OSM data is far better than GMaps. And on my Android I paid for both OsmAnd and Skobbler. These aren't as polished as Gmaps, but at least they work offline.

Derbasti 13y ago

It is relatively easy to run your own contacts/calendar server. Just buy a Raspberry Pi, set up DynDNS, and hit apt-get install owncloud. This is really the way to go here. Also, there are plenty of email providers out there that are not Google (but it is often unclear whether they are any better privacy-wise. Also, arguably, no one is providing as slick a web interface for email as Google). I am not living in the US, so it makes sense for me to choose an email provider in my own country. Mapping is more difficult. Tomtom etc. have great navigation apps. But if you just want to look at a map, GMaps is still far superior to most OSM based map apps. Skobbler has a few great ones.

bad_user 13y ago
Depends on where you live. In my city and its surroundings, OSM data is far better than GMaps. And on my Android I paid for both OsmAnd and Skobbler. These aren't as polished as Gmaps, but at least they work offline.