how to Degooglyfy your life #DeleteGoogle and avoid GAFAM
I’ve slowly been trying to get rid of the big 5 surveillance capitalists, GAFAM (Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft), from my day-to-day life but it’s been hard.
Facebook: deleted! Apple: don’t own any Apple devices! Microsoft: I use linux! Amazon: don’t shop there nor use their devices! Google: Gmail -> Protonmail, Calendars/Contacts -> CalDAV/DavDroid/Nextcloud Android -> ???
The Problem
I’ve achieved much as but biggest hole in my privacy right now is on my Android phone I carry in my pocket all day. This phone has a wealth of information about me: my location, apps I use, things I type, people I call etc. At this point we know that Android is always tracking us, so I want to think of better solution that replaces the problem at a hardware/OS level.
Solutions?
Not long ago, I would’ve said there weren’t many good options out there other than rooting your phone and installing LineageOS. Of course, this is not easy on every phone (I personally failed in my quest to liberate my Xiaomi Redmi Note 5) and you have to be a bit of a techie to go this route.
The Options Available
Here are some of the exciting options that are coming out for those of us looking to escape the Android/Apple duopoly.
Sailfish OS by Jolla
- Linux based/open source OS only!
- compatible with Android apps
- can only be installed on Sony Xperia phones
- costs about 50 EUR for the OS
- available now!
PinePhone by (Pine64)[https://www.pine64.org/]
- Linux based/open source phone running KDE Plasma Mobile
- costs about $100 USD
- available starting Nov. 1, 2019
Necunos NC_1
- Linux based small phone/tablet, but cannot make cellular calls!
- can buy with choice of OS (Debian with Plasma Mobile, PostmarketOS with Plasma Mobile, Maemo Leste, Nemo Mobile, LuneOS) installed, or with no OS
- costs 1199 EUR (first batch of 500 sold out for now!)
- might morph into a fully featured phone in future versions
Librem5 by Purism
- Linux based/open source running Pure OS
- dialer and messaging powered by Matrix
- user replaceable battery
- costs $649 USD international shipping included (add links and descriptions)
LineageOS
- Open-Source OS based on Android
- support for a wide-range of phones
- free!
- very tricky to install on some phones
Ubuntu Touch (UBports)
- open-source phone OS
- doesn’t work on many phones