Hi privacy community. I genuinely want to hear from both people who are very private and those who didn’t go to such an extent.

I started my journy since high school and replaced a lot of stuff since then.

Ditched most of Google’s app . Only 2~3 apps on my phone require google play store(Banking/School’s app/ Train ticket).

Switched to Protonmail + Email alias, and manage my passwords with Bitwarden.

Got off social media and made sure I removed all data that can be found about me in quick Google searches.

Switched to Linux for desktop.

But

I can’t get rid of gmail because I still need those apps, and some professors heavily relies on google services.

Windows ain’t getting off my laptop because I need to make sure document format and software compatibility don’t become reasons I fail a class.

I feel like the obstacle I hit isn’t just convenience anymore, it’s my life and the situations I’m in.

I wish to hear what kind of dicisions / realizations / mindsets you guys had in your journy.

Thanks in advance.

  • haui@lemmy.giftedmc.com
    2·
    5 months ago

    I use linux on my desktop and laptop and dont own a running copy of windows at this point. I‘m switching from iPhone to rooted OP6 with postmarketOS atm and I host my own cloud, music, tv, websites, social media, etc.

    My goal never was privacy but ownership of my devices. The privacy aspect is a neat addition.

    Some of my friends still have whatsapp so I bridge to them from my matrix server. If I need to use google tools I do so in the browser. I ditched most proprietary apps at this point.

    It does lead to people looking at me funny if I say „sorry, I dont use windows“ but I dont care.

    I still need to get my sonos to be owned by me but thats a future project.

    In summary I would say if I need proprietary stuff for a project thats no big deal. I just make sure I dont go back to using it for other things.

    Good luck on your journey.