How to Log Out of Google, According to a Privacy Expert
Some companies are easy to leave. If I decide I don’t like Coca-Cola anymore, I can just stop drinking Coca-Cola. Of course, the company makes more than just Coca-Cola, so I’d have to do a little research to find out which products they make and which they don’t, but it’s theoretically possible.
Quitting Google is not like that. It produces a variety of products, many of which your digital life depends on. According to the expert I spoke with, leaving such a company is like getting a divorce. “It’s not easy, but you feel a lot better on the other side,” said Janet Vertesi, a professor of sociology at Princeton who publishes work on human-computer interaction. “Think of a friend who is getting divorced and is so happy to be gone. It could be you. This is what it’s like to leave Google.”
She would know. Vertesi researches NASA space robot teams and also publishes work on human-computer interaction. In March 2012, after Google significantly changed its privacy policy , it decided to stop using Google entirely. Vertesi also runs the Opt Out Project , a website full of recommendations and tutorials for replacing Big Tech services with community-driven and DIY alternatives. In other words, she’s the one who did all the work, so I wanted to ask her for advice on how to approach leaving Google.
Lifehacker already published a detailed guide to quitting Google and a list of the best competitors for every Google product years ago, and this information is mostly correct. But moving away from Google isn’t just a technical process, it’s a massive undertaking. Here are some tips on how to deal with this.
Don’t switch everything at once
The first thing Vertesi emphasized to me was not to try to leave Google right away.
“People give up without even trying because they think it’s too much,” she said. “You can’t eat an elephant right away; you have to do it one piece at a time.”
What does this mean in practice? Selecting one Google product and deciding to use something else instead. You can start by researching the best Google search alternatives and try them out for a few weeks. You can start replacing your browser. The trick is not to overwhelm yourself.
“You can’t do it all at once,” Vertesi said. “You have to pick a service, get out, change your habits, then pick the next service, get out and change your habit.”
I asked where she personally would start. “It’s easiest to switch from Chrome to Firefox first,” she told me, saying she likes the browser’s emphasis on privacy and community. So, switching from Chrome to another browser is a great first step, and Firefox makes the process easier, although Vertesi stressed that it’s a good idea to explore and try multiple browsers. She mentioned that she also uses Brave, the DuckDuckGo browser, and sometimes even Safari. .
However, Chrome is just one Google product in your life. Quitting Google means making a list of every app, activity, and service they make and replacing them one by one.
Don’t just move to another company.
You might be tempted, faced with the prospect of slowly replacing each individual Google product one at a time, to instead switch entirely to another company’s suite of apps. Vertesi advises against doing this.
“You can’t jump from a frying pan into someone else’s frying pan,” she told me. This approach has several advantages. First, it avoids a situation where one company has access to all your information. Secondly, it forces you to experiment with new tools.
“For me, the main thing is to have a lot of alternatives,” Vertesi said. “When people ask, ‘What do you use instead of Google,’ I say, ‘Lots of things.'”
During our conversation, she recommended several different tools—Proton and Zoho for email, Dropbox and Resilo Sync for file syncing, and CryptPad for online document editing. Consolidating as many different tools as possible allows you to store your data in different places and also allows you to choose the best tools for specific tasks.
Consider changing operating systems
If you have an Android phone, this is almost certainly one of the main ways Google finds out about you. However, you don’t have to buy a new phone— you can install /e/OS instead . It’s an open-source operating system that’s relatively easy to install on Pixel phones, and it’s completely free of any Google apps or influence. Otherwise, an iPhone might be an option, although for environmental reasons you might want to wait until you replace your phone anyway.
Chromebooks are also impossible to de-Google without changing the operating system. Vertesi recommends looking at Linux distributions ElementaryOS , which she says are intuitive to install and use.
Or, if this is all too complicated, Vertesi admitted that Apple products are generally better from a privacy standpoint. “Apple products are the best in terms of user experience and privacy and security,” she said, adding that she “doesn’t think Windows is a viable option anymore” when it comes to privacy.
Do you need to keep using multiple Google apps? Isolate them.
Personally, I use Google Docs to interact with most of my editors—it’s just the industry standard. If you’re in the same boat and need to use Google for multiple purposes, Vertesi recommends using that Google account in a dedicated browser. This helps from a privacy perspective: Google can’t use this account to track your other online activities. But it also has other advantages.
“It takes some discipline, but once you do it, it’s better for work-life balance,” Vertesi said, explaining that saving work in a dedicated browser helps you avoid working during off-hours.
Quitting Google is a Process
Google users depend on the company for all types of services. Meanwhile, Google depends on its users for the data it needs to sell its advertising services, the most profitable advertising business in the history of the planet. Vertesi calls this an unhealthy codependent relationship.
“Google has entered into every aspect of our lives,” she said. “Leaving a codependent relationship is good, but it sucks.” But there is light at the end of the tunnel. In many ways, this is the replacement of corporate tools with more idealistic ones.
“I like to find products and services created by foundations, communities and companies that have alternative agreements that are not subject to the board of directors and venture capitalists,” she said, mentioning Signal, Mozilla and Proton along with various open source programs. projects. The point is that we don’t need to focus entirely on why Google is bad; we can also look for organizations and tools that we admire. This is the good part.