After about 2 and a half years of battling for my privacy, I’m finally at a place where I can step back and be happy. Technically the seed of privacy was planted 5 years ago, but it hadn’t become a goal yet.
I used to use Windows 7 (even 10 and 11, eventually), an iPhone 6, Gmail, Google Hangouts (anyone else remember when it was called that?) and Discord as my main messengers, Snapchat, Instagram, Spotify, Netflix, Reddit, ChatGPT, Chrome, Google, Avast and Avast VPN, YouTube, Authy, and so, so much more.
I am so fortunate to be able to be where I’m at now. I use Fedora (Silverblue. I tried secureblue but it was too strict for my taste), a Pixel 8 running GrapheneOS, Proton Mail + addy.io (although I try to use email as little as possible), Signal and SimpleX Chat, a “self-hosted” music library, some cheaper ways to stream movies, Lemmy (duh), HuggingChat (because I don’t have the hardware to run my own model quite yet), Tor Browser and another (I want to avoid arguments about my browser choice), SearXNG, Proton VPN (until I can get Mullvad VPN paid for), FreeTube, Aegis Authenticator, and a plethora of other software.
I got quite lucky with device compatibility. My computer and laptop just so happen to be compatible with every distro I’ve tried, and I’ve sure dragged them through hell to find the one I want. I’m blessed to have been able to snag a decent phone for GrapheneOS, and so glad to have automated the transition from Spotify.
It’s been a good run. I’m glad to finally be satisfied with where I’m at. I started to see the fruit of my labor months ago. Now I can rest easy and do my part to help others become more privacy aware. I’d love to hear your story too, maybe mine isn’t far off!
Bonus story: The straw that broke the camel’s back that caused me to fully switch to Linux was Windows 11’s Efficiency Mode. It’s a cute feature that throttles the performance of programs to save on carbon emissions… and (at the time) you couldn’t disable it. You could disable it per-process, but it would re-enable itself shortly after. ChatGPT was becoming quite popular at the time, but Efficiency Mode slowing down the browser made it nearly unusable. I did look for ways to permanently disable it, but either I wasn’t experienced enough or it didn’t exist yet. Well, no way except to replace Windows altogether!
Well done! Make sure to tell some of that to people you meet in person too. Everyone here is a convert already.
So, my story begins with a Suse Linux CD back in 2004. I’d been on crappy Windows XP just like everyone else, a cracked version that was not updated, and it naturally got infected with a trojan. Took me 2 weeks to clear the thing out. But the worst thing about that experience was something deeper: it made me feel violated and helpless. My computer had been broken into because I didn’t understand how it worked and I didn’t really control it. Something had to change, I wanted to take back control. I’d heard about Linux so I ordered the CD from the Suse website and received it in the mail! And I never looked back. Now I use Ubuntu but that hardly matters. Back then it was blood and tears for me to get Linux working properly, but these days it’s easy peasy, anyone can do it.
That same year, I installed the cool new browser Firefox. Even before its 1.0 release it was the best option on Linux. And there too I never looked back. Except for a 6-month flirtation with Chrome when it was first released. Sorry.
Around a decade ago I tried Ubuntu Touch on a phone. Unfortunately it was unusable and even today it’s not much better. So Android it remains for now, alas. My approach to mobile is just to use it as little as possible, i.e. camera and music and podcasts and that’s about it. The thing stays mostly in airplane mode and has nothing installed except a few F-Droid apps. Everything else I do from my laptop, either using web apps or in standalone apps. Including communication. This is where I am most radical. It means there’s lots of stuff I don’t have access to on the go. Most people will not even consider this to be an option, but just remember that this is the way everybody lived until basically yesterday. If you want to, you really can decide not to be glued 24-7 to a little screen. Personally I consider it a quality-of-life improvement.
Using the desktop is IMO the single best route to better privacy. A corporate OS on a mobile device with lots of sensors which follows you around everywhere - this is always going to be a privacy minefield. A desktop web browser is the app platform where you have the most control.
GrapheneOS can make a difference here I would say. As long as a you don’t fill it with loads of crappy socials apps. These are the real killers.
Have you taken a look at GrapheneOS? It’s a “de-googled” version of Android, which means it has none of the trackers and even has a network permission toggle for apps.
Yes of course. But it requires a Pixel. A bit of a pact with the devil if you ask me.
GrapheneOS and LineageOS (I once used CyanogenMod) and Replicant and so on are great. But even better, I argue, is to migrate one’s computing back to the desktop. I know this is not a not a winning argument, I’m used to getting eyerolled when I suggest it, but my personal experience is that it’s not just feasible but better. So I’m sticking to my guns! But everyone should find their own path to privacy.
Hey, if you can manage it, and if that’s what makes you happy, I respect it! I do agree there is more freedom on a desktop, but I’ve found a balance between minimizing my phone usage and still using it for what I need. I really only use it for messaging, news, pictures, and an occasional game.
Yup, messaging was the original killer app for mobile computing and nothing has changed. Just being able to arrange a rendezvous while out and about, hard to deny that this one was progress. Added to that are a couple of newer use cases like ride-hailing and payments (tho this latter doesn’t actually require a connection). But most applications are not better on a tiny screen on a street corner IMO, and the fact that several billion people seem to disagree is more explained by social media and addiction than anything else!
I’m not a luddite, I do actually have the thing in my pocket and use it too. But as you say, the point is balance and moderation.