GitHub user Nikita Voloboev put together this list of privacy-focused alternative products for anyone concerned with privacy. Part of the reason that many people never switch from Google to alternative products is that it can seem hard to find alternatives. This list is a great resource for anyone looking to keep their data out of Google’s control.

This is a list of various ‘free’ services whose business models are to collect as much personal data about you as possible and alternatives you can use to them if you care about not losing control of your data and your privacy.

For reasons why you may want to care about this, you can read this article.

The list is separated into topics and each service or software stated gives support for why you may want to stop using the service. As well as show alternatives to these services and why you may want to switch to them.

Search Engines

⚠️ You are the product:

Google – By 2030, You’ll Be Living in a World That’s Run by Google.

Bing – Owned by Microsoft.

Yandex – Russia’s version of Google.

🔏 Alternatives:

Social Networks

⚠️ You are the product:

Facebook – What should you think about when using Facebook?

Instagram – Owned by Facebook.

🔏 Alternatives:

Messengers

⚠️ You are the product:

WhatsApp – Uses Signal Protocol thus chats are E2E encrypted. However it sends entire user’s contact books to FB servers. Owned by Facebook.

Facebook Messenger – Owned by Facebook.

🔏 Alternatives:

Cloud Storage

⚠️ You are the product:

Google Drive – Centralized and owned by Google.

OneDrive – Owned by Microsoft.

🔏 Alternatives:

VPN

⚠️ You are the product:

Any VPN that is free or keeps logs.

🔏 Alternatives:

ProtonVPN – As a Swiss VPN provider, Proton does not log user activity or share data with third parties. Tor is also supported.

Mullvad – Swedish based VPN provider that retains no logs, and uses a mostly open source and transparent infrastructure available to the public. Accepts Bitcoin, anonymous cash payments via envelope, PayPal, and more.

Email

⚠️ You are the product:

Gmail – Owned by Google.

Outlook – Owned by Microsoft.

Yahoo – Multiple data breaches.

🔏 Alternatives:

Operating Systems

⚠️ You are the product:

🔏 Alternatives:

Browsers

⚠️ You are the product:

Google Chrome – Owned by Google.

Edge Browser – Owned by Microsoft.

🔏 Alternatives:

Video Sharing

⚠️ You are the product:

YouTube – Owned by Google.

🔏 Alternatives:

AI Assistants

⚠️ You are the product:

Amazon Alexa – Owned by Amazon.

Google Home – Owned by Google.

IBM Watson – Owned by IBM.

🔏 Alternatives:

Snips – AI assistant platform.

Mycroft – Open-source AI assistant, range of hardware options.

Apple Siri and HomePod – Apple Privacy.

Related

Read the entire list here.