lemmy - Link to source

Ethical Alternatives to Big Tech

My website has grown to 20 categories.

Please check it out. Which important categories and alternatives are missing? What should be removed again?

(I've noted earlier feedback to consider removing Proton, Brave, Signal. Which I will try to address by next month.)

I've added the controversial topic of AI chatbots. While I think there can't be truly sustainable options, I think it makes a difference whether you enter your prompts on privacy-threatening, intentionally biased and military supporting providers or with providers who adhere to rules regarding fair use of AI and privacy.

#DitchBigTech #UnplugBigTech #DigitalIndependenceDay #DIDit

Find Sustainable Alternatives to Widespread Big Tech Products on SustySubs.net

There are a lot of good reasons to get away from Big Tech. We show you some good substitutes!
Klaas Ole Jordan (www.sustysubs.net)
#degoogle
in reply to Lantsu

lemmy - Link to source

kjtrnc

Here's my post from February: lemmy.ml/post/42584169
Commenters mention questionable behaviour by Proton's and Brave's CEOs and Signals reliance on Big Tech infrastructure.

kjtrnc

2026-02-02 16:46:29


Website for Sustainable Alternatives to BigTech


Yesterday on Digital Independence Day I've launched a small website suggesting sustainable alternatives to BigTech products.

I've started with five categories: Email, Search, Maps, Browsers, Messaging.

There are some controversial picks in there like Proton Mail or Brave. They do have a pretty wide adoption but have severe downsides. I'll probably remove them again. What do you think?

Which categories would be the next most important ones to add? Which services did I miss on the existing ones? Feedback welcome.

#DIDit #DigitalIndependenceDay


Find Sustainable Alternatives to Widespread Big Tech Products on SustySubs.net

There are a lot of good reasons to get away from Big Tech. We show you some good substitutes!
Klaas Ole Jordan (www.sustysubs.net)

in reply to kjtrnc

lemmy - Link to source

smeg

Lumping proton and signal in with brave seems a bit mad, brave was caught hijacking affiliate links and their ceo actively donates to right-wing causes, proton's ceo just... made a couple of tweets that didn't criticise trump enough? And what's signal's fault, just not being decentralised? It's nice to be an idealist but the average person isn't going to be compiling and self-hosting their own foss solutions. Don't let perfect be the enemy of good and all that!
in reply to kjtrnc

lemmy - Link to source

stoicEuropean

I am new to the topic, so I can't really contribute. But I love to see other people help the boycott.

  • Switched to Vivaldi. Awesome browser on all plattforms IMO.
  • Switched to Proton Mail, and feel good about it. Why is Proton bad?
  • And Big Win: I now host my own Nextcloud, Kalender and paperless-ngx. Highly recommend these, from a usability point of view. Can't say much about the technical or security perspective.
in reply to stoicEuropean

lemmy - Link to source

kjtrnc

Great to hear!
I can't say anything bad about the Proton Mail product. I noted the criticism of the Trump-friendly comments by Proton's CEO and got aware of false claims regarding the privacy of its newly released Proton Meet.

Proton Meet Isn't What They Told You It Was

Proton built Proton Meet to escape the CLOUD Act. They built it on CLOUD Act infrastructure. Their website promises "not even government agencies" can access your calls. The company routing them hands your call records to the government when asked.
Sam (Sam Bent)
in reply to kjtrnc

lemmy - Link to source

hiawatha98

Things like this drive me crazy, especially in light of a conversation I had yesterday, because I don’t think people realize how damaging it is to overall privacy.

I have a friend who has been all in on Google for years. Yesterday he mentioned to me that he started playing with Proton Mail and wanted to talk to me about it, as he knows I switched last year. He said he liked it but comments he’s been reading online have him skeptical about trusting them.

I went through the process I followed, and the 12 different providers I tested, before I chose Proton. We discussed the difference between privacy and anonymity and that there are avenues to do both with Proton should he want to. I also showed him the comment that the Proton CEO posted about supporting Trump’s choice for a cabinet member who has a history of preferring small businesses over large corporations with Proton's defense.

I also stopped simping for Proton and offered a number of other alternatives he could try like my second choice, Tuta, and the number of improvements they have done since I first tested them. I even suggested FastMail because it at least sets the stage to get off a more privacy-invasive vendor.

In the end, his comment was that this was all overwhelming and that it's best to stick with “the devil you know.” So now, he will remain with Google because there is too much controversy in the privacy world, and I suspect this is true for a lot of “normal” people who are just now starting to consider improving their overall privacy and security.

With every tool, someone is going to have a problem. We let perfection become the enemy of good, and this helps people feel comfortable in deciding to stay with large American tech.

This entry was edited (Sunday, May 3, 2026, 12:59 PM)
in reply to non_burglar

lemmy - Link to source

Imaginary_Stand4909

I try to limit my Proton use to only their VPN, and after their comments I'm trying to decide between switching to AirVPN or doing my own VPN since I need portforwarding for torrenting. I switched from ProtonMail to Mailbox.org a while ago to not keep my eggs in one basket.

I think everyone highlighting the police is correct but also cherrypicking (for lack of a better statement). Like Tuta isn't gonna go to jail for you either lol. All companies have to cooperate with the government in some form. I do agree that Proton should stop advertising like it won't or that it's failproof though. If they really cared, they would make guides on how to use their services in a way that gives little to no information to the police if demanded. And emphasizing that the email isn't encrypted if the other user isn't a ProtonMail account or using PGP.

Court rules encrypted email provider Tutanota must monitor messages in blackmail case

The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) in Germany has ruled that Tutanota must monitor messages of accounts implicated in a blackmail case.
Shannon Vavra (CyberScoop)
in reply to hiawatha98

lemmy - Link to source

ScoffingLizard

Even if the alternative is not perfect, you're still supporting competition. That matters. I read the Trump hype and started moving to Proton anyways, until something better came up later. The issue is that you remove power from one entity, and give it to another with hopes of it not being so concentrated. Even if they aggregate data with google, the effort to do that costs money, and that's a good thing. Reduce their cash flow as much as possible.
in reply to kjtrnc

lemmy - Link to source

Leon

Feels kind of weird to bring in LLMs when they in their current state are big-tech, unethical, and not sustainable per automatic. It feels like an endorsement, and kind of waters down the rest of the message.

Also, Brave is none of the things listed on the website. It’s a Ycombinator project, backed by Peter Thiel, and they’ve hijacked affiliate links and such in the past.

If you want a chromium based browser that’s private and not big tech, then helium or ungoogled chromium would be better bets.

Helium Browser

The web browser made for people, with love. Best privacy by default, unbiased ad-blocking, no bloat and no noise. Fully open source.
helium.computer
This entry was edited (Sunday, May 3, 2026, 1:20 PM)
in reply to Vittelius

lemmy - Link to source

Leon

I am aware of this, and I didn't say that it was. That doesn't change the fact that Orion on iOS lets you install desktop addons from either the Google whatever they call it store, or the Firefox addon page. You could probably do it from Microsoft if you'd like, but I don't get why anyone would go with Chromium addons on account of them being hamstrung.

You cannot do that with Safari, or Firefox. Addons for Safari on iOS come from the app store, because Apple is garbage.

WebKit is a fork of KHTML which was built by the KDE project. Orion on Linux uses WebKitGTK as well, but currently doesn't have support for extensions. A part of me hopes that perhaps some things that the Kagi team develop for Orion on Linux can be ported to Epiphany, because that browser needed addon support years ago.

in reply to SocialistVibes01

lemmy - Link to source

MarcDW

Sounds like one of those Why Waa Waa questions. There's currently only six browsers listed, at the moment. It's not some all inclusive thing.

Where's Fennec, where's IronFox, where's WebLibre, where's Cromite or Helium or Tor Browser or or...?

Give these kinds of lists and the organizers time to check and test things or get additional feedback.

in reply to kjtrnc

lemmy - Link to source

HyperfocusSurfer

Regarding interesting messengers, there's also briar (remember somewhat recent stuff with normie news outlets being unable to shut up about some apparently famous dude making a messenger that works over Bluetooth? Briar is that, but quite a bit more mature, and also capable of working over WiFi and tor). Then, simplex, which builds upon the idea of not having a permanent id. Finally, there are reticulum meshchat, sideband and nomadnet, which are similar in purpose to briar, but take the idea to the extreme (being reticulum-based, they potentially work over anything capable of transmitting binary, from sound to entangled particles)

SimpleX Chat: private and secure messenger without any user IDs (not even random)

SimpleX Chat - a private and encrypted messenger without any user IDs (not even random ones)! Make a private connection via link / QR code to send messages and make calls.
simplex.chat
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