@futurebird I have an account via YouTube I guess, but I only use it in emergencies, when the usual methods of circumventing age restricted videos is not working and there's something politically important I must see

I have no desire to have a custom algorithm and that info about me existing somewhere in someone else's computer

@futurebird I have a gmail, but I haven't actually used it for several years. I gradually migrated everything from there to Runbox last year, but have kept it in case there's something I've forgotten to move over. After I did the initial migration, I deleted my entire inbox and mail history.

I don't log in for search or youtube, but I still sometimes use both. Much less than I used to, though.

@futurebird Sadly, I do still have a Google account that I use for microG, Android gaming and watching age-restrictid videos on YouTube. I don't see any of that changing, unfortunately.

@futurebird I consume YT in two ways: through my gf's premium account and apps or extensions that block ads. Some of my faves share their videos through Patreon (Dead Meat is a must for their uncut vids), but most sadly don't.

I ditched Google search a few years ago for better alternatives, but Gmail is the hardest to drop because I either can't change emails for some accounts, or am required to be locked in their ecosystem (esp if I want to sell books on the Google Play store, but I have a specific and rarely used account for that).

Also Steam makes it really hard to change my email lmao. So it's trapped there at the moment, but I have long since changed email providers. Gmail is mostly my junk mailbox now.

@futurebird I use YouTube. Even apps that strip the advertising (Re-Vanced, FreeTube) require a Google account to function.

My bigger concern is my phone though. I have plans to replace the OS, but that's a mighty big shift and I absolutely cannot be without my phone due to banks and travel and a whole bunch of shit that require I remain connected.

Once that problem is solved, I imagine dumping YouTube will be a smaller hurdle to overcome.

edit: after reading the other posts - I do have a gmail account that I use for some types of critical contact where a smaller server may have issues. And, yes, Google Maps. When I'm in France, I spend much of my time in a rural environment and things like OpenStreetMaps and such really aren't up to the task. Once I'm more settled and know my way around, that'll be easy to dump.

@futurebird been using gmail since 2005. Recently moved all of my history out (into a local archive) and only check it on a fixed computer. But it's in use in so many places and so many friends use it, deletion is not an option. (yet)

Recently reluctantly recommitted to the fruit-company, by buying a 2nd hand iphone 13 mini.

@futurebird I'm working towards it. I wouldn't say it's hard, just takes a long time. I'm not doing it systematically, just transferring account emails to another email address when I have a spurt of energy. Getting rid of gmail ultimately won't be a problem.

Problem 1) replacement for google maps with a private layer. AFAICS Open Street Maps can do it, but it's technically daunting for me. I may just do without the map in the end.

@futurebird Problem 2) replacing my phone's OS, which I plan to do eventually but a) it's technically daunting b) I haven't worked out yet if I will be able to get the apps I need.

Problem 3) Youtube - haven't worked out what to do with that yet.

@futurebird No Google account since last summer, had it dormant for 2 years after switching to Murena's /e/. I have one app from Google installed, which is Snapseed, that I sometimes use because it's a very good image editor. It's not tied to the Google ecosystem and 100% tracker free according to Exodus privacy report...

@robparsons @futurebird Smartphone hardware/software is really the blocker. I only carried a feature phone for years but eventually gave in to a smartphone, primarily for the live public transport information. I keep hoping that a viable low cost, open alternative will emerge and everyone will tell me about it on here.

@futurebird
I'm functionally googevil free, but multiple accounts still exist because I refuse to give them the phone number they demand every time I try to log in to delete them.

@futurebird
Just got Graphene, slowly extricating myself from Google/Yahoo etc.

@futurebird I'm uncertain whether to choose 'I aspire to be' and 'I don't aspire to be'.

@wynke

You can choose both. I try to make a poll that can capture human complexity and contradiction

@futurebird I was but then an employer moved to them ‍️

@futurebird

I can't be google Free My entire university infrastructure is based on google workspace.

And, yes, when I asked the lawyers (OGC = Office of General Counsel) about a decade ago about this, they acknowledged that this meant google could do stuff with the data (translation and the like). Presumably, this now includes AI (although I haven't asked).

I never did find out whether they have sanctions in place to prevent google from using PHI (private health information) in the medical school files (which are also all google infrastructure. Or, more importantly, whether those sanctions actually work.

@futurebird@sauropods.win I would like to be but I don't think I'll ever be free of gmail and logging in to places with my gmail account.

I forward my gmail to my non-Google account but it's got 20 years of history if I need this find something and it's more convenient as a throw away if something needs a login.

For log in with Google buttons, it's out of my hands. I don't control what choices other people put on their site.

@futurebird Unfortunately, I have an Android phone, Google Voice for visual voicemail speech to text (I don't like having to listen to all my voicemails), and a YouTube account so I have to have Gmail.

@futurebird I was very deep into everything Google.

I have moved my drive, docs, photos, keep notes, email away from Google.
I use a privacy browser and duckduckgo

I still have a Google account which I use for android. I have never been in apple nor Facebook. I've closed my Amazon, github and X accounts. I'm using Linux so no MS for me. F all of US big tech fascism enablers.

I'm looking into secure Linux phones but that's hard.
Still use gmaps as I need good search but it's next on the todo

@futurebird Done that now.

I would like to be free of Google, but it has me locked in in several annoying and frustrating ways. A notable one is that mail from my main mail address (which is not self hosted but close in some ways) simply does not get through if I send it to some addresses that have (presumably) a hidden Google based backend (or possibly Microsoft, can't tell from my side), which is completely unacceptable when communicating with my child's school (and at the time I first had to provide another address to get around this I had Covid and was not really in a state to spend a lot of time and energy on a better solution).