Here is what I started with:

  • 2 Apple TVs
  • 2 FireTV sticks
  • Amazon Echo
  • 2 Amazon Echo Dots
  • Gmail Account
  • Facebook Account
  • iPhone
  • iWatch
  • Microsoft Windows 10 (for my main desktop)

That is a lot of devices. The devices are mostly wireless. I also eliminated WiFi in my house, so everything is literally physically connected and WiFi is turned off. Here are my tips for how I managed to avoid most of the big tech companies:

Passwords:

Passwords are vital. I spent a weekend looking through all the passwords the web browser I was using (Safari) had stored. This gave me an idea of how many passwords and accounts I had. I noticed most of my passwords were the same. I ended up putting all those passwords into LastPass. A lot of other people like 1Password, but that is purely choice. I took every single duplicated password and account and generated a new password for each website and changed every single one. It was time consuming and tedious, but now I have no duplicated passwords.

I chose a 3rd party application. Apple and Android and Microsoft all have their own built in password managers, but they dont have all the neat little features I like. For example, I like the browser extensions and the ability to add passwords when creating a new account with ease and the ability to randomly create a password without any effort. I like simple things.

I prefer to pay for some of the Premium features, but LastPass is a free service overall.

Credit Cards:

I have a debit card that was hacked a few times. I got tired of going to the bank, getting a new card and reporting the fraud. There is a website called Privacy that I swear by. The website allows you to generate a new “credit card” number for whatever reason you want. Each card you create, you have the option to stop and pause the card. So if some service was to charge the card, that card could be deactivated or paused so you wouldnt get charged. It is a way to save money on unnecessary services.

So what I did was, I looked at all my subscription services and generated a new card number for each service. By doing this, I can have better control over my subscriptions. In todays world, we can subscribe to things that have a free trial, but charge you later. Using Privacy and putting a card number, I can keep track of all my subscriptions and I can pause or expire the card then I wont be charged for that service anymore.

Privacy is a Free service!

VPN

VPNs are extremely important in maintaining privacy online. VPN stands for (Virtual Private Network). A VPN service establishes a private connection between your device and a private server. This allows you to “hide” your identity from snoopers. It is not a flawless technology, but it is another defense.

PCMag has a nice article comparing VPN services, but the one service I use is not on that list. Most people like NordVPN, but I prefer ProtonVPN. There are many reasons I prefer Proton over the others, but Ill get in to that in the e-mail section. Most VPN service work on most devices, PC/MAC/Android/Apple. You will have to pay for a good VPN service. If you find any “free” VPN services like Facebook’s now defunct
Onavo, which let them spy on kids, then avoid it. When it comes to privacy, free is usually not the solution.

E-mail

I mentioned earlier about ProtonVPN. Proton also has an anonymous e-mail service. I did delete my GMail and iCloud email accounts and use ProtonMail instead. Proton services are based out of Switzerland, which has better privacy laws than in the U.S. The service so far for me has been flawless and they are my recommendation. The e-mail service is free to use, but you get a protonmail.com, but you can get a pm.me extension, but you can only receive at pm.me but not send. The VPN service is fairly cheap and it has many options like a Tor option, Secure Core (which routes through at least 2 other servers), and a custom VPN option. It all depends on your familiarity with the technology.

WiFi

As I previously stated, I now don’t have any devices connected on my home network. I hard wired every device and have very strict rules on my firewall to deny any wireless device that tries to connect. It is a personal preference and I highly doubt or expect anyone else go this route these days. It is not necessary really.

However, if you do have wireless enabled on your home network here are some tips:

  • Choose a long passwordEnable WPA2 Personal. Do NOT enable WEP. It can be cracked easily and uses cracked hashing algorithmsEnable MAC filtering on your router

Home Entertainment

I bought 2 Raspberry Pis. A Raspberry Pi is a very small computer that has built in ethernet and wireless capabilities. It is a fairly decent computer for its 15 buck price.

I replaced the AppleTVs and FireTVs with the Raspberry Pis. On my home network I had an AppleTV and a FireTV stick in my living room and in my bedroom. I realized I could replace both devices in each room with just one hardwired Raspberry Pi

What I ended up doing apparently is controversial. I loaded LibreElec on each of the PIs. LibreElec is an extremely small linux distrobution that essentially installs Kodi. Kodi is a home entertainment system. The controversial part is, Kodi has a ton of built in “streaming services”. I do not use these, not have I tried to. I am fairly certain they do not work and even if they did, are not legal to stream. If you want to stream, you should probably pay for it. I use Kodi mainly to stream videos from my Plex server. Kodi has an official Plex app, so I use that. Kodi also has an extension to load a VPN connection on start up, so when my Kodi boots, a VPN connection is established and I use Plex. There is nothing wrong or illegal. It just gives me a little more privacy when I use my home theater.

I essentially replaced 4 devices (Apple and Amazon) with 2 custom LibreElec Raspberry Pis. It is cheaper, will work long term and avoids the two big tech companies. There is no logging nor is there any “recommendations”. It is a pure media center I can feel comfortable with.

Social Media

As stated, I deleted my Google account. I did not use it that much and it was merely spam. To me, Google is a huge invasion of privacy. They track nearly everything you do online. It bothers me so I deleted it.

I also deleted my Facebook. I did not just deactivate it, but deleted it. Facebook has been very shady lately. There was nothing on there that interested me anyway. I do not care to see your babys sonogram nor am I interested in what you had for dinner.

I am hosting a script that searches through all the social media profiles and tells you if your specified username is found:

Simply download the above code and run it as:

./nameYouSavedItAs.sh <usernameToSearchFor>

Voice Assistants

I absolutely loved having the Amazon Echo. I used it every single morning to help me start my day. I used it to turn my lights on and off. I used it to play games and learn things. It is a wonderful things. I had the Amazon Echo and 2 dots in the office and bed room.

The Amazon Alexa was by far the hardest device I disconnected from. It was a great device. I would recommend it to anyone that wants a voice assistant. It by out performed Siri (Apples version). I could write my own modules and scripts for Alexa very easily. I do give kudos to Amazon for a job very well done.

I am just a paranoid person and I realize voice assistants only trigger on certain words. However, that means they must always be listening for those trigger words. I am not comfortable with that. Some people are, but I am not. I realize there is no other way to get voice assistants to only work when I want them to, but they are always listening. The Amazon Echo does have a feature that can listen for a break in or a crime. They are nice features, so I will reconsider in the future using them again.

Mobile Phone

I had an iPhone. Most other people have an Android (made by Google). I do trust Apple in their conquest for privacy. If I was not a geek I would recommend Apple over Android because of their standards for privacy and the App Store submission/acceptance policy. Android’s app store is a fairly open system which allows almost anyone to submit an application. You do not know what you are downloading. There are apps in the Android Store that look legitimate, but can contain bad things.

Being the geek that I am, I bought a really cheap Samsung mobile phone. It came stocked with Android. I did not like how it came stock with all of Google’s applications. That is where LineageOS or Ubuntu Touch comes in. These are developed independently. LineageOS is based on Android but is an extremely trimmed down and customized alternative. Ubuntu Touch still works, but I am not entirely sure it is still being actively worked. I enjoyed using it while I had it installed, but most 3rd party developers seemed to have abandoned it.

Browsers

I do like the speed of Chrome. I do like how Firefox works but it is slow. I do not like how they incorporate privacy. Chrome is made by Google. That simple fact eliminates it from my using it. However, I am on the edge because the browser of my choice Brave, uses Chrome engine in the backend. I love all the small things Brave does, like automatically blocking JavaScript/cookies and allows you to put “Shields” up and down based on the website. This is very handy.

Search Engines

Everyone uses google.com. Every browser allows you to change your default search engine. I changed my default search engine to duckduckgo.com. Duckduckgo does not track. It is just a search engine. Google.com tracks every keystroke you input into that little search bar, tracks what you search for. Duckduckgo does not. It just gives you results.

Instant Messaging

Signal is the application/protocol of choice.

I did a couple of other things to compensate for the lack of functionality the phone provided:

Other Things

  • I set up and installed NextCloud on my own virtual machine. This provided:
    • RSS/News feeds - Replaced Apple NewsContacts - Replaced Apple ContactsCalendar - Replaced Apple CalendarFiles - Replaced Apple FilesNotes - Replaced Apple Notes
    Blog
    • I just use Wordpress and host it on my own virtual machine to save money.
    Tor
    • Tor is a connection of "random" services. It provides a "secure" way of browsing the web. It also contains a "dark web". If anyone wants specific onion links, send me a message.
    Git

Conclusion

Here is what I ended with:

  • 2 Raspberry Pis Samsung phone (customized operating system)FitbitUbuntu instead of Windows 10

I realize that was a lot to read. I will summarize:

  • Passwords
    • Use 1Password or LastPass
    Web Browser
    • Use Brave
    VPN
    • Establishes a secure connectionHides privacyYour choice, but I prefer ProtonVPN
    Credit/Debit Cards
    • Try out PrivacyAllows you to create/delete/pause credit cardsBest used with subscription services you can forget about
    Social Media
    • Delete it all
    Email
    • I deleted my Gmail and iCloud in favor of ProtonMail
    Search Engine
    • Set your default search engine to duckduckgo.com
    Tor
    • Use at your own risk. Provides a "hidden" webNetwork of encrypted connection
    Windows vs Ubuntu
    • Microsoft Office replaced by LibreOfficeMicrosoft Windows replaced by UbuntuPhotoshop replaced by GimpMicrosoft VirtualPC replaced with VMWare Workstation or Virtualbox on UbuntuEclipse works on eitherSublimeText works on eitherDiscord works on eitherSignal works on either
    Instant Message
    • Use Signal
I spent a lot of time writing this. A lot of time drinking and my house smells like onions.