Google services and why you should think twice

I saw this video a while ago, and it caused me to think about how I use the internet.

I found out that there are some companies that are really interested in what I think. In fact, they record my internet usage all the time.

How I use the internet and why

Browsing –  I use Firefox most of the time. There’s no doubt that it’s slower than chrome, but it supports “do not track.” Websites can’t track where you’ve been before you get their site – and there’s no big brother company that may be interested in your behaviour. Also, Firefox Sync is a great way to sync bookmarks, credentials and history across different computers. I use Internet Explorer when I really have to – at least once a day. Right now, I’m typing in Safari. It’s snappy on my mac, and I trust Apple – they make hardly any money from data/advertising. I’ve bought their product – and all the cards are on the table.

Mail – I still use gmail for my personal email, including google apps for my family email (*@voisey.co.nz). I’d like to replace this, because I don’t trust google with my data. I don’t trust them because their primary income stream is advertising and they use everything they know about me to mould my browsing experience. Believe it or not, I’d sign up for Office 365 if it was cost effective.

Blogging – I love wordpress. In fact, I like it so much that I moved away from wordpress.com and I now have a self-hosted wordpress blog which feels more like a website. Many teachers use blogger or blogspot, powered by Google. This reflects the huge influence that Google has in the education sector.

You’ve probably heard it before – if you’re not paying for the product, you are the product. Advertisers are inviting you to use this product while you look at the advertising. And even if you have ads blocked, Google is tracking your behaviour.

Search: I tried to not use Google for a while. It was hopeless.