---
title: De-Googling Myself
description: How I moved my entire online presence to more privacy-focused platforms.
---

<https://mktg.spellware.dev/blog>

# [De-Googling Myself](https://mktg.spellware.dev/blog/de-googling-myself)

 Written by [Naomi Carrigan](https://mktg.spellware.dev/blog/author/naomi) | May 14, 2024, 12:00:00 PM

Recent life events have made me more aware of my digital footprint and online privacy. I now pay for a service that sends data removal requests automatically on my behalf. Over the weekend, I realised that I was still giving a large amount of data to the major technology companies. I spent many hours moving away from those platforms.

## Stepping Away From Microsoft

I moved from Windows to Linux a month ago, but I was still using one of their more recent acquisitions: GitHub. The privacy concerns of hosting my open source projects (99% of my work) are much smaller than those of giving a company access to my search history, my entire internet history, or my phone.

However, I knew there was a better option. I moved all of my repositories to CodeBerg, which has several attractive qualities:

- It is free and open source software.
- It is run by a non-profit.
- It appears to focus on privacy.

CodeBerg offers an option to import a repository from GitHub using a PAT. This copies everything, including issues and pull requests. I tried it on a few repositories, but my open source history is extensive and I quickly reached the rate limits. I took a more drastic route instead. I deleted my local .git directory, re-initialised the repository from the main branch, and pushed the changes to the new remote with a fresh history.

I did not preserve my old archives. I deleted them entirely. This removed four years of development history, and my notifications are now much more manageable. I am concerned about reduced contributor activity. However, it will leave me more time to focus on paid work.

## Removing Google

Google was an entirely different problem. I had used my GMail account for years, and many of my accounts used OAuth sign-in through Google. There was a large amount to migrate.

The first step was to choose a new email provider. I have had good experiences with Migadu for custom domain emails. However, its limit on the number of messages sent and received was a concern, given how many client inboxes I manage. With the help of the De-Googling subreddit, I chose Proton Mail. It replaces the cap on sent and received messages with a cap on the number of email aliases I can set up.

Proton Mail supports plus addressing. This allows me to turn an alias such as accounts into an unlimited number of addresses, and I did so. I went through every account in my password manager and gave each one an accounts+platform email address. This lets me track the source of spam emails and identify who is selling my data.

Once that was complete, I created a personal calendar in Proton and imported my work calendars so that I could see the events. Proton also offers drive storage. Its limit is significantly smaller than what I had through Google One, but it was sufficient for my essential files. I had to give up the 500 outfits I had for my old VTuber model.

Finally, I set up FreeTube. It allows me to continue watching YouTube content without YouTube seeing all of my activity.

## Work

Three of my clients still have me using GMail addresses. My options there are limited. I forward all of my emails from those addresses directly to my Proton inbox, and I sync my calendars to Proton.

Sometimes I still have to sign in to view a shared Google Doc. One of my roles also uses Google Chat. I run both exclusively through private Tor windows in Brave. This is not perfect, but it is the best option available to me.

## Android

I have an Android phone. I intended to flash GrapheneOS on it, or at least root it so that I could remove the unwanted Google software. However, Samsung Galaxy phones with Snapdragon processors cannot be bootloader-unlocked, at least not yet. This makes both options impossible.

I cannot afford a new phone at present, and I do not know which one I would buy. Instead, I used a de-bloater tool to force-uninstall the software I did not want. It remains in the system files, and it will return after an update or a factory reset. If that happens, I will remove it again.

None of my Google accounts are signed in on my phone any longer. This has the added benefit that I do not carry work with me everywhere I go.

## Limitations

None of this is perfect. I am not a privacy expert. I am still researching, refining my approach, and identifying which apps described as privacy-focused are not.

If you have a suggestion for how I can better secure my data while keeping communication channels available for people who want to commission me or contribute to my projects, please leave a comment. I am glad to learn from suggestions.

[View full post](https://mktg.spellware.dev/blog/de-googling-myself)

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