Many of us rely on multiple Google services in order to conduct our everyday lives and run our businesses. Entrepreneur Joel Runyon thinks that’s a mistake, since ostensibly Google is turning evil. So he wrote The Complete Guide To Leaving Google to help you to at least diversify the range of online services you use.
“I believe it’s a bad idea for one company to have control over multiple choke points in my business,” writes Runyon. ”Especially when their service is offered for free, and I have no path of recourse with them.”
We expanded on Runyon’s list to bring you 30 ways to leave Google. The company allows you to export all your data to help you on your way.
First, Free Your Identity
Belgian developer Laurent Eschenauer staged his own PRISM break last year, unplugging from all cloud services and creating his own cloud on a hosted server. One of the first things he advises doing is getting your own domain and email address.
“Start decoupling your identity from the underlying implementations today,” Eschenauer says. “This is the first step to free yourself from the corporate silos controlling your data and identity.” His own private email address previously forwarded to a Gmail address, but that made it easy to switch email implementations.
Runyon recommends the privacy-focused, ad-free email service Hushmail, which is based in Canada. Hushmail is a web-based email service with built-in encryption that also works on iPhone, Android, and BlackBerry (via IMAP, POP, or mobile website). With the Hushmail business plan, you can use your own domain name.
Many commentators also recommend paid webmail service Fastmail, registered in Micronesia and based in Australia. Personal mail starts from $10 a year, and you can have your own domain from $40 up. ReadWriteWeb has a comprehensive guide to switching from Gmail to Fastmail.
