How to Quit Google, According to a Privacy Expert

Some companies are easy to quit.

If I decide I don’t like Coca-Cola anymore I can simply stop drinking Coke.

Quitting Google isn’t like that.

It makes many products, many of which you depend on to live your digital life.

Leaving a company like that is like a divorce, according to an expert I talked to.

“Think of a friend who gets a divorce and is so happy to be out.

That could be you.

That’s how it feels to leave Google.”

Vertesi researches NASA’s robotic spacecraft teams and also publishes work on human computer interaction.

In March 2012, after Googlesignificantly changed its privacy policies, she decided to stop using Google entirely.

But not using Google anymore isn’t just a technical processit’s a massive project.

Here’s some advice on how to tackle it.

“People fall off before they even try because they think it’s too big,” she said.

What does that mean in practice?

Choosing a single Google product and deciding to use something else instead.

You could start by looking intothe best Google search alternativesand trying them out for a few weeks.

You could start be replacing your internet tool.

The trick is to not overwhelm yourself.

“you’re able to’t do it all at the same time,” said Vertesi.

I asked where she, personally, would start.

Chrome is just one Google product that’s in your life, though.

Vertesi advises against this.

This approach has a few benefits.

First, it avoids a situation in which one company has access to all of your information.

Second, it keeps you experimenting with new tools.

“The key thing, for me, is to have a lot alternatives,” said Vertesi.

You don’t necessarily have to get a new phone, thoughyou might be able to install/e/OS instead.

Chromebooks are also impossible to de-Google without replacing the operating system.

Vertesi recommends looking into the Linux distributionsElementaryOS, which she says is intuitive to install and use.

Need to keep using a few Google apps?

I, personally, use Google Docs to coordinate with most of my editorsit’s simply an industry standard.

This helps from a privacy perspectiveGoogle can’t use the account to track your other online activity.

But it has other benefits.

Google users depend on the company for all kinds of services.

Vertesi calls this an unhealthy codependent relationship.

“Google has brought itself into every facet of our lives,” she said.

“Getting out of a codependent relationship is good for you but it does suck.”

But there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.

A lot of that is replacing corporate tools with more idealistic ones.

That’s the good part.