Hello lemmings lemmons and any other lemm out there. I’ve always wanted to try to switch to more privacy focused options but it’s always been difficult for me as I’m not really tech savvy and frankly for a very long time haven’t really cared about privacy.

Transitioning has also been hard since I feel like I’m pretty much the antithesis of this community: using an iPhone and 2 windows computers (one for home use and one for my college classes on campus) and use OneDrive to sync work between the 3 devices.

Pretty much every account I have is under my gmail account and a second back up email is also under gmail.

Frankly I’m sure this is the highest form of insult to this community but I use edge simply because I’ve given up trying to fight Microsoft

So it’s been a challenge to switch but for browsers and just copy paste all my bookmarks and saved passwords when I download Firefox on my phone and computers but as for email and online accounts switching off that gmail account seems daunting but not impossible and I have no idea what to do to replace OneDrive since it is useful and works in file explorer with no extra software

I figured if anyone was smart enough to tackle the abomination that is my privacy it’d be you guys

  •  catacomb   ( @catacomb@beehaw.org ) English
    3•6 months ago

    Just wanted to add a bit about Proton since you mentioned it and I use it quite heavily.

    Pros:

    • All-in-one platform for storage, mail, VPN, password manager and calendar. Usually works out cheaper than multiple providers.
    • E-mail aliases built-in to the password manager makes it a breeze to manage. (Tutanota also supports aliases.)
    • Personally, I think the UI is more polished. Not important for privacy but it’s a plus for the non tech-savvy.

    Cons:

    • All-in-one platform. I’m acutely aware that I’m going to have a headache if Proton is enshittified.
    • If you’re not looking for all of the products they offer, it’s just expensive. Tutanota is cheaper for e-mail alone.
    • The Drive app needs improvement. Migrating my files was painful and I want automatic Camera uploads. You might be okay with the Windows desktop app.
    • The Calendar app has issues when not connected to the internet.
    • The password manager doesn’t have a desktop application and managing it through the browser extension or app isn’t great.
    • No subject-line encryption support (and other PGP interoperability issues on the free version) but… unfortunately, I don’t get many PGP encrypted e-mails anyway.

    Otherwise these two are largely like-for-like for e-mail. There’s no benefit to Proton being hosted in Switzerland and I didn’t move to be warrant-proof or anything silly. The idea is really just moving emails away from an advertising company and paying for a quality service.