Any Verizon customers here? Look at this email I just got today. You are automatically "opted in" to allow Verizon to watch the websites you visit and even the apps you use on your phone. I don't have my degoogled phone yet (hopefully under the Christmas tree) so I opted out immediately. This is very creepy. I just read JP's post about 'surveillance state' a couple of hours ago. NO Verizon, you may NOT watch everything I do on my phone. I immediately went to the privacy settings and shut them down. Sheesh! 😡

Pixel phones are IMO the best phone to use as a degoogled devices. There are plenty of bloatfree custom roms you can chose to not install google services. Extremely vanilla experience.

I have a Samsung and just disabled the customization option. Also disabled the Google customization option while there.
I hope that takes care of it.
Samsung sends constant messages to insert updates, so I think I have to make a habit of checking my privacy settings frequently as they try to "re-set" my choices... 😡

I switched from Gmail for business to protonmail professional and found it so much more user friendly

Protonmail are being actively attacked. I was forced on to pandemic relief in NY and after I used my Protonmail for 8 months, the NYS told me my email was invalid because it was a 'throw away' email and I could no longer use it for the state site. My benefits, my dmv, my business tax file, my licensing. I got blocked out of signing in to all unless I used a 'real' email. I notified Protonmail support and they said they were aware of the problem and were working on it. I was in the process of moving so I borrowed my daughter's email to tie stuff up. I had had no Microsoft or Google account for over two years at that point. Big tech don't want alternatives to exist.

Strange. I've been with Protonmail for many years now and not one single issue ever. And I've been away from all the other BigTechs, BigMedias, BigSocials too for the last 3 years now. Again, zero problems at all, compared to when I had those things. Heck I don't even see so much as an advertisement for anything either.

Credit to "Liberty Mom," one of our community members, for finding this today before "the verge," a popular technology blog! Verizon in the spotlight for privacy abuses. Expect many more brands to be exposed in the near future. https://www.theverge.com/2021/12/5/22818783/verizon-app-data-collection-browsing-history

My husband and I were re-watching "Mr. Robot" last night, and it was fun because they were using Linux Ubuntu, and they were talking about Raspberry Pi. Made it kinda fun to watch with our newfound Digital Freedom knowledge 😊

If I get a Pixel phone and degoogle it, which carrier do I use?

ha! i just got this notice from Verizon delivered to me as I saw this.

This ^^
I highly suggest everyone use search.brave.com and only supplement with Google or Bing results when absolutely necessary. They are still young and aren’t perfect, but with everyone’s participation and feedback we can help Brave become a viable alternative to big tech

Speaking of banks, can anyone rec banks, savings banks and/or national credit unions that are let’s say true freedom minded? Having a heckofa time leaving chayse ...

Tutonota is open source: https://www.privacyend.com/guides/tutanota-guide/

I've been participating in this channel since early September. I have to admit, I'm the type of person that goes through 'phases' of being ultra interested in things. However, the information I have learned here is both very helpful and very sobering. This is not something I will be able to lay aside in a couple of months. The information I have learned has triggered a great sense of responsibility, and now I feel it's my duty to change some things in my life permanently. Not just a phase. Also, the seriousness of the 'surveillance state' is not something we can ignore. It should strike the heart of every American patriot to be an ambassador for change, and an outspoken proponent of FREEDOM in our digital life. My heart has been struck and now I can't shut up! ☺️💪🏻🇺🇸

thanks for the tip....found mine turned on...shut it off.

I've been telling friends about my new de-googled phone. They look at me with big eyes for a few seconds as though they can't mentally compute what I'm saying. 😳 It's a great conversation starter! 🤣

Your Operating System controls everything on your computer, at the "system level." Your Gab, GETTR, any site or app you are using, even if it is a 'freedom of speech' app, it can still be shut down by your 'big tech' O.S.

"Until American Patriots control their own Operating Systems, we will not truly be safe from deplatforming or complete shutdown by Microsoft and Apple. There is a solution you can learn about. The Linux Operating System. Learn to use it, learn about Free and Open Source Software, change your computer to run on Linux. As of right now, we do still have Digital Freedom, when your computer runs on Linux."

"Let's make sure it stays that way, let's make our own versions. And from there, let's keep going, to make sure the deplatforming, the spying, the abuses, never happen again."

@Jeffrey_Peterson

Per today's Refresher Quiz, Jeff describes smartphones as "A miniature computer that fits in your pocket, with a microprocessor and RAM memory."

The main component on smartphone logic boards (main boards), is often called the "System on a Chip" (SoC).

".. Most of the components you see inside a laptop or desktop's motherboard are integrated inside one [SoC] on a smartphone. So, the whole system required to run a smartphone is integrated into one chip. And because of the .. manufacturers like Qualcomm, Samsung, Apple, and MediaTek, it's possible to integrate all the components inside one chip. Sometimes if you see the dimensions, they're as small as the size of a coin. So, the SoC is essentially a microcircuit, with all the parts of a Computer on one chip. The SoC defines a mobile device and contains the processor, the graphics chips, the cellular radios, mobile RAM, Image processors, and audio/video decoders." (credit: techanalysia)

@Jeffrey_Peterson

If you've been following my Telegram channel, you understand now that a mobile smartphone is a miniature computer, and that computers depend on Operating Systems (the "O.S.") to perform all crucial functions. That is what computers do. They are machines, they follow instructions, written in code.

So, it's the existing software in Android and iOS -- the way the O.S. was designed -- that makes our phones do the things we don't like ... such as the spying, leaving the microphones on, capturing our speech, an so on. And then we must consider, who were the designers of the Operating Systems? (Google, and Apple).

Just as the O.S. on our phones can be designed in ways that work against us, an Operating System can be designed to work for us. But so far, no one has designed a popular Mobile Operating System that serves the people, instead of SIlicon Valley commies. So maybe we should ask, why is that?

@Jeffrey_Peterson

I will post my thoughts later tonight about the big question I posted above ... but, in the meantime I'm interested to hear your thoughts on the topic, whatever they may be!