This isn’t a topic that comes up often here but it’s been top of mind for me for a few months and I’m curious to hear where other folks are on this. By necessity (of explanation), this is a SUPER LONG POST!
Trust Lost?
In previous years I trusted Apple more than any other tech company. I likely should have questioned this more critically previous to January. I’d already opted out of other companies that had long ago lost any trust. Some never really had it and didn’t last long. In any case, I’ve raised the bar on this and in the current context of 2025 Apple no longer meets the bar. But, in truth, in the context of 2025, almost no US-based tech company will satisfy me.
My Mistake
In previous years I made the mistake of mostly taking the view of “I’m not doing anything wrong, I’ve got nothing to hide”. I’ve been blogging for nearly 30 years and shared a lot. I had, embarrassingly, not taken the time to consider that there is a world of difference between me offering, of my own volition, to share in an active act of publishing a blog. In such sharing I chose what to share. I’d also somewhat fallen into the lazy thinking of it’s too late for privacy, it’s all out there now. Even with these lapses in judgement I’d still made at least one good call: I quit Facebook in 2015. This shifted any previous tendency to use social media for family or friendship communications to email/messages/phone calls.
My Social Media changes
I’ve never relied on social media for work. I kept Twitter and Instagram accounts but didn’t use them much. I deleted my Twitter account in 2022 and Instagram in late 2024. My only reason for lingering on Instagram was a small group conversation with old friends. I finally left them with a fond farewell and the information they needed to get in touch with me if they wanted to stay connected. I’d had a LinkedIn account for many years but never used it. That was also deleted. I’m still on Mastodon and will remain there. It’s an entirely different model and I trust that I’m in control there.
Primary Goals:
- Reduce or eliminate use of cloud services
- Reduce exposure to data collection by apps
- Reduce exposure to data collection via web browsers
- Reduce exposure to location tracking
First, I’ll go over what I cut out. After that, I’ll go over what I’ve switched to.
Apple Services, Apps
- I pulled all my data out of iCloud with the exception of the most recent email received. I’ve got that set to forward to my hosted email.
- Removed all iCloud files and Photos
- Turned off iCloud syncing for all apps
- I’ve always been restrained in my app collection and use. I made a first round of cuts in the early summer then again in mid summer. First to go were the most aggressive data harvesters and violators of privacy. I should have never installed the Walmart and Amazon apps. Lol. They were the first to go.
- Most apps collect too much and at this point I’ve deinstalled most of them opting for websites where needed.
- Last to go: Apple Messages, the Apple Card and Apple Cash. While I trusted that these were secure, my trust in Apple on privacy in the long term is largely degraded.
- Use of new apps/services: I have one app, MySudo which is a subscription that I’ll continue to use as there is no alternative.
Summary: Only one Apple device remains logged into iCloud, primarily for access to control of Home app devices. While I still have the account it is largely now just an archive in maintenance mode.
- I still have a Google account but stay logged out of it.
- Gmail: I’ve had a Gmail account since the first year it was available. I mostly stopped using it 5 years ago. I still have that account but moved all of that email to a local back-up in Thunderbird and Apple Mail on two computers. The account is now emptied of all email and just exists as a back-stop to catch any incoming email from old aquaintances that only have that account. I monitor gmail via Thunderbird on one of my computers.
- Docs: Moved any old stuff I had left in it out. Nothing there now.
- Chrome: I was never a user of Chrome which is widely considered to be the most privacy violating browser.
- Search: I stopped using Google for search years ago. I mostly use DuckDuckGo and Startpage. Lately been trying out SearXNG.
- YouTube: In years past I’d previously published a few videos. Those are removed. I have cut my YouTube use generally. When I do access it I usually do so via DuckDuckGo search in a trusted browser. When I do resort to using the website it is, again, with a trusted browser with no cookie permissions.
- In years past I used Google fonts on my websites. I’ve stopped this practice. I’ll leave it on current sites but will remove with any site redesign and no new site design will make use of the service.
Summary: While I technically still have a Google account it is largely now just an archive in maintenance mode.
Other services:
Amazon: I downloaded my purchase history and have deleted the account. There’s not much else to say. I only used Amazon for the occasional month of video and for purchasing. I’ll still use the site on occasion for searching products and reviews but that’s it.
Microsoft: Had an account that was rarely used other than a few files on OneDrive. Deleted.
DropBox: Moved the gig of files I had stored there to a local back-up and deleted the account.
The phone, data collection, location tracking
Most of the folks in my family seem to use the iPhone as a main computer. it’s with them constantly and always in use. That was never the case for me. I don’t like using the small screen for computing nor do make or recieve many phone calls. For me the iPhone was a camera and a mobile music/podcast player and, paired with an Apple Watch, a health monitor. A fairly limited role.
As I’ve been learning and thinking more in recent months about the constant collection of data from phones, I began to adopt a very different attitude about the phone. I’d previously treated it fairly casually as the convenient device that was sometimes useful. I now view it as an invasive tracking and surveillance device. In hind sight, I’m a bit embarrassed that I had been willingly carrying around with me.
Really, a complete flip in attitude. It was this change in perspective that prompted me to audit the data collected by apps and to begin removing them. I turned off Location Tracking (for everything). I started leaving it in Airplane mode. I changed my phone plan to a cheap voice/text only plan.
Current apps and usage on the phone
- All messaging with friends, family and a few clients is done via Signal. Almost no exceptions. It is cross platform, fully encrypted, open source and audited. It’s free to use (though I donate regularly) and set-up only takes minutes. It’s every bit as private/secure is Apple’s messages but has the added benefit of being cross platform. I use it for all text and most voice and video calls with friends, family and clients. The only exception I’ve made are a few clients that I don’t interact with frequently. Like Messages, I can use Signal on my iPad, laptop and desktop which was important because I’m always in front of one of these devices.
- MySudo is my Signal back-up and my new phone service. For $5/month I have 3 phone lines/numbers (I’m only using one at the moment), 200 minutes of talk time, 300 messages, 3 email accounts with 5GB of storage. More than I need. Sudo to Sudo calls/texts are fully encrypted. Unfortunately there is no Linux app but it works great on the iPad so I can use my iPad to make standard VOIP calls to any local business. And because the calls go out over the internet there is an additional layer of privacy not present with standard cell phone calls. Your phone company collects and sells that metadata.
- Cell based phone calls and standard sms are a last resort and rarely used. Basically, I’m keeping that line/number for 911 calls. I turn it on once every couple of days to check for voice mail or texts from clients. I then reply to them with the MySudo line and let them know I’ll not be using the previous number in the future. I expect that in the near future I won’t need to check that line as often as those clients change my contact info and switch future calls/texts to the MySudo VoIP number or, even better, Signal.
Privacy measures on non-phone devices
- I switched email to RunBox based in Norway for $3/month. I also considered Tuta and Proton both of which offer fully encrypted email. I do have a free Tuta account for encrpyted email should I need it but that only works when emailing other Tuta accounts just as encrypted Proton email is encrypted when sending to other Proton users.
- Web browsing is via LibreWolf, a hardened security focused Firefox fork that runs on Linux and is also available on macOS and Windows for anyone interested. Secondary to that I use Brave on the iPad as LibreWolf is not available there. Safari is decent on privacy, better than most. But both Brave and LibreWolf offer improvements over Safari.
- I now use Proton’s VPN service
- I’ve treated the iPad the same as the iPhone in terms of privacy settings, location tracking, etc. It’s locked down. That said, I actually do use it as a computer so I’ve still got a few essential apps that get used often.
I’m under no illusion that I have achieved complete anonymity online nor do I need that. But there’s a lot of space between that and fully cooperating with the full-time corporate/government surveillance and invasive data collection that I was allowing previously. I see no reason to disrespect myself in that way nor a reason to give them an inch.
, you never said why you lost trust. I can surmise based on the date of January, that it had to do with Cook and the inauguration.
