These days, our private information is up for grabs and going to the highest bidders. Collectors are targeting us with advertisements in our inboxes and social media accounts. Worse, websites like Facebook clearly affect lives on and off our computers and phones.
But if you’re tired of getting ads for home insurance or meal kits and having your information used against you, this platform will help you find “privacy-conscious” websites — so you can worry a little less about whose collecting your data.
Here to save you from your privacy nightmares, Switching Social offers alternatives to websites like Google, Facebook and Instagram. With each platform, you can find a number of different solutions and how they specialize in privacy-settings (some websites are encrypted, some are ad-free).
The alternatives are user-friendly, so you can easily make the switch to a new email or account without fumbling through technical directions (and if you do have questions, you can contact Switching Social’s creators who will help you transition).
How To Nuke Your Facebook Account From Orbit
Let’s talk about that elephant in the room: Facebook’s recent disclosure that attackers got their hands on access tokens for an unknown number of Facebook accounts is a big deal, since it’s the kind of hack that you, a happy Facebook user, could not prevent.
Read moreSwitching Social has a “Bubbling under” page, too, so you can check out new privacy-conscious sites if you’re on the lookout for websites that don’t annoy you with ads or compromise your privacy.
Screenshot: Josh Ocampo
Looking for an email that won’t come with targeted ads? Switching Social recommends ProtonMail, which is free and runs entirely on donations and subscriptions (so you won’t run into a single ad).
Worried Google Maps is tracking more than just your steps? OpenStreetMap is the Wikipedia of map sites: it’s a map resource anyone can edit and doesn’t track its users. Instead of Instagram, try out PixelFed, an open-source social network with zero ads (influencers, beware!).
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