Detaching from the Google-borg

My wife always says that at the end of each semester I have a little computer project. Fortunately this semester it has turned out to be a fairly easy one (as far as I can tell). Over the last two days I have made the move away from Google (except for searching and Android registration). I set up my own set of cloud services (calendar, contacts, tasks, Dropbox-style file sharing, and some other bits) using ownCloud and a collection of syncing apps by Marten Gajda.

So now my contacts, calendar, and email are out of Google's ravenous eyes. Of course, they've got my basic information that I've already shared and as we know from the Snowden leaks, Google can triangulate and build on the consumer portrait of me by using searches and other people's emails. But at least I'll be a bit more blurry.

It's not that the services are bad. To the contrary, Google's services are probably of slightly better quality than I will now have (though perhaps not for long). I've long held a desire to be (relatively) self-suffient with my internet services. It's not that I have sought to be off the grid, but rather to have my private information on my own grid. Not long ago Facebook's decision to start allowing the use personal photos in ads to friends--though ultimately a semi-hoax with an element of truth--implied to me that private information on such services will be increasingly capitalized and publicized (regardless of how you set the ever-changing fine-grained controls). When Google started pushing for cell phone numbers and then user ids for Youtube, I concluded that Google's idea of "don't be evil" includes closing the walls in around us. The goal presumably is to trap consumers into beautiful walled gardens of exclusively Google services and products, much like Apple has been doing for many years. And I am not willing to sacrifice my privacy and free choice for a little more convenience or prettier design.

It's time to fight for a people's internet. If not, we will lose our privacy and our independence thereafter. Get your own cloud and support open source.