Dutch digital civil rights movement Bits of Freedom has published the first two steps of a more comprehensive step-by-step guide to becoming less dependent on major American tech companies like Google and Meta.
“For the digital services we use every day, we are incredibly dependent on a handful of American big tech companies. Microsoft, Amazon, and Google manage an estimated three-quarters of the data stored in the Netherlands,” Bits of Freedom says.
“Big tech manages your smartphone (iOS and Android) and thus has control over the systems on which you, as an individual, but also companies and governments rely to function,” the digital civil rights movement continues.
Additionally, Bits of Freedom points out the dangers of too much reliance on big tech, especially in the domain of public opinion. It also voices its concern about whether the US President will decide to use big tech as a weapon against Europe.
“Recently, the consequences of our dependency have become even clearer. Big tech companies, such as Meta, X, and Google, determine what their users see, and can therefore also exert influence on politics. Technological power is becoming increasingly intertwined with political power,” the movement notes.
“Under Trump’s leadership, US authorities can gain access to the servers of big tech companies, even if those servers are located outside the US. This allows Trump to use the power of American big tech as a weapon,” the advocacy group concludes.
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Therefore, Bits of Freedom has launched an online campaign telling people how to fight for independence from big tech. The advocacy group has currently published two steps as part of a larger step-by-step guide on how to accomplish this goal, with two more steps coming every month.
In the first two steps, Bits of Freedom offers alternatives for email and calendar, and web browser and search engine. For email and calendar, the interest group recommends Proton Mail & Calendar, Tuta Mail & Calendar, and Soverin. For alternative browsers and search engines, Bits of Freedom advises downloading and installing Firefox, Brave, Startpage, and DuckDuckGo.
These alternatives have been chosen based on six different criteria: privacy, usability, open-source, security, developer reliability, and, where possible, a European provider.
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