2025 Privacy Goals and Progress

2025-11-21

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 in general

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, PayPal 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 general trust in Apple 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. I have no other subscription.

Summary: My iPhone, Mac and iPad mini are now fully logged out of iCloud. iPad Pro and HomePods remain logged into iCloud, primarily for access to control of Home app devices. Unfortunately the iPad Pro needs to be logged in because to maintain Numbers spreadsheets that are shared with a client. While I still have a free iCloud account no data remains there with the exception of the above mentioned Numbers files.

Google

I still have a Google account but stay logged out of it. I treat it the same as the iCloud account. It contains no personal data and is no longer used other than to collect the odd incoming email from a service, account or old contact.
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: Nothing.
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 retention.
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.
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.

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: I 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.

iPhone, 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 is a camera and a mobile music/podcast player and, paired with an Apple Watch, a dashboard for viewing health/activity data. A fairly limited role.

As I began 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. While I'd previously treated it fairly casually as the convenient computing device that was sometimes useful I now treat it as the invasive location tracking and surveillance device it actually is. A complete flip in attitude. Once that shift in my thinking occurred I began to audit the data collected by apps and began 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 for use when I needed to make a call or expected a call.

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 is good 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. Sudo to Sudo calls/texts are fully encrypted. While I can't install it on my two Linux computers I do have it on the iPad which means 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 and all the metadata that phone companies collect with those calls.
I've added a third party eSIM with 2GB of mobile data for the rare occasion that I need to use MySudo or Signal for a call while away from home. Of course a third party eSIM also connects to a cell tower but is far less intrusive, less tracked than a carrier phone line.
My previous default phone carrier eSIM is now turned off. I'm keeping it for now simply to hold onto that phone number and in case I need it for a 911 call. I turn it on twice a month to check for voice mail or texts. I expect that need to diminish over time as I move future calls/contacts to the MySudo number or 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 have free accounts with each of those services for use as needed. At the time that I made this switch my priority was getting my email out of the US. Looking back, I should have gone with Proton and may switch to them in the future.
Web browsing on one of the GNU/Linux computers is via LibreWolf, a hardened security focused Firefox fork that runs on Linux and is also available on macOS and Windows for anyone interested.
I'd initially stopped using the iPad Pro completely but in recent months I've been using it again along with the two GNU/Linux computers. LibreWolf is not available for the iPad and FireFox is crap on the iPad. In previous years I'd been happy with Safari which is far better than Chrome in terms of privacy but once I began taking a closer look I quickly discovered that Brave is even better that Safari. Like Safari Brave blocks trackers but, even better, it blocks ads by default, no extensions needed. Better still, it also offers per-site cookie/site data deletion upon closing tabs and that's something I really wanted once I realized it was possible. So, for example, when I visit something like AP News in Safari I've got those cookies tagging along after I've closed that site. When I close that tab in Brave the data is gone automatically.
I now use Proton's VPN service full time on all devices. This is partly why I began using the iPad Pro again. Proton VPN on the two Linux computers often breaks Signal and several websites. I've tweaked the settings and firewall to improve this but I still experience a few problems. On the iPad Pro Signal and every site works with no problem.
I've treated the iPad the same as the iPhone in terms of privacy settings, ads, analytics, 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.

Purchases

As mentioned above, I've stopped using ApplePay. I've stopped almost all purchasing with PayPal. I've shifted as much as possible to local purchasing and are cash only. For online purchases I'll use a masked card first. If that's not an option I'll opt to use my bank debit/credit card.

Data removal from people search sites

This last step is one that never ends and needs periodic review and updating and that is removal from people search sites. There are hundreds of them but if you hit the big ones first that often eliminates the data from the smaller ones as well. Do these first: Spokeo, Radaris, Whitepages, Intelius, BeenVerified, Acxiom, Infotracer, Lexis Nexis, TruePeopleSearch.

I started with Privacy Guide's Manual Opt Out list. And this one, the Big Ass Data Broker Opt Out List. I spent 4-5 hours one Sunday and got the big ones taken care of. I'm also working my way through Intel Techniques data removal workbook. I'm not stressing about this. I made a lot of progress in the 4 hours of my first effort. Some of the more notable sites no longer show my data. I'll gradually work my way through the others. It's not a race, it's a rainy day activity.

Summary

As the year closes I've made a lot of progress in recovering my online privacy. 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.

I'm far from being a data ghost but I've removed some of the data that was available and I've greatly reduced my exposure going forward. For me this will be an ongoing challenge and one I happily accept. If surveillance capitalists want my current, up-to-date data, they'll have to work for it. And, to be honest, I'm confident they won't be getting much.

I don't have comments but I love email or you can find me on Mastodon.

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