Taken down from Youtube so..
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TechTranscript
00:00Google is watching you.
00:02In fact, they even got sued for doing it
00:04while you were in incognito mode.
00:06But little things like lawsuits
00:08aren't gonna stop them from doing it again.
00:10They make more than enough money
00:11by serving you eerily relevant ads
00:13to make up for any fines.
00:15So if nothing's gonna stop them,
00:18well, you should just give up
00:20and throw in the towel, right?
00:22Of course not.
00:23In part one of this series on de-Googling your life,
00:26we showed you some options
00:27to loosen Google's iron grip,
00:30some of which you could argue
00:31are even superior to Google services.
00:34And we're back again with de-Googled options
00:36for password management, cloud storage,
00:38maps, ad management, and YouTube.
00:41That's right, five whole ways
00:43that you can give Google the finger,
00:45or six fingers if you count our sponsor, FlexiSpot.
00:48Their E7 Plus standing desk and C7 Ergo chair
00:52are here to elevate your workspace.
00:54Save big by bundling them together,
00:56then use code LINUS50 for $50 off your order of $500 or more.
01:01Check it out using our link in the video description.
01:03One of the most convenient services Google offers
01:06that you might not even think about that you're using
01:08is also one of the most dangerous,
01:11the password manager that is built into Chrome and Android.
01:15I mean, it's great on the surface.
01:17You just log into your Google account
01:19and the passwords for other sites
01:21fill in automatically everywhere you go.
01:23Super convenient.
01:24But what happens if somebody gets into your Google account?
01:27Not only will all of your Google services be accessible
01:31because they all use that one login,
01:33but all of the accounts stored inside it will be exposed too.
01:38It's kind of like a 200 for the price of one special
01:41for account hijackers.
01:43Now, I'd get if you still wanna have a Google account.
01:46That's totally fine, but you can lower your risk
01:48by using a non-Google password manager.
01:51Of course, it feels these days
01:52like everybody has a password manager,
01:55so which one do you trust?
01:56Well, the ultimate in privacy
01:57is gonna be hosting your own on a computer
01:59that you control using KeePass or Bitwarden.
02:03Both of them have been around for a while,
02:05are open source, and work on pretty much anything.
02:08KeePass is single device only,
02:10but Bitwarden can even sync across multiple devices,
02:14and if you want, it can sync to the cloud as well.
02:17If you're doing that,
02:18you might also want to consider the competition.
02:20For a mainstream choice, we like 1Password.
02:23Not only does it tick all of the boxes
02:25with support for every big operating system,
02:27passkey support, two-factor codes for secure login,
02:30and more, it also has its own twist
02:33that even if 1Password were to suffer a major leak,
02:36like what happened to LastPass in 2022,
02:39there wouldn't be any danger.
02:41When you sign up, you're given a random secret code,
02:44and that code with your password
02:47is needed to unlock your vault
02:48anytime you log in on a new device.
02:51What that means
02:52is even if somebody got your login credentials,
02:54and even if they had the file with your vault in it,
02:57they can't easily decrypt your data,
03:00at least with today's computers.
03:02Their app is pretty good too.
03:03Moving on, Proton, the Google-but-for-privacy company
03:06that we brought up in part one,
03:08also offers a password manager
03:09that's gotten really good and really quickly.
03:12It has support for making burner emails or aliases,
03:15two-factor support, passkey support,
03:17and it very recently gained the ability
03:20to lock your vault with a different password
03:23from your account password,
03:24meaning even if you're logged into your Proton account,
03:27your passwords are still safe
03:28if, say, a nosy family member
03:31decides to look through your computer.
03:32Now, the fine details vary,
03:34so you're gonna wanna try a couple of them
03:35before you settle,
03:36but the way that they work
03:37is pretty similar across the board.
03:39You download the app or browser extension,
03:42create an account, and start storing your passwords.
03:45With the appropriate permissions configured on your device,
03:47just like Google's password manager,
03:49they should automatically detect
03:51when you log into a new website or app
03:53and offer to store your credentials.
03:55Most of them also offer to create random passwords for you
03:58so you don't even have to think about what to use.
04:00Once you've decided on one you like,
04:01you're gonna need to export your passwords
04:03from your old basic manager,
04:05and I'm gonna assume it's Google Passwords here.
04:08Open it up, click the settings gear, then click Export.
04:11You'll get a CSV file that you can then import
04:14to the password manager of your choice.
04:16For one password, you would go to your account settings,
04:18then click your name in the top right, then Import.
04:21Click either CSV file or a different password manager,
04:25choose the vault that you wanna put your passwords into,
04:28then drop the CSV into the upload box and click Continue.
04:31You can pick and choose what to carry over if you want,
04:33and when you're done, you can apply your labels.
04:36The process is pretty much the same
04:37for the other password managers out there,
04:39and most of them are gonna have a page like 1Passwords
04:42with the steps that you need to follow.
04:44No matter what you go with to manage passwords though,
04:47a two-factor app that gives you login codes is a must.
04:50It is much more secure than getting these codes via email
04:54or especially via SMS.
04:56Now, most password managers these days
04:58have two-factor support built in, which is convenient,
05:03but that convenience of having everything in one place
05:05comes with the risk of having everything in one place,
05:08and we would strongly recommend a separate app.
05:12But again though, which one?
05:15Our main pick is Entei Auth.
05:17Yeah, the same Entei as in part one.
05:19It works everywhere and can either be used in the cloud
05:22with end-to-end encryption or on a single device
05:25without the need for an account.
05:27Entei's UI is well thought out and easy to use,
05:30plus it even shows you the next code
05:33if the current one is about to expire,
05:34so you don't have to wait for it to roll over
05:36before you start typing.
05:38You can even pin, tag, and search your sites,
05:40which makes it a lot easier to manage a big list
05:43compared to Google Authenticator.
05:45They call it a labor of love on their GitHub page,
05:47and it really looks like one.
05:49Authy is another okay choice with a pleasing look and feel,
05:52but compared to Entei, it offers only basic search,
05:55which is fine for a lot of people,
05:57but there are a couple of things to watch out for.
06:00Their desktop app is no longer supported as of March,
06:03and your account login
06:04is tied to your phone number by default.
06:08So if you change your number,
06:10you will need to make sure that you update it
06:12or you can end up locked out of your account.
06:14The good news is that recovering your account
06:16only takes a few days, if that happens,
06:20and there's not a major security implication to this
06:23because if someone gets access to your phone number,
06:25they would also need your backup password
06:27in order to get your codes.
06:29Now, if you wanna use something
06:30other than those two options, that's probably fine.
06:33Just make sure that it's encrypted and secure
06:36if it synchronizes across devices
06:38or that it never leaves your phone.
06:40Whatever you use,
06:41the way to add codes is pretty much the same.
06:44Go to the site or app you want to secure,
06:46enable two-factor authentication,
06:48then on your app, tap Add and scan the QR code.
06:51Enter the code the app gives you into the site
06:53and you should be good to go.
06:55Just please make sure you put your recovery codes
06:57somewhere safe and not in your password manager
07:01if you can avoid it.
07:03If you can't scan the QR code, by the way, for some reason,
07:05most sites and apps will let you
07:07manually type a secret key instead.
07:09Now, migrating from Google Authenticator
07:11is a little tricky, but not too bad.
07:14You can export your codes as QR codes
07:17by tapping the hamburger menu,
07:18then Transfer Accounts, then Export.
07:21Select the accounts you want to transfer
07:23and you'll get a series of QR codes.
07:24At this point, though, you'll need another device
07:27with a camera that is logged in with the authenticator
07:29that you want to use,
07:30and then you can use the import function.
07:32In Enteioth, you get there by tapping the hamburger menu,
07:35then Data, then Import Codes.
07:37Choose Google Authenticator, then scan the codes one by one.
07:42Yeah, it's a bit of a pain
07:43because Google expects you to only ever do this
07:45if you're upgrading to a new device,
07:47but once it's done, it's done and you're free,
07:51free to go anywhere you like,
07:53as long as you don't mind big Google following you around.
07:56That's right, Google Maps is so dominant
08:00that when Apple Maps came out in 2012,
08:02many people considered it literally unusable
08:05in spite of Apple's efforts
08:07because of how poorly it compared
08:09to Google's worldwide fleet of vehicles
08:11that maps out the roads and takes photos as they go.
08:15Now, one popular alternative used to be Waze,
08:18but that has also been owned by Google since 2013.
08:23Apple Maps, speaking of, finally launched a web app.
08:26It went into beta, actually, the day that we wrote this,
08:29and Bing or even MapQuest
08:30can stand in for Google Maps in a pinch,
08:33but in the spirit of de-Googling,
08:35we kind of wanted to find something a little more open,
08:38like OpenStreetMap, which makes maps from user submissions
08:42and has support for front ends
08:44that include some pretty advanced features.
08:46Magic Earth, for example, is available on iOS and Android,
08:50and on top of offering turn-by-turn navigation
08:52and crowdsourced traffic data,
08:54it can also act as a smart dash cam with driver assistance
08:58to warn of things like forward collision,
09:00stop-and-go traffic, lane departure,
09:02traffic signs, and more.
09:04Now, you probably don't wanna rely
09:06on those features for safety,
09:07and we did encounter some odd behavior
09:09even just in the basic search functionality,
09:11but it's free for personal use,
09:13so I'd say it's at least worth giving it a try.
09:15And the same goes for Ocemand.
09:18It has many of the features that Magic Earth does,
09:20but also offers plugins to enhance its functions
09:23beyond even Google Maps.
09:25The only problem is that what I would call
09:2818643 52 Avenue becomes 52 Avenue 18643 52 Avenue.
09:3418643 Eurostyle.
09:36And I'm not allowed to just type in A-V-E.
09:39It has to be Avenue.
09:41You can learn to live with it,
09:43but I can also see why most North Americans don't bother.
09:47One last option is to use a search engine like DuckDuckGo
09:50or Kagi, who we talked about in part one.
09:52Both use Apple Maps, though Kagi offers other sources too.
09:56And while neither has the features
09:58or tight integration Google does,
10:00Kagi offers the option to start navigating
10:02via Google Maps, Apple Maps or Waze
10:05so that you can, I don't know, use Kagi to search
10:08and then just use Google to...
10:11Okay, maybe it's mostly only useful for trip planning
10:13rather than day-to-day navigation.
10:16Now for a big one.
10:18Google Drive is so common for cloud storage
10:20that for a long time,
10:22we even used Google's lax storage limits
10:24to back up our entire petabyte server.
10:27It's convenient, especially to quickly share files
10:30and their privacy policy claims
10:32that they encrypt your data
10:33and don't use it for advertising.
10:35So a secondary Google account just for Drive
10:38could be an option if you don't mind
10:40some Google in your life, you know, like a cheat day.
10:43We are de-Googling and that means exploring other options.
10:47There's the big ones like Dropbox, iCloud Drive
10:50and OneDrive who all also offer encrypted storage
10:53and even extras like protected vaults
10:56that require a password to access.
10:58But if your email is also with the company
11:01you're using for storage,
11:02you need to be careful what you store there
11:03in case of a data breach.
11:05One way that you can make sure that you're secure
11:07is to encrypt your files locally on your computer
11:10using something like Cryptomator.
11:12Then you can sync those files to any cloud storage you like,
11:16though you won't be able to easily share anything
11:18uploaded this way unless you also share your encryption key.
11:22If you want something a little different,
11:23then there are other options like ProtonDrive.
11:26We mentioned these guys earlier
11:28and in part one with their email service.
11:31And while keeping all of our eggs in one basket
11:33is one of the reasons that we're skipping out on Google,
11:35Proton offers the ability to use a secondary password
11:39to unlock your data after logging in.
11:42Again, to prevent someone with access to your computer
11:44from digging through your stuff.
11:46Proton's biggest problem though
11:48is that you can't purchase more storage
11:50than they offer in their plans.
11:52And if you're not on a family plan,
11:54that limits you to just 500 gigs,
11:57even at the ultimate tier.
11:59Now they do sometimes allow you to upgrade
12:02to their older visionary plan
12:03that gives you multiple terabytes of storage,
12:06but you're forced to subscribe on an annual basis
12:09for a pretty hefty sum.
12:11Still, if you're not backing up massive amounts of data,
12:14ProtonDrive is very Google-like, but not run by Google.
12:18Of course, it's not run by you either, is it?
12:21And if you've got the hardware to run it,
12:24whether it's a spare or dedicated,
12:26that's where OwnCloud and NextCloud come in.
12:30Both of these will need you to forward ports on your router
12:32or install a remote network access app like Tailscale
12:35in order to access or share your files away from home,
12:38but for your trouble, you get way more control
12:41than you do with a cloud storage company.
12:43Both of them are free-to-download,
12:45open-source software with paid extras.
12:48OwnCloud is tuned more for a professional setting
12:50with Teams, while NextCloud has a host of features
12:53that might appeal more to home users,
12:55including a TrueNAS plugin that makes it easier
12:57to set up on a network storage PC
12:59that you might already be running.
13:00The last big drive alternative we'll talk about
13:02is the Swiss Post Service's Trezorit.
13:06It's favored by governments and NGOs
13:08for its strong privacy and security,
13:10making it a great choice for the paranoid,
13:12and on top of that, it's actually a pretty good service
13:15in its own right.
13:16It even provides a plugin if you wanna stick to using Gmail
13:18and has apps for every major OS,
13:21even a Linux terminal app for your NAS.
13:23The files you upload and share are end-to-end encrypted,
13:26and if you're extra paranoid,
13:27you can also require the person on the other end
13:30to verify their email address
13:32before they're allowed to download it.
13:34All of this comes at a cost, though,
13:35with the free version only providing
13:37three gigabytes of total storage
13:39and the biggest package coming in at four terabytes
13:42and costing significantly more than Google's options,
13:45though I guess you get what you pay for.
13:47Now, speaking of paying for things,
13:49I've made my position clear that the ads
13:52on ad-supported content are the price
13:54and that blocking them is pretty much piracy,
13:58but I've also made it clear many times
14:00that I'm not gonna tell you what you should do,
14:02and the reality of it is a lot of you are gonna pirate,
14:06so as your friendly neighborhood tech tips man,
14:08it's my responsibility to show you the right way to do it,
14:11starting with DNS.
14:13We talked about DNS in part one,
14:15and several services offer the ability
14:17to add content filters to their responses.
14:20These are great for apps
14:21that normally wouldn't be able to use AdBlock,
14:24and they can even block ads in mobile apps.
14:27Again, you can learn more about that in part one,
14:29which we'll link down below.
14:31The problem with these services
14:32is that they limit the number of lookups
14:34that you get per month, and after that, you've gotta pay.
14:37That's where PyHole comes in.
14:39PyHole lets you run your own DNS filter at home
14:42using whichever servers you like,
14:44not just those filtering ones,
14:47and it's pretty straightforward to set up.
14:48We did a whole video on it a few years ago,
14:50and I'm just gonna link that down below
14:52since it really hasn't changed much.
14:54So once you've got it set up,
14:55just make sure you don't forget the step
14:57to adjust your router settings,
14:59both so that your PyHole has a reserved IP address
15:01that doesn't change, and to make sure that that address
15:05is the DNS server that your router points
15:07all the devices on your network to.
15:09As for AdBlocking on the web, if you're running Brave,
15:12one of the browsers that we featured last time,
15:14the built-in shields feature is pretty decent,
15:17and I would probably just stick with that
15:19since anything else is gonna make you stand out
15:20like a sore thumb among Brave users,
15:23making you much easier to identify and track,
15:25even if you're using a VPN.
15:27For everyone else, uBlock Origin seems to be
15:30by far the best option these days.
15:33It offers a default filter that will block most ads
15:36on the internet, and that allows you
15:37to manually allow content from ad delivery networks
15:40or domains that you trust or want to support.
15:43You can use custom filters to fine-tune your experience,
15:46just be aware that adding too many filters
15:48can actually slow down your browser
15:50rather than speed it up, so try not to overdo it.
15:53Another cool function of uBlock Origin
15:55is that it can handle JavaScript blocking,
15:57which can reduce your computer's chance
15:59of getting infected with malware.
16:01uBlock Origin is available for desktop browsers
16:03based on Chromium or Firefox that can accept extensions,
16:06and it can be installed manually
16:08if you're not able to use their extension stores
16:10for some reason or another.
16:11It should be noted, though, that by this time in 2025,
16:14Manifest V3's requirements are going to break it
16:17for browsers based on Chromium, if nothing changes.
16:20In that case, then, there's uBlock Lite,
16:23which has the core feature of blocking ads with filter lists
16:26but doesn't offer the ability to choose, for example,
16:29whether and when to enable JavaScript on a given site.
16:33Desktop Safari users, meanwhile,
16:34basically just have access to the extensions
16:37that are available in the App Store, just like on mobile,
16:40so for them, I'd say AdGuard
16:41is a pretty good choice for both.
16:43It can do a lot of the basic things
16:45that uBlock Lite does,
16:46but with some extra customizations available.
16:49Just remember to enable it in the extension section
16:51under Safari's settings menu
16:53and allow it to access all sites.
16:55Now, since some schools and workplaces
16:59have rules against installing ad blockers,
17:02you may not be able to do so.
17:04The good news is you can get most of the way there
17:07by disabling JavaScript on your browser here.
17:10Then, as you find sites that need it,
17:12you can allow them one by one like this.
17:14It is an extra step,
17:15but doing this can even get you past some paywalls
17:18and speed up your browser
17:19while also removing one of the common ways
17:21that malware can get into your system
17:23and one of the common ways that Google tracks you online.
17:27Now for the big one,
17:28the site that you are almost certainly using right now,
17:32YouTube.
17:33One way out is to hope that your favorite creators
17:35are using some alternative video hosting site.
17:39Sup, float planers?
17:40Woo!
17:42But let's be realistic.
17:43Most creators aren't,
17:44and even if they were,
17:45most of their viewers aren't going to follow them there.
17:48So what do you do?
17:51Well, one option is to download videos
17:54using one of these tools and watch them offline.
17:57You'd still have to browse YouTube
17:58to discover content though,
18:00which would give Google lots of juicy information
18:02about your preferences.
18:03So how about an app like FreeTube, LibreTube, or Yati?
18:08These apps hook into YouTube for realsies,
18:11get around the almighty algorithm,
18:13do not display Google's ads or trackers,
18:15and if you import your subscriptions
18:17by using Google Takeout,
18:18you might even get notified
18:20when there are new videos on your feed.
18:21Now, importing from Google Takeout sounds hard,
18:24but it's actually pretty easy.
18:26Just log into your Google account dashboard,
18:28go to data and privacy,
18:30then scroll down to download your data
18:32and choose what you'd like to export.
18:34In this case, you would deselect all,
18:36then check YouTube and YouTube music.
18:39Click the all YouTube data included link
18:42and select only what you want to download.
18:44For these apps,
18:45all we need are the history and subscriptions,
18:47and history is actually optional.
18:50If you do want it,
18:50just make sure you go to multiple formats
18:52and choose JSON for history.
18:55Once you're satisfied, click next,
18:57optionally choose to have this data exported periodically
19:00or just once, then click create export.
19:03Depending on the amount of data,
19:04it could take some time,
19:05but eventually you'll get an email with a download link.
19:08You can then unzip it
19:09and import everything into your front end.
19:11In FreeTube, you'll find it under data settings.
19:13For Android users, there's GrayJay and NewPipe.
19:16They hook into popular streaming services,
19:19including YouTube with plugin support
19:20that promises to add even more services in the future.
19:23Everything shows up on your feed
19:25and they store your playback history,
19:26subscriptions and your playlists
19:28locally on your phone or tablet.
19:30There's no iOS or desktop app for either though,
19:33and according to the FAQ,
19:34there isn't going to be one anytime soon.
19:37If that's a problem for you,
19:38you can also just run your own YouTube using Invidious,
19:42which lets you fully customize the way that pages look
19:45if you know how.
19:46You can even use those other apps with it.
19:48Now, like the Cirq search engine from part one,
19:51public Invidious servers do exist,
19:53but using them means that you are trusting
19:55that the people running them
19:57aren't just gonna track you like Google does
19:59or even insert malware.
20:01For that reason, it's best to use Tor
20:03or a virtual private network,
20:05like our frequent sponsor PIA,
20:07who we're gonna have linked down below,
20:09to hide your IP address
20:10whenever you're connecting to servers that you don't own.
20:13Since the ones listed on the Invidious site
20:15must have no analytics,
20:17that makes one fewer way that you can be tracked online.
20:19However, these servers are not guaranteed
20:22to be as reliable as YouTube's.
20:23I mean, say whatever you want about YouTube,
20:26it rarely goes down.
20:28But what if there were another way?
20:30Okay, this is funny.
20:31As it turns out, you don't need anything extra
20:35or any weird workarounds to watch YouTube without ads.
20:38And I'm not kidding when I say this is actually a weird trick.
20:41Try this right now.
20:42Open up a private window
20:44or a browser that you don't use very much,
20:46and then go to Bing.
20:48Copy the address of this video right now
20:50and paste it into Bing.
20:52Then click on the thumbnail somewhere around here and...
20:56What?
20:57What?
20:58Where's the ad?
21:00You're not signed into Bing or YouTube,
21:02and assuming you used a random browser
21:05that you don't usually use,
21:06you've got no ad block active.
21:08So yeah, you need to put up with Bing's crummy interface,
21:13but either Microsoft is paying Google
21:15to be able to show YouTube videos on Bing without any ads,
21:18or maybe neither of them ever noticed
21:21because no one uses Bing.
21:23Either way, I don't know, free YouTube premium.
21:26Let's go Bing!
21:29All right, that's not really a reasonable alternative
21:31to YouTube, and like those alternative front ends
21:34and those apps, it's just YouTube with extra steps still,
21:38and if Google decides to get rid of them,
21:40they will all disappear.
21:42But for now, we've at least given you some options
21:44to enjoy your favorite creators
21:46without giving Google quite as much information.
21:49Of course, we aren't done yet,
21:50and for part three, we'd like to hear from you guys.
21:53What services do you recommend?
21:55What Google services do you want to stop using?
21:58Let us know down below
21:59while I let you know about our sponsor.
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22:52and exactly where to go to claim the deal
22:54linked in the video description.
22:56If you guys enjoyed this video,
22:57go check out part one of this series
22:59for more on how you too can rid yourself
23:02of the Alphabet Company.
23:05Anything sounds ominous when you say it like that.