Google is, without question, the largest search engine and is arguably the most recognized tech giant in the world. Owned by Alphabet, Google is a truly enormous company that has an incredible influence on the world, as they give you tools like YouTube, Google Maps, Google Drive, Google Docs, Google Slides, Google Photos, Gmail, the Android OS, and Google Search itself. All of that’s not even mentioning Google Chrome, which is the most popular browser and has been for ages now.
The problem is that Google, as this massive tech giant, collects a truly massive amount of data on their users to the point where it then uses that data to build profiles on those users. Their locations, demographics, and interests are used to build those profiles. Advertisers can then chose which groups to target based on profiles those groups belong in or can bid for them. Data like cookies (small files created by websites that store data on a user’s device), geolocation, device IDs, browsing history, etc can be used.
On top of that, just recently, Google has been taken to court and may have to pay a $425 million dollar fine for violating privacy. The lawsuit, Rodriguez v Google LLC, which was filed in July 2020, alleged that Google collected data from users who had disabled tracking by the “Web & App Activity” setting. A federal jury in California sided with the plaintiff, but it is pending appeal at the time of writing. Google is also the default search engine for the vast majority of browsers due to making deals with companies like Mozilla (Owners of Firefox) and Apple (who have Safari). You have to manually change the default search engine in many such cases.
If you want to be more private, then you should begin the DeGoogling process. DeGoogling is either reducing or eliminating your dependencies on Google products. This can definitely take some getting used to, but with how surveillance has become more and more of a problem these past few decades, especially with the tech companies like Google and Palantir are only making this problem worse to the point where they are making solutions for surveillance to the government, this effort is warranted.
Recommended Browsers
Hardened Firefox: Hardened Firefox is pretty simple. It’s basically just Firefox as it exists with more secure settings. How hardened you want to make Firefox as a browser is really up to you. Before I get into how to harden Firefox, I should get into baseline Firefox.
Baseline Firefox gives you this:
- Enhanced Tracking Protection with Total Cookie Protection that blocks many cross‑site trackers, social media trackers, cryptominers, and fingerprinters in the background.
- You can use a Private Browsing mode that does not save history, cookies, or form/search data for that session.
- Built‑in phishing, deceptive content, and malware protection using blocklists and download checks.
- Default permissions handling for things like camera, microphone, passwords, location, and notifications, with prompts before granting access.
- Some telemetry and studies enabled by default, but with visible switches in Settings to reduce or turn off most data collection to Mozilla.
Overall, Firefox gives a solid start: it blocks many common trackers with Enhanced Tracking Protection, supports private browsing windows, warns about dangerous sites and downloads, and lets telemetry be reduced or disabled through visible settings, all while keeping most sites working smoothly without extra effort. Hardening Firefox builds on that foundation by tightening or disabling more data‑sharing features, increasing tracker and script blocking, and tweaking fingerprint‑related settings, which does significantly improve privacy and security. It can also increase the chance of site breakage, login issues, or compatibility problems that need manual troubleshooting, but there are ways to get it set up without significant issues.
Here is a list of how to harden Firefox with screenshots:
- Enable Enhanced Tracking Protection to “Strict” in Settings → Privacy & Security for stronger tracker, cookie, and fingerprinting script blocking. Settings can be accessed by pressing the three bars to the right of Firefox, right below the close window button. Once there, use the search bar to look up enhanced tracking protection.
- Turn on HTTPS‑Only Mode in all windows so Firefox always tries encrypted connections first. Now, almost any website you use today will use HTTPS (it’s that lock icon to the left of the URL), but this mode will force it to block unencrypted websites and will block them unless you decide to go past the warning.
- Change your default search engine to a privacy‑focused one (e.g., DuckDuckGo, Startpage or a self‑hosted SearXNG instance) and remove Google/Bing shortcuts you do not use. This can be done by going into the settings and looking up the search engine. DuckDuckGo is an option that you can switch into as Firefox does have a list of search engines like Google, DDG, Bing, Wikipedia, and so on. Startpage can only be added if you add Startpage as an extension. Firefox, like other browsers, has an extension page that can add useful extensions like adblockers.
- Firefox, like other browsers, does run into technical issues sometimes. This is why Mozilla automatically enables some versions of telemetry. It’s a form of data collection for technical and interaction data to understand how users interact with the browser and to improve its performance. To avoid this type of data collection, you can (and should) go into settings and into the privacy and security section to turn off telemetry and studies.
- Install a strong content blocker like uBlock Origin. Other privacy focused extensions, like Privacy Badger, can be used to block background trackers.
- Use Multi‑Account Containers (or similar container extensions) to isolate logins for services like Google, Facebook, banking, and work accounts.
- If you go into about:config, start with a few high‑impact changes only, such as enabling privacy.resistFingerprintingprivacy.resistFingerprinting, tightening referrers, and reducing speculative connections, and test sites you care about after each change.
Now, there are browsers that use Firefox as a baseline and have these sorts of settings on by default. These are referred to as Firefox Forks, so I will briefly go into some of the more well known and respected ones.
LibreWolf: LibreWolf is a Firefox fork that ships with telemetry disabled, strict tracking protection, hardened fingerprinting defenses, and privacy‑focused search engines and extensions (like uBlock Origin) enabled by default. It auto‑clears cookies and site data on close (with options for per‑site exceptions), enforces HTTPS where possible, tightens permissions, and strips many tracking parameters from URLs out of the box. LibreWolf aims to be a “pre‑hardened” Firefox: maximum privacy and security for regular web use, with good site compatibility but less convenience than stock Firefox and no Mozilla account or sync. You can log into LibreWolf using your Firefox account and move any other extensions you like to use (privacy focused or not).
Mullvad Browser: It is a Tor‑Browser‑based fork designed to be used with a VPN instead of the Tor network, giving Tor‑style anti‑fingerprinting and privacy protections over a VPN tunnel. The Mullvad Browser does use Firefox’s design but it uses Tor’s design philosophy for privacy rather than Firefox’s. Mullvad is a well known company based in Sweden that focuses on privacy and has a cheap 5 USD or 5 Euro VPN that focuses on anonymity. It is designed to also work with the Mullvad browser to provide further security.
Tor Browser: This is probably the most famous browser to focus extensively on security and privacy, far more than the usual browser. Tor Browser is based on Firefox design-wise, specifically using the Firefox Extended Support Release (ESR) as its foundation, but it has been heavily modified to enhance privacy and anonymity for use with the Tor network. While the user interface resembles Firefox, Tor Browser disables or restricts many features that could compromise privacy, such as JavaScript, WebGL, and certain browser APIs, and it comes with privacy-focused add-ons like NoScript and HTTPS Everywhere enabled by default. The design prioritizes anonymity over customization and convenience, resulting in a simpler, more restrictive experience compared to regular Firefox. There is also the Tor Network, which works very differently from a VPN as it switches through different Tor nodes throughout the world as opposed to VPNs which do allow you to go to through different countries. The Tor Network does it more automatically and as a result, Tor is slower than the average browser (on top of websites often not liking Tor), but Tor is useful if you want to have a separate browser from your regular activities.
There are many others, but those are the most useful Firefox Forks to me. It’s worth mentioning that LibreWolf and Mullvad browser are not on App stores for your phone, so Firefox generally would fit the bill on your phone. Firefox Focus (iOS and Android) and IronFox (only on Android) are all useful options if you want something about as strong as LibreWolf.
Finally, there are some Chromium based browsers that you can use. Chromium is an open-source web browser project developed by Google that serves as the foundation for many popular browsers, including Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Opera, Brave, and several others. It uses the Blink rendering engine (forked from WebKit) and the V8 JavaScript engine to display web pages and run scripts. Chromium is designed to be fast, customizable, and secure, with a modular architecture that allows other developers and companies to build their own browsers on top of its codebase. While Chromium itself does not include proprietary features like automatic updates or Google account integration, it is the core technology that powers most major browsers except Firefox, which uses its own Gecko engine. For all the crap I can (and have) given Google, Chromium is very useful for anyone who wants to make their own browser, big company or not. Before I go into the Chromium browsers I would recommend, here are the ones I would NOT recommend at all:
Google Chrome: This one is pretty obvious. It is the most popular browser due to its sleek customization options and well made UI. Of course, it is integrated with Google services and advertising ecosystem, with extensive telemetry and features like Privacy Sandbox that still enable profiling. It’s not something that can be trusted, especially since Google is forcing ID verification for people who it thinks are “too young”, even when that person is an adult. Google as a search engine is also trashed with AI and ads to the point where it’s pretty obnoxious in general, especially without an adblock (which Google tried to screw up as a principle).
Microsoft Edge: Owned by, well, Microsoft. A browser that you cannot delete from Windows without a tremendous amount of pain. It sends various usage and diagnostic data to Microsoft and has additional online features like content, shopping, Bing/Windows integration that expand data collection even with stricter settings. Bing is Microsoft’s search engine, though I hadn’t really used it in ages. Of course, with Microsoft’s AI expansion to the point where they’re breaking Windows 11 (30% of code done by AI baby), Microsoft is not a company I would trust with data as much as possible. This would include dual booting or completely switching to a different OS from Windows (some flavor of Linux distro should do), but that’s a story for another day.
Opera/Opera GX: Closed‑source additions on top of Chromium. It includes a built‑in “VPN”/proxy and other cloud features that route more traffic through Opera’s infrastructure. Opera and Opera GX are owned by Opera Limited, which is majority-owned by Kunlun Tech Co, a Chinese company based in Beijing. The acquisition happened in 2016 when a consortium of Chinese investors, led by Kunlun Tech and Qihoo 360, bought Opera’s browser and consumer businesses. Although Opera’s development teams are still located in Norway and other European countries, the ultimate control and ownership are Chinese. While I do find US companies far more concerning overall when it comes to privacy violations (cause what’s China gonna do to a US person?), this is still a big enough deal breaker on its own to force me to say that it isn’t worth it. It’s far too shady and even cringeworthy in its “gaming” marketing.
Brave: Brave is frequently promoted as a privacy-centric browser, boasting built-in ad blocking, fingerprinting protections, and optional Tor integration. However, I am very skeptical of Brave. Its CEO, Brendan Eich, creator of JavaScript (programming language used for website behavior like animations), co-founder of Mozilla, and creator of SpiderMonkey (Firefox’s interpreter for JavaScript), most notably due to his past political donations for a proposal in California back in 2008 that would’ve banned gay marriage in the state. Mozilla had him as the CEO in 2014, but he resigned in 11 days following significant backlash from Mozilla employees (even some higher up ones) as well as public critique.
So ok, the CEO did a really shitty thing, not uncommon, especially in the tech industry (Google, Meta, Amazon, Microsoft, blah blah blah). What about Brave as a browser? Well, Brave’s privacy claims are undermined by its crypto-based ad model, which collects user data and has led to reports of lost cryptocurrency rewards. Its search and AI features rely on aggressive web scraping, causing legal disputes like the one with News Corp over unauthorized content use. In 2020, Brave was caught adding its own affiliate codes to crypto exchange URLs, profiting from user activity without clear disclosure. Since this article isn’t about Brave, I would recommend some sources below that go more in depth about Brave’s shadiness. While Brave is technically sound, I simply cannot trust Brave and I can’t really recommend it despite its still pretty positive reputation.
Ok, now for Chromium based Browsers I would recommend or find interesting:
Vivaldi: Telemetry‑light, very configurable Chromium browser whose policy explicitly avoids selling data, though it does ping home daily with an anonymized ID and some system info for user counts. I also like the customization of Vivaldi, with the various colors and homepages you can set up. I had Vivaldi with a Berserk homescreen that I really liked. Vivaldi stands out for privacy through its no-data-selling model, built-in ad and tracker blocking with adjustable levels, end-to-end encryption for synced data like bookmarks and passwords, and user-exposed controls to disable Chromium’s Google telemetry and search features, making it more private than stock browsers. Its customization shines with full UI malleability, such as being able to reposition tabs, panels, and buttons. You can change shortcuts and gestures, theme everything including fonts and schedules. Power tools like command chains, web panels, and custom search nicknames. It allows for deep personalization without code tweaks.
Ungoogled-Chromium: Chromium with Google services and telemetry stripped out, leaving a DeGoogled base that you harden yourself with extensions and settings, making it very private in principle.
Cromite: A hardened Android fork of Chromium (related to ungoogled‑chromium) that adds more privacy tweaks and often tests well on privacy test suites when combined with good extensions.
Helium: It removes Google telemetry, bloat, and data collection, making zero web requests on first launch. It supports all Chromium extensions (including Manifest V2), but anonymizes requests to the Chrome Web Store. There is no built‑in password manager or cloud sync so the data stays local. Features a minimal, customizable UI, split view, and native !bangs for quick searches. Open source and actively developed, but still relatively new compared to established privacy browsers.
That about wraps it up for browsers, now for different search engines.
Recommended Search Engines
Alright, so this section will be considerably shorter than the browser section since there was a lot more to go into. Here is a list of search engines that I would recommend or try out:
DuckDuckGo (DDG): DuckDuckGo is a mainstream private search engine that promises not to store IP addresses, search histories, or unique identifiers tied to your queries. It combines its own index with results from partners (like Bing) and layers on tracker‑blocking and encryption upgrades in its apps and extensions. It even has its own browser on iOS and Android that does allow you to delete all of your data at once with a “fire” button.
Startpage: Startpage is my personal favorite out of this bunch. Startpage acts as a privacy proxy in front of Google: it strips identifying data like your IP address, submits the query to Google on your behalf, then returns the results to you. This lets you get Google‑quality results without Google being able to tie searches to you, and it also offers an “Anonymous View” link that opens result pages through a privacy‑preserving proxy. It also has its own browser on iOS and Android. A friend of mine did recommend Startpage and I am pretty happy with it overall. It even gives you front page YouTube videos and articles. It’s also very aesthetically pleasing to me, so it is the one I keep coming back to the most out of these.
SearXNG: SearXNG is an open‑source metasearch engine that aggregates results from many sources (Google, Bing, DDG, and more) without passing your IP or user profile to them. It keeps no logs by design, can be heavily customized, and can be self‑hosted so that you or a community you trust fully controls the server and configuration.
Kagi: Kagi is a paid search engine that is about $5 monthly for 300 searches and $10 for unlimited searches. It is an ad-free search engine emphasizing user privacy, with features like anonymous searches via Privacy Pass tokens, no IP logging or tracking, proxied media to block trackers, and its own crawler for high-quality, personalized results. It uses minimal cookies only for session management and offering Tor onion access plus session links for incognito use. Searches aren’t linked to accounts, and it proxies images/videos through its servers to prevent third-party tracking. It even has a translating service similar to Google Translate. They also have partnerships with Ente (who provides private photos) and Notesnook (encrypted note taking and journaling).
There is one other interesting search engine that I wouldn’t trust at all, but I do think it is worth mentioning. There is Yandex, a Russian based search engine which…probably speaks for itself. Yandex is a Russian technology company best known for its search engine, which is the largest in Russia and one of the biggest in Europe. It offers a wide range of services including web search, cloud storage, email, maps, ride-hailing, online shopping, and even streaming. Yandex is headquartered in Moscow and has expanded internationally, but its main market is in Russia. The company isn’t really trustworthy in terms of privacy, especially after its Russian assets were sold to Russian investors in 2024, strengthening ties to the Russian government. It’s pretty much the Google equivalent in Russia. As it stands, Russia and Google are in a hostile standoff. Russian regulators keep fining and pressuring Google over “illegal” content and data‑localization laws, while Google has pulled most business operations and heavily limited what it does inside Russia since the invasion of Ukraine.
That about covers it for the notable search engines outside of Google and Bing, and the search engines I do use are Startpage and DuckDuckGo primarily. Finally, I’ll go over any other Google Tools you might be able to replace.
Other Recommended Tools
For this next section, we’ll go over any other major Google tools that you can replace. All of which are either free or low cost. The list can be found here:
Cloud Storage: Google Drive is used as both the cloud storage and also helps hold things like slides, docs, and so on. What I use primarily are MEGA and Proton Drive. MEGA gives you a lot of storage and is easily integrated on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS. It’s also fairly cheap, giving you as much as 3 TB of storage or more with relatively affordable pricing. It gives you things like MEGA chat as well, which allows you to talk in private in the app. Proton Drive can be purchased on its own or with the other apps (Proton VPN, Protonmail, Proton Pass, etc) and it is very similar to Google Drive in terms of structure. It doesn’t give you nearly as much storage as MEGA, but it gives you a good amount and it is also useful for either holding documents like slides and docs and for making new ones. Both of them do allow for sharing files, even with people who do not use either service. You can also use stuff like NextCloud to self host a cloud that provides services like Zoom like calls and security based apps.
Email: Protonmail is useful as an encrypted, privacy focused email that doesn’t advertise or try to collect advertising data like Gmail does. Tuta is a similar email service that provides these same benefits. Both do allow for forwarding of emails from sources like Gmail, iCloud, Yahoo, and Outlook into these more private email services. You can also create email aliases using these services so that you can even hide your Proton or Tuta based emails for an additional layer of privacy.
Maps: Google Maps is arguably the most useful Google tool, and to be honest, I hadn’t completely gotten rid of it. I even rely on it. There are some non-Google or non-Apple maps that can be used, like OsmAnd and Magic Earth are some notable alternatives.
Docs, Slides, Etc: LibreOffice is my preferred Office Suite outside of Google apps and Microsoft Office. They are very similar while being locally stored documents which can then be stored on cloud services like Nextcloud, Proton Drive, and MEGA.
Texting: Signal would be my recommendation on texting as Android does offer its own texting but it is not as secure or private. It uses end-to-end encryption by default, meaning that only you and your recipient can read the messages, and even Signal cannot access the content. It also minimizes data collection, does not log message content, and offers features like disappearing messages, session verification, and registration lock for added security. Signal further enhances privacy through its open-source protocol, which is audited by security experts worldwide, and by employing methods to verify contacts’ identities with safety numbers or QR codes. Its security measures extend to encrypting calls, media, and group chats. QUIK is also useful as a more open-source text messager, but that one is on SMS (less secure than messaging apps on the Signal protocol), so use it for family or friends that may be less keen on using Signal as it is still just a standard texting app.
Photos: Google Photos and its camera do track where your photos are taken and when, which is creepy all on its own, though Google says this isn’t sold to advertisers. You can change settings but I would recommend using other apps. As for alternatives, Ente Photos is a privacy‑first, end‑to‑end encrypted alternative to Google Photos and iCloud Photos that stores all your photos and metadata encrypted so only you and people you share with can see them, not Ente itself. It is fully open source (clients and server), offers multi‑device apps plus a self‑hosting option, and includes features like automatic backups, family and shared albums, face/object search via on‑device AI, and easy import/export, making it a strong choice if you want cloud photo backup without giving a big tech provider access to your library. Proton Drive also offers a similar service for moving your photos out of Google Photos or iCloud Photos.
Alternative OS to Android: Android OS is a very flexible OS, one that is used globally and can be used by various different hardware like Samsung Phones and Google Pixel. Android collects a ton of data on its users like any other Google product does and it collects it throughout the apps that the user has. My recommendation would be GrapheneOS, as it is a security‑focused AOSP fork for Pixel phones with strong exploit mitigations, per‑app network/sensor toggles, and optional sandboxed Google Play that does not have system‑level access. You can also used F-Droid for getting apps outside of Google Play, though Google Play will still be used for getting important apps like banking apps. Aurora Store functions the same as Google Play Store, but without any Google account. Now, if you don’t want to buy a Pixel but you do have an Android phone, you could use CalyxOS that does come with free and optional apps like Signal and Tor along with a PDF viewer and even a malware scanner.
TL;DR, here is a list of alternatives that I would recommend or try out:
Browser: Hardened Firefox, IronFox, Tor, Mullvad Browser, and LibreWolf
Search Engine: DuckDuckGo, StartPage, Kagi, and SearXNG
Cloud: NextCloud for self-hosting or MEGA or Proton Drive for general cloud storage
Email: Protonmail or Tuta
Docs, Slides, etc: LibreOffice
Photos: Ente Photos and Proton Drive
Maps: Magic Earth and OsmAnd
Alternatives to Android: GrapheneOS if you have or plan to get a Google Pixel and CalyxOS if you have an Android phone that isn’t Google Pixel (assuming you don’t plan on getting Pixel anytime soon).
Conclusion
Ultimately, you probably will not break from Google entirely, as YouTube is really the only viable option for uploading videos and it is the simplest method for watching videos (even with free alternatives like FreeTube). Google Maps is also a very useful tool for finding different places and for general commutes. Switching all or even some of these options will definitely take a long time, but I do think DeGoogling in some capacity, especially switching email, the search engine, and your browser are all very important to do for general privacy and even security, as you don’t know what any of these advertisers are going to do with your data or if said advertisers even have good security themselves. It is best to take control of your data as much as humanly possible, even if it can be daunting at times. In my case, I wrote based primarily on my personal experiences and observations. The landscape for privacy is only going to get worse with misguided legislation nationally and even globally, so it would be best to use whatever tools you have available to you in order to be as private and secure as possible. I would also recommend using Privacy Pack to keep track of your privacy habits and apps as a whole (I know the screenshot Ente has includes Brave, but the idea is still there).
Sources
How (and why) to deGoogle your life and protect your privacy | Proton. (2024, May 17). Retrieved from https://proton.me/blog/how-to-de-google
What Is DeGoogling? Why More People Are Ditching Big Tech In 2025 | US Mobile. (2025, May 03). Retrieved from https://www.usmobile.com/blog/what-is-degoogling
Firefox Privacy — The Complete How-To Guide for 2025. (2025, January 19). Retrieved from https://cyberinsider.com/firefox-privacy
DuckDuckGo Is More Than Just a Search Engine Now. (2025, December 08). Retrieved from https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/duckduckgo-is-more-than-just-a-search-engine-now
Davenport, C. (2025). Stop using Brave Browser – by Corbin Davenport. Spacebar. Retrieved from https://www.spacebar.news/stop-using-brave-browser
Lyons, K. (2020). Brave browser CEO apologizes for automatically adding affiliate links to cryptocurrency URLs. Verge. Retrieved from https://www.theverge.com/2020/6/8/21283769/brave-browser-affiliate-links-crypto-privacy-ceo-apology
Claburn, T. (2025). We did not have Brave clashing with Rupert Murdoch on our 2025 bingo card, but there it is. The Register. Retrieved from https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/13/brave_news_corp_content
Srinivasaragavan, S. (2025). Google must pay $425m for violating user privacy in the US. Silicon Republic. Retrieved from https://www.siliconrepublic.com/business/google-privacy-lawsuit-us-425m-us-web-activity
Foo, Y. C. (2025). Exclusive: Google to be hit with EU charges of breaching Big Tech rules, sources say. Reuters. Retrieved from https://www.reuters.com/technology/google-faces-eu-charges-breaching-dma-rules-sources-say-2025-02-21
Satariano, A. (2020). Google Is Fined $57 Million Under Europe’s Data Privacy Law. N.Y. Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/21/technology/google-europe-gdpr-fine.html
Toomey, P. (2018). The NSA Continues to Violate Americans’ Internet Privacy Rights | ACLU. Retrieved from https://www.aclu.org/news/national-security/nsa-continues-violate-americans-internet-privacy
Ente Photos vs. Google Photos. Ente. Retrieved from https://ente.io/compare/ente-vs-google-photos
Leave a Reply