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Posted on 08/15/2019 8:16:25 AM PDT by Signalman
I've opted out of using Google as my search engine for political reasons.
I'm using the Chrome brower and I switched to Bing. If you're using Chrome, it's easy to switch from Google to another search engine.
In the top right corner of your screen you'll see 3 vertical dots. Click the dots and then click "settings".
Scroll down to "Search Engine" and then "Search Engine Used in Address Bar". Towards the right there will be a menu of search engines (Google, Bing etc.) and select the one you prefer. I chose Bing. Exit out of "Settings". The one you selected will become the default search engine.
I did this on my desktop computer and the procedure may vary slightly if you're using a tablet.
You switched off of google as a search engine but you are still using google’s browser????
You’re still supporting google.
I’ve done the same but I’m on an android phone so I guess it don’t much matter. Down with The People’s Republic of Google.
You’re right. I’ll have to find another browser. Can you recommend one?
and they are still data mining you
I use the Brave browser on my Android phone (and yes, I know that there is a LOT of Google content on those devices).
I use the avast secure browser and use DuckDuckGo for searching.
BTW, The browser allows you to easily download online videos from Youtube, Vimeo, etc. as either a full video file of just an audio file.
You definitely want to get rid of Chrome.
You may not be aware of this - few are - but Chrome launches a program called “software_reporter_tool.exe” that scans your computer and tells Google what’s on it.
IMO that’s flat out criminal hacking. But until the law gets around to addressing it, get rid of Chrome to protect yourself.
[BTW, The browser allows you to easily download online videos from Youtube, Vimeo, etc. as either a full video file of just an audio file.]
Does it allow you to download just the audio from a YT vid too?
Brave
I’ve never had any luck finding the latest news articles on DDG. Tried a few different times and got frustrated.
Just because they claim they don’t track you doesn’t mean they don’t. Everyone lies. Doesn’t matter which you use, the NSA has everything anyway. There’s not getting around Big Brother.
I had an android phone quite a few years ago. Galaxy Note 5
I went back to iPhone for two reasons.
1) directly on topic: Google is evil
2) the device is bloated with preloaded apps and background software, much of which you cannot remove without breaking the OS
Apple is also evil, but the lesser of the two in my humble opinion.
Per browser recommendations:
I use firefox as my browser in windows and linux. I always launch it in private browsing mode so that all cached data is erased when I close it.
I used to use Tor browser but it’s really not worth the hassle for anything I am typically doing. It’s a lot more anonymous but it’s is slower. I’m more interested in keeping sites like Amazon and google from tracking my habits than I am any kind of anonymity.
Doesn’t matter which you use, the NSA has everything anyway.
*********
Basically once in the atmosphere it’s there for the taking.
Isn’t DuckDuck owned by Google?
Using Firefox here with SetupVPN, WebRTC Leak shield, Canvas defender, DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials, and Ad blocker.
All secure, I also rotate what country I connect from. The Canvas Defender is so the Browser can not be fingerprinted, and the WebRTC shield prevents IP address links.
All Secure...
FireFox is very stable.
I use Edge and Bing on both my laptop and my iPhone (company supplied).
I actually trust Microsoft more than Google or Apple.
Out of all the alphabet soup problems, the NSA shows the least signs of being corrupt, in my opinion. I still want to believe that they have our back. Their overall goal is our security, not being political. They have even resisted inter-agency requests for private information from what I have seen before.
If we ever lose the NSA, stick a fork in ‘America’.
But yes, you are right, they grab data at the hardware level. They pretty much do have everything. I don’t think it pertains to the concerns of this topic though, which is not supporting politically activist tech giants.
Bkmrk.
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