The Simplest Privacy Move You Can Make

It was around 2017 when I figured out a simple solution to the privacy concerns that had been bothering me forever. For several years I had depended on my gmail account for pretty much everything, Email, cell phone account, my bank accounts. It was already well known that google was collecting all kinds of data from us, using our phones to track our locations and more. They had already been reading our emails since gmail was released. Soon after the release of gmail all the searches we did while logged into our gmail/google account were also being logged as well. So how do we get away from google? Or at least minimize our dependence on them? The short answer is E-mail, a separate e-mail account for all the other things we don't need gmail/google for. There are other things that will also improve our privacy like browser settings, VPNs, Tor Browsers or a degoogled phone, But creating a separate email is the simplest and most powerful way to separate a large part of our lives from the prying eyes of the surveilance grid.

Use Email service for Email and email only

Email is so central to our online lives that it deserves a dedicated service. When you create a bank account or any other online account you will need an email and usually a phone number as well. Most of us depend on a single email for everything and thats where we will create a privacy separation here. I recommend using this new private email for email only. Meaning you can use it for any email services you need like bank accounts, and whatever online services you need. Do not depend on the account for any other services. Use the email as an email service. Using protonmail as an example. Proton.me(protonmail) provides several other services, including vpn, drive, Calendar, protonpass. So it would not be a good idea to depend heavily on protons vpn if you want the best security. If someone should get your VPN password somehow they would now have your email password. So use another service for your vpn. Especially if you depend heavily on it.

Switching to alternative e-mail services

Lets rip the band-aid off right from the beginning. Switching all your accounts from your g-mail account to a new account is work, lets just get that out of the way. But it's really not that bad since you can access both emails from all you devices. So in the beginning you will be using both, and as you are checking your email you can be migrating each service from one account to the other. One at a time log in to your accounts and update your email from gmail to the new email address.

Choose an email service

So first you need to choose a service. Choose an email that is not owned or affiliated with google, apple or microsoft since those are pretty much the big corporate entities with which we are trying to minimize the spying. I chose protonmail and I have been happy with them so far. Once you choose a new email service, install the app on your phone and home computer, or log in through the browser on you home computer. Choose an email address. Get familiar with the app and all the menus. Start communicating with friends and family using the new email. Once you are comfortable using it then you can start migrating your accounts. If you don't like it try another service.

When are you going to show me some real karate Mr. Miyagi?

Once you have separated all your accounts by switching to a dedicated email you have empowered yourself to do several things. Your google login on your phone can suddenly be the only place you need that account. You can log out of you google account on your home computer and never log in again! That means your home computer can be mostly private. If you choose a private email service like protonmail that means no one can read your important email except you. When you use a search engine you are not automatically logged in and having all you searches being logged. By separating your email from your google account you are potentially freeing yourself from their system.

Take care of your google account

Take care of your google account. If you forgot your password, be sure to reset it and keep it somewhere safe. I got careless and forgot to update my phone number and got locked out of my gmail account. So make sure you check your account settings and have your phone number set correctly in case you forget your password so they can send you an sms to reset you password.

Final Take aways

Creating a separate dedicated email acount from your google/gmail account can help you secure your privacy. By separating your phone logins and your primary email you can have a completely separate existence on your home computer which gives you enhanced security and more privacy. Using a privacy focused email service like protonmail will keep your email from being data mined. Depending on how many services you depend on your google account for, will affect how well this strategy will work. You may have to take some additional measures like Using a dedicated browser at home to continue using your google account and still get all the privacy benefits mentioned earlier. Or in addition use a separate google account for you home computer. Whatever the case, the dedicated email will still improve your privacy in a big way.