Step by step
Want to get less depended on Big Tech? Do this step by step. Curious how we got to our recommendations? Read the recommendation criteria.
Bye Bye Big Tech step 1: email & agenda
We are incredibly dependent on a handful of American Big Tech companies for the digital services that we use every day. Microsoft, Amazon, and Google manage an estimated three quarters of the data stored in the Netherlands. Big Tech controls your smartphone (iOS and Android), with your Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, and TikTok accounts on it, as well as your WhatsApp, iMessage, and Messager accounts, and probably even your email (Gmail) and files in the cloud (Google Docs). This gives Big Tech control over the systems on which you as an individual, as well as companies and governments, rely on to function.
Bye Bye Big Tech step 2: browser and search engine
We are incredibly dependent on a handful of American Big Tech companies for the digital services that we use every day. Microsoft, Amazon, and Google manage an estimated three quarters of the data stored in the Netherlands. Big Tech controls your smartphone (iOS and Android), with your Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, and TikTok accounts on it, as well as your WhatsApp, iMessage, and Messager accounts, and probably even your email (Gmail) and files in the cloud (Google Docs). This gives Big Tech control over the systems on which you as an individual, as well as companies and governments, rely on to function.
Bye Bye Big Tech Step 3: A privacy friendly cloud
We are incredibly dependent on a handful of American Big Tech companies for the digital services that we use every day. Microsoft, Amazon, and Google manage an estimated three quarters of the data stored in the Netherlands. Big Tech controls your smartphone (iOS and Android), with your Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, and TikTok accounts on it, as well as your WhatsApp, iMessage, and Messager accounts, and probably even your email (Gmail) and files in the cloud (Google Docs). This gives Big Tech control over the systems on which you as an individual, as well as companies and governments, rely on to function.
Bye Bye Big Tech step 4: navigation and maps
We are incredibly dependent on a handful of American Big Tech companies for the digital services that we use every day. Microsoft, Amazon, and Google manage an estimated three quarters of the data stored in the Netherlands. Big Tech controls your smartphone (iOS and Android), with your Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, and TikTok accounts on it, as well as your WhatsApp, iMessage, and Messager accounts, and probably even your email (Gmail) and files in the cloud (Google Docs). This gives Big Tech control over the systems on which you as an individual, as well as companies and governments, rely on to function.
Bye Bye Big Tech Step 5: AI assistents and chatbots
We are incredibly dependent on a handful of American Big Tech companies for the digital services that we use every day. Microsoft, Amazon, and Google manage an estimated three quarters of the data stored in the Netherlands. Big Tech controls your smartphone (iOS and Android), with your Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, and TikTok accounts on it, as well as your WhatsApp, iMessage, and Messager accounts, and probably even your email (Gmail) and files in the cloud (Google Docs). This gives Big Tech control over the systems on which you as an individual, as well as companies and governments, rely on to function.
Bye Bye Big Tech step 6: password managers and two factor authentication
We are incredibly dependent on a handful of American Big Tech companies for the digital services that we use every day. Microsoft, Amazon, and Google manage an estimated three quarters of the data stored in the Netherlands. Big Tech controls your smartphone (iOS and Android), with your Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, and TikTok accounts on it, as well as your WhatsApp, iMessage, and Messager accounts, and probably even your email (Gmail) and files in the cloud (Google Docs). This gives Big Tech control over the systems on which you as an individual, as well as companies and governments, rely on to function.
Bye Bye Big Tech step 7: instant messaging
We are incredibly dependent on a handful of American Big Tech companies for the digital services that we use every day. Microsoft, Amazon, and Google manage an estimated three quarters of the data stored in the Netherlands. Big Tech controls your smartphone (iOS and Android), with your Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, and TikTok accounts on it, as well as your WhatsApp, iMessage, and Messager accounts, and probably even your email (Gmail) and files in the cloud (Google Docs). This gives Big Tech control over the systems on which you as an individual, as well as companies and governments, rely on to function.
Bye Bye Big Tech step 8: social media
We are incredibly dependent on a handful of American Big Tech companies for the digital services that we use every day. Microsoft, Amazon, and Google manage an estimated three quarters of the data stored in the Netherlands. Big Tech controls your smartphone (iOS and Android), with your Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, and TikTok accounts on it, as well as your WhatsApp, iMessage, and Messager accounts, and probably even your email (Gmail) and files in the cloud (Google Docs). This gives Big Tech control over the systems on which you as an individual, as well as companies and governments, rely on to function.
Selection process and recommendation criteria
We got to our recommendations by creating 6 criteria. Looking at these we made a pre selection that we then had checked by volunteers with expertise in different IT area's. Be aware: the list with recommendations is not never complete, because new, good alternatives for Big Tech are popping up every day.
1) Privacy
You - or your data - should not be the revenue model for an app or tool. Your data should not be looked at by anyone that you have not explicitly given permission. In practice this means a tool should not save or sell your data, and that, using end-to-end encryption, only you and the receiver should be able to read your messages.
2) User Friendly
The tool or app has to be easy and pleasant to use for as many people as possible. We have chosen alternatives that are highly scored on visual language, configurations and user experience.
3) Open source
The software of the tool or app has to be open source. Open source software allows everyone to look at, change and share the source code, which contributes to collaboration and innovation. This often leads to higher security and flexibility in comparison to software of which the source code is kept secret.
4) Security
The tool or app has to be actively developed and has to get updated frequently. This means that we do not recommend projects that are not being worked on at this time. This way we can make sure that, if a bug occurs, it can be fixed and the software will stay safe.
5) Trustworthy developer
The developer of the app or tool has to be trustworthy, as far as we can judge. There are a lot of shifty parties, just look at Big Tech. This means it is even more important that the apps we recommend are made by trustworthy parties.
6) European (if possible)
With the inauguration of Trump as president it has become especially clear that we should not be depended on technology that does not comply with EU regulations. This means that, if European alternatives are available, we will recommend those. But if the European alternatives are not available, or if these are very low quality, we will recommend an open source, safe, privacy friendly and trustworthy alternative from outside the EU.
Footnote
- To get to these recommendations, we use multiple sources. The most important are: Fix je Privacy; Privacy Guides; European Alternatives; en Alternative To.