I’m sure for some, there are companies that are not privacy-respecting, but we would give up some privacy to use their service. Are there any companies you intend to boycott due to privacy concerns? You can also share user experience as well. I’m hoping to get some insight into how different companies handle privacy, and whether privacy trade-offs are worth it for using their service. For example, I intend to boycott Microsoft because AI is slowly creeping into Windows 11. I have no interest in using an agentic OS which could rival Google’s level of invasiveness, if not already. Even outside of privacy, why would I register a Microsoft account to use a terrible OS?
But maybe a big tech company as an example is too obvious. I wanted to delete my Ticketmaster account as it was tied to my real number and would have been open to creating a new one. Usually, you would get an e-mail along the lines of “we have deleted your account in compliance with GDPR”. Despite getting an account deletion e-mail from Ticketmaster, I was able to log in. When I asked why my account hasn’t been deleted, they said my Ticketmaster account was tied to another service I have never signed up for. Eventually, my account was deleted after multiple complaints, but it was a lot of effort just to delete my account. Also, buying tickets from Ticketmaster sucks, so I have no intention of using Ticketmaster again.
My Unlimited plan is due for renewal in June and I’m not renewing. 100% because their Linux support is too slow. I’m tired of paying the same price as MacOS and Windows users for less features.
maybe you can try rclone with a UI?
then again this is a very understandable frustration.
like bruh I would be willing to work at proton as a python developer to make these apps even if of course not perfect
now the sdk is out there in WIP so it is progress and it does mean more or less that proton is opening up to the open source community but uh yeah…
if you’re asking who I would boycott myself, genuinely good question.
I think everyone agrees that microsoft deserves a huge boycott, not just on privacy and security but also the amount of negligence happening on windows. It seems their boycotting they’re receiving isn’t enough and we could step up. Most important
I think secondary priority is discord, We really need to boycott discord to add an all delete messages button, like the fact that you have to email them to even get that thing while intentionally making it harder amd harder to do so deserves that boycott.
NTTS has already done a boycott (https://youtube.com/watch?v=g5FbRfwMEuo) but just like microsoft we need to make it bigger
If I have to tell someone not to do something that obviously invades my privacy, maybe I shouldn’t use their card.
But this can go and on with me.
I thought about getting rid of amazon or eBay accounts. Then where do I get stuff that can’t be found locally?
I got rid of a shoppers card. I may pay more. But that’s the price of privacy. Which I am learning can be quite costly depending on how far one wants to push it.
Oh, interesting. You can e-mail their DPO team to delete all of your messages. I’m sure they won’t make it easy, but it’s something I’ll keep in mind if I delete another social media account.
yes you can but they seem to be making it more and more complicated to prevent you from doing that
a recent post from
indicates that discord keeps trying to make it harder to delete all your messages but yeah.
We still need to boycott discord to allow deleting all messages when you delete your account
Honestly debating about closing my AMEX account since I haven’t use my credit card in over a year, but I don’t know if there are any financial implications.
I hear ya. I haven’t closed any of my cards yet, but I’m still considering it. I only started them for the signup bonuses and other perks that can make life a little cheaper and convenient (Cheaper in that I reap the rewards and always pay in full, no interest).
To lose those perks and benefits is a proxy way of privacy being costly in my opinion.
Personally, I have essentially been boycotting any technology that doesn’t open source their code and doesn’t offer E2EE. Based on the number of times tech companies are found willfully violating their own privacy policies, I am no longer willing to trust any of them. Yes, this means forgoing certain products that don’t have a replacement that’s E2EE and open source, but that’s a tradeoff I’m williing to make.
I thought about this many times over the past years, due to the neglect Proton shows Linux, but personally I do not want to trust yet another party with the login credentials and data of so much of my data.
Well, I have yet to come across a closed source program that would be useful to me and also is made by people who have a trustworthy track record. Even groups and companies that were once trustworthy eventually seem to go down the path of profit and doing shady stuff. I’m not trying to debate anyone about this, these are just my personal thoughts and I was responding to the post with the decisions I make personally for myself.