Email and Anti Google alternatives?

[RC10th]

I've had Yahoo mail since Al Gore invented the internet and it has gone to utter crap, I've finally had enough and looking for a new email provider. I don't want to supply my phone number or supply which side of the bed I wake up on. I'm intrigued by protonmail but worry how practical it is for an average user. I'd rather pay for an ad free and private email instead of a free data mining service.

Same goes for search engines as who can you trust, duckduckgo seems to be the popular solution but ixquick seems like another good alternative.

Opinions and suggestions from those that are more tech savvy than I (which is probably 95% of the population)

[RC104ever]

Interesting. I'm the same - had a yahoo email account, then signed up for a hotmail, then gmail. To me, they are all basically the same. Does your ISP provide webmail? That might be an option as mine does and its quite good. Even has their own spam and virus protection built in.

Personally speaking, my yahoo account only gets used for my Fantasy Hockey / Baseball leagues, Hotmail for MSN / Office access and Gmail for youtube access.

So I suppose they each have their uses but I don't use any of them for actual email (although I could).

[Halgar]

Years ago our illustrious site owner, Bill, was offering email service from Clodtalk and I think RC10Talk, but it may not have gotten that far. You might check with Scr8p or Bill about it.

[Lowgear]

I have so many email addresses that I've lost count but my main one is actually a Hotmail account. Yeah it's a bit dated but that's the thing. I have 15 years worth of emails in my account, and 15 years worth of websites have my Hotmail email address. So that makes it a little hard to stop using it simply because it may not be perceived as cool anymore.

But anyway, there are several really good free email services out there that aren't from the major providers if you're looking to go that route. I like GMX for example. https://www.gmx.com/

I don't suggest using your ISP's provided email service because you lose it when you change providers. It might be different in other countries but I doubt it.

[RichieRich]

I would recommend protonmail. I use it all the time. It's solid and encrypted.

[RC10th]

I would recommend protonmail. I use it all the time. It's solid and encrypted.

How well does Protonmail work for normal day to day stuff? Can you use it for your ebay, paypal address etc?

[EvolutionRevolution]

Oh, and if you're anti-Google, avoid using their browser (Chrome) at all costs.

[300D50]

I have a few business email accounts through my web host, it's $5 a month for the hosting, billed biennially.

I've been with them (Site5) for 10 years this september, and they've been reliable the whole time.

[DaveM]

Hi RJ,

It does not matter what you use, the only way to not be tracked or spied upon is to not use the internet

at all.

The U.S government records EVERY phone call, and I mean EVERY WORD!

in the U.S, England, Canada and Australia, and probably a lot of other countries as well,

be it landline or mobile, and EVERY E-mail.

In Australia, it is with the complete agreement of the Federal Government.

It is now law in Australia for all ISP's to keep all records of your Internet activity and not just Metadata.

Everything!

Don't think using other E-mail accounts or other search engines will help, they won't!

http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/data-retention-and-the-end-of-australians-digital-privacy-20150827-gj96kq.html

http://www.news.com.au/technology/online/new-data-retention-laws-begin-today-this-is-what-you-need-to-know/news-story/28ea2dc1b01d15e53f474e21b6d68501

Don't forget whatever they are admitting to, they will be going a lot further than that!

[RC10th]

Have you looked up protonmail? It looks rather promising except could be annoying if you emailed a friend an encrypted message just asking him to bring over beer. I'm hoping to hear from RichieRich about using it as "normal" email.

All said it's only as secure as the provider holding up to their promises, I've read a few stories of mail providers flipping and giving up info when pressured.

It's not the end of the world as I've got nothing to hide but I like being anonymous, i.e. dumb car, no facetubes, no apps etc..... I've thought about ditching the plan phone and going to a paid disposable burn phone but that's probably taking it a bit too far

[DaveM]

Too late RJ,

The government already knows what porn sites you like to visit!

[RC10th]

If I was smart enough I'd set up a VPN but tech smartness is not on my side, lol.

[RichieRich]

I would recommend protonmail. I use it all the time. It's solid and encrypted.

How well does Protonmail work for normal day to day stuff? Can you use it for your ebay, paypal address etc?

Yeah, you can use it for anything. It's a normal e-mail address except it has the extra layer of encryption. You also have to set up a 2nd password that unlocks your e-mail. That way, for example, if anyone actually steals your username and password, they won't have the decryption password that unlocks your inbox. Yeah, it takes a little getting used to but after a while, it's fine.