Join the OPT OUT Project

For years I have been meaning to opt out of using the “free” services of the big tech giant as 1 step in my effort to save the planet. The good news is that I am finally doing just that. The bad news is that it took a mad US President and madder Tech Billionaire threatening Canada to get me off my Arse. While switching away from Google products, Facebook, etc. A friend sent me this link:

Yes, you can live without Big Tech. https://www.optoutproject.net/ Join the Resistance!

Is this political? Of course it is.

Is this personal? Of course it is.

Is this subjective and emotional? Of course it is.

Is this the rational thing to do? Of course it is.

Will it cost me? Of course.

Here’s an example of what the Opt Out Project can help you do.

The Cyber-Cleanse: Take Back Your Digital Footprint

This is a user-friendly guide to retrieving your digital life from the Tech Giants. In a post per day over three weeks, I’ll walk you through a process for changing your digital habits and services to set you up for success in 2025 and beyond. This is not a rejection of the Internet or your precious digital connections. If anything, you’ll find you rediscover your digital agency and how it’s been stripped from you! You’ll engage in new ways online that put you in the drivers’ seat. You’ll also find your values start to shift. You’ll stop asking if a service can do something for you, and instead ask what it wants from you in return & whether it’s a price worth paying, especially if it’s “free.”

Day One of the Cyber-Cleanse

Your assignment today is to read the introduction to the Cyber-cleanse and to make two investments that you’ll need throughout the week.

1. Buy an external hard drive (for your data that you’ll be retrieving)

2. Bookmark the Cleanse so you can follow along daily

Lucky me – I already bought and store my data on an external hard drive! It’s a 1 terabyte drive that cost me less than $100.

Of course there is much more. For example; The Opt Out Way to Use Email [2] and the Advanced move of  downloading an RSS reader. Oops! What’s an RSS reader you say?

RSS readers gather content from multiple websites or blogs that you subscribe to and display it in a single, organized interface. They automatically check for new content from your subscribed feeds and notify you when something new is available. Quite honestly, this seems above my pay grade.

The bottom line is this: your browsing information is worth lots of $$$; so all your “free” services are not really free, somebody makes money off of you and you get very little in return. Not only that, as you will know the tech billionaires are able to influence the government, especially the US one, to rewrite laws to favouring their profits using your money! How much sense does that make? So, as part of “the Revolution” against Elon and company do your bit by Opting Out as much as is possible for you. That’s your little way of saving the planet 1 “byte” at a time.

References

1. https://www.optoutproject.net/cleanse-day-one/

2. https://www.optoutproject.net/the-cyber-cleanse-take-back-your-digital-footprint/