I am interested to know how many of you guys got rid of Gmail or MS Outlook webmail after leaks from Snowden. Here I mean for your "main" account, the one that you use for work or personal things like banking, shopping, etc. Personally, despite having a Riseup and a A/I account, I still find Gmail pretty comfy even if I am aware about their no-privacy policy.
I'm already aware about tracking from corporations and governments far before the NSA scandal, yet still using it until now. I'm just too disappointed for hoping anyone care enough about my privacy rights. I'm kinda getting used to have my rights to be violated anyway. So now, I'm with the devils.
Opera Mail - all I know is I don't get any spam with their service, not sure about anything else except they are not US based.
What happened to No option? I was planning to stop using it before NSA leak due to changes to its privacy EULA. But I still have to keep youtube account.
Still using (primarily) Outlook (never liked Gmail). Why?: 1. It's naive to think that "before PRISM" nothing was monitored; 2. Not much has changed "since PRISM" from a user perspective. 3. Maybe every major e-mail provider has a direct uplink with the NSA, data from all smaller services might be accessible as well. Why not? If mail data is sent between mail servers unencrypted and the NSA is able to monitor provider - provider connections, you think it would help to switch from webmail provider? Nah.. 4. Unless you are creating your own Internet nothing is save. These days even reports are being made of backdoors in well known encryption protocols, cracking of p. random number generators in Intel processors and NSA-access to almost every digital system in the world. Who am I to think I can hide from all that? I don't have that much secrets. (not saying I have NO secrets but nothing that could put me in jail because the NSA might think I'm a terrorist..)
The only way to escape any kind of eavesdropping is no Internet, telephone, traditional mail, perhaps only word of mouth is still safe... For me Gmail is irreplaceable and have recently connected it to Outlook through IMAP. I forgot to mention, I'm still with Facebook even though they have silently censored two of my photos which had insignificant military content... I believe we have to redefine what privacy means in the age of the Internet, and I for one don't wanna live in constant paranoia. Paradoxically the greatest threat to my privacy came from a member of my extended family, and anonymity can be as dangerous as eavesdropping.
Yup, main account doesn't mean private account for me. Most of my personal things aren't worth hiding from the government.
I have a gmail account, but I have never used it. I have an Outlook account which I still use, but it has never been my primary email account. I use Outlook with a few accounts, but not many. I use Yahoo as my primary with the encryption enabled which would not prevent the NSA from reading my mail, but it should provide an additional barrier of protection from non government entities that would want to use my info for malicious purposes. I was pretty much already aware of everything Snowden released so it was no surprise. He just attached names to the programs that conducted these activities more or less. If the NSA reads my email they will get awful bored.
Still using Outlook – if 'they' want to clog up their supercomputers with the mundane junk that goes via my account – they're quite welcome to it!
I used to have a Gmail account; I had deleted it, well before PRISM relevations. I had a Yahoo account, which was also deleted. I had 3 facebook accounts--including real and fakes--all permanently deleted. It's not impossible to avoid them. Those who say otherwise are lying.
Agree. I always thought that NSA could monitor and check pc, emails, Internet and the IT world, as surely it can do with every kind of communications. I don't like it, but I want to continue to use pc, email and Internet as well as telephone, smartphone..... the supermarkets too, even if they store the info about all I buy. So what say ?
Prove me that I'm wrong then. Prove me that a bunch of privacy conscious people can defeat the corporations and governments who have access to anything and everything, and they will respect your rights in the end without you having to put so much efforts just to get what is supposed to be yours.
I agree it's not possible, but then I don't care much about it, but yet you do all this deleting this and that trying to avoid them the best you can
Do you live in remote wilderness with no connection to the government (i.e. satellite)? Cause that's the only possibility, it's naive to think that through some Internet companies is the only way for big brother to track you.
Yes. I have 2 Gmails and a Hotmail. I figure everyone will get some info from me, and there's not really anything they wouldn't know about me already. Not to mention, it's already been proven if they want the info, they will get it.
Yes I still use Gmail and Outlook. Simple reasons. If they want information they get it. Can't stop them and don't care. Leading life worry free.
@ Freddy Freeloader Post #3 operamail is associated with fastmail.fm The mailservers are located in NYC/USA
Having some privacy is way better than having no privacy. I never said that I can avoid all the tracking by avoiding some companies. I use different things at different levels, avoiding gmail et al is just a small step. Anyway, I don't think I have missed anything by avoiding Gmail, Yahoo, etc. The ones I am using now are no less reliable; they do the same work. On another note, I have never liked gmail; it looks pretty cheap. As someone said earlier here in WSF: "..Some of us actually use privacy enhancing services for the principle that privacy is not just a basic right, but is also a indicative of a healthy outlook." If you think using Gmail enhances your privacy, makes your life comfortable, you are perfectly free to use them as you like. I wouldn't use it, but to each his own.