Google, iPhone, Outlook, WhatsApp...
Five ways to become less dependent on American Big Tech companies
Photo: Shutterstuck, illustration DUB
The world order has been shifting since Donald Trump's return to the presidency of the United States. Since taking office, he has threatened ally Denmark over Greenland, abducted the President of Venezuela, and attacked Iran alongside Israel. In addition, the think tank behind his policies, The Heritage Foundation, has openly spoken about dissolving the European Union.
But the infamous Project 2025 has been causing a lot of internal turmoil, too, with the deployment of the immigration service ICE as the most controversial policy. Trump has even asked tech companies such as Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp and Instagram, to share their users’ data to track down opponents of the immigration service.
This has led Europeans to wonder about the extent to which the US remains an ally and whether the country still shares its democratic values. As a result, more and more people in Europe are looking to become less dependent on American companies and big tech. I am one of them. Not only do I boycott American products as much as possible, but I'm also trying to switch from Google, Android, WhatsApp and Microsoft to European alternatives. If you want to do the same, here are my tips.
Search engines
Google has long held a near-monopoly on the search engine market, as all alternatives were inferior in quality. But that is changing now. Search engines such as the French Qwant and the German Ecosia have improved significantly over the past few years, while some users feel that Google’s quality has declined.
Switching to these alternatives will take some getting used to, but they are both very good and user-friendly. Besides, the more users they get, the faster they will improve! Both search engines value privacy and are bound by European legislation, which means they cannot simply run off with your data. Ecosia also has an environmental focus, donating 80 per cent of its profits to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). So, by using this search engine, you’re also doing something for the climate.
Many people have Gmail, Outlook, or iCloud accounts, so the US also holds the lion’s share of the email market. Once again, there are good European alternatives. Switching takes a bit of time, as you have to transfer all your accounts manually, but if you set aside an afternoon for it, you're good to go. At the start, it’ll be handy to have all emails from your old inbox automatically forwarded to your new email address, so you don’t miss anything important during the transition. Once you’ve transferred everything, you can delete the old address without a second thought.
I’ve been using Tuta for a while now. This is a German email programme that also comes with a calendar app. Another good alternative to the US services is the Swiss Proton, which also offers a password vault, cloud storage and office programmes. Both are open-source programmes, which means that anyone can view the source code to check whether it’s secure. You can also create multiple aliases (email addresses that all go to the same inbox), making it easy to keep work and personal emails separate. Both also have a free email client, so even students on a tight budget can make the switch.
Microsoft Office
Microsoft’s Word, Excel and PowerPoint have become indispensable in our work lives, but good alternatives do exist. As mentioned, Proton offers a complete suite that includes such programmes. LibreOffice is another handy alternative: it has virtually all the features of the Microsoft programmes, but it is a completely free, open-source software suite from Europe. You can open all Microsoft files (.docx, .xlsx, .pptx) with it, so the transition is very smooth and easy.
Do you want to save your files in the cloud? Consider the Slovenian service Koofr, which you can link to your current Google and Microsoft clouds to keep everything in one place. The only feature it's missing compared to Microsoft is the ability to collaborate on the same document. If you do that a lot, then Proton might be a better choice.
The university is participating in a pilot to try out the cloud service NextCloud. Like Proton, NextCloud offers the full suite, but it requires more technical knowledge.
Smartphones
Is your phone broken? Why buy another iPhone or Android device (which has Google built in) if you can support a local company, Fairphone? Fairphone makes phones with the lowest possible environmental impact. This means you can easily repair it and get eight years of software support. You can buy the Fairphone with Android, but they also offer their own operating system, similar to Android but with far less Google integration. Not your cup of tea? Consider the Finnish Jolla, which makes phones that run on Linux (an open-source operating system) and prioritise privacy.
Communication and social media
This is perhaps the trickiest one, as it requires other people to switch as well, but it is a very important step. The American social media platforms Instagram, WhatsApp (both from Meta) and Snapchat are hugely popular in the Netherlands. Meta is not only an American company, but it has also faced significant criticism over privacy issues over the years. Snapchat has also been under fire: in 2022, the company was sued for collecting biometric data from its users.
Since almost all our online communication is done through these apps, they know exactly who you interact with, when you speak to them and how often. In fact, they know so much about you that the US government believes it can deduce your political preferences just based on your profile. There aren’t any good alternatives to Instagram and Snapchat at the moment, but there are for WhatsApp.
Signal is the most popular one, with many UU students having switched or planning to switch to it. Signal has virtually all the features WhatsApp offers, but it is open source and much more secure. Of course, it all depends on how many people in your circle use it, but give it a try. Once you’re on it, it becomes easier for someone in your circle to switch as well. I’ve changed my WhatsApp profile picture to one that asks people to contact me on Signal, and I've asked in groups if we could move to Signal. Not everyone wants to, of course, but I’ve managed to get quite a few people on board!
Completely breaking away from American Big Tech isn’t realistic for most of us. But every switch, however small, is a step towards greater control over your own data and digital life.
For more information on European alternatives to big tech, visit www.european-alternatives.eu
UU en big tech
Binnen de Universiteit Utrecht gaan ook stemmen op om als organisatie minder afhankelijk te worden van Amerikaanse big tech. Zo schreven hoogleraren José van Dijck en Albert Meijer een open brief aan het universiteitsbestuur met het verzoek werk te maken van alternatieven voor onder meer Microsoft waarmee de UU werkt. De twee hoogleraren geven op donderdag 16 april samen met Tim van Neerbos van de directie ITS, online een lezing over de gevaren van de afhankelijkheid van big tech en wat de universiteit doet om die afhankelijkheid te minimaliseren.
De lezing Het herwinnen van digitale autonomie aan Nederlandse universiteiten is online en in het Engels. Inschrijven is verplicht en kan hier.
If we are serious about reducing our dependence on Big Tech, we should start by rolling back the de facto requirement that students must carry a smartphone to access university facilities like Drift or the Botanical Gardens. It is a strange irony to discuss digital autonomy while it remains practically impossible to spend an afternoon at the library without a tracking device in your pocket. True independence from these platforms requires the right to exist on campus offline.