If you only have time or energy to do a few things from this document, one of the things that will benefit your privacy the most is to stop using Google products.
- Proton has cloud storage, email, calendar, docs, and spreadsheets. You should be able to do asically anything you do on Google on Proton, but without being spied on.
- If you can afford it, the $9.99 monthly subscription is worth every penny. You get additional features with each of Proton's products. (Almost all of us in the US spend $9.99 a month on something way less important.)
- Use Proton Mail for email, other services, like Google, have the ability to see the content of your emails.
- NOTE: Email is not secure. Do not use it for any sensitive data if possible. Send sensitive data over Signal. Sending between two Proton accounts is more secure (because those emails are encrypted), but email is inherently an insecure technology. It’s been around since before the internet.
- Initially, you can forward your Gmail account (or email from another provider) to your Proton Mail account. Google will still be able to see those emails, but it will allow you to more easily switch to Proton Mail. Use your Proton Mail address for any new accounts and contacts.
- Over time, as you log into accounts, you can switch your contact email to your Proton email address or preferably to an email alias (email aliases are discussed in the next section). You can also switch your email address at the same time you update your password. Choose your own adventure.