RE: https://aus.social/@augustusbrown/115631562427185267

Much of our connected existence depends on US tech.

Deranged orders of an autocrat could have you or your country completely cut off from payment platforms, email, cloud services, messaging and social media, etc.

Prepare backups of your online existence. Email, clouds, and apps usually have a bulk data download option.

As a people, we should try moving away from US reliance. The EU is investigating its own payment platform.

What are some reliable email and cloud services not owned or based in the US?

Impact of deranged US sanctions on International Criminal Court justices:

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/12/icc-judges-stoic-in-face-of-us-sanctions-over-israeli-war-crimes-cases

⬆️ Something completely unexpected like this could completely lock you out.

Make sure to back up your data, download your Google archives.

And find alternatives to US tech.

https://mastodon.social/@adamndsmith/116328215860941572

If you're looking to unTrump your tech and get off google etc, @parismarx has an excellent guide:
https://disconnect.blog/getting-off-us-tech-a-guide/

#Socialmedia #Google #TechAlternatives #Proton #privacy #email #browser

Getting off US tech: a guide

I’m in the process of dropping US tech services. Here’s how I did it, and options you should consider.

Disconnect

@gusseting

Nice article! Very useful!

I do, however, disagree with @parismarx about Signal and Whatsapp. I never used them and believe we should (try to) avoid them, as they are deeply integrated with #bigTech, i.e. one with AWS,, the other with Meta.

We can use the #fediverse, so let's use federated chat, too! Paris mentions Matrix/Element, which is great. I like to add the founder of federated IM: #Jabber/#XMPP, which exists since 1999.

#digitalSovereignty

@debacle Thankyou, yes, I have a huge beef with Signal, in that Meredith was funded by Australian Billionaire Andrew Forrest who is really...something...
https://www.afr.com/rear-window/andrew-forrest-insane-in-the-membrane-20230219-p5clq7
Andrew Forrest, insane in the membrane

The mining billionaire exhibits all the signs of a man hanging onto reality by a very thin thread.

Australian Financial Review

@gusseting

TIL. But Signal is young and needs the money. After all, they pay their president 800 kUSD/a 😉