
I Tried to Live Without the Tech Giants. It Was Impossible - dredmorbius
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/31/technology/blocking-the-tech-giants.html
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mikece
Given the parameters of the experiment -- a tech journalist blocking all
aspects of the "big five," including not even visiting website hosted by AWS,
Azure, or Google Cloud -- this is obviously impossible. It would be like me
refusing to use a smart phone and then yelling "Discrimination!" when my
employer fires me for not logging in at work because 2FA using Duo is a
requirement.

A more rational -- and interesting -- exercise would be to minimize and
isolate the use of the Big Five's properties. In the example above, I could
use an iPod touch to use my Duo authenticator to log in for work... and if I
want to be ultra secure I could tether that to my flip phone's hotspot and use
a VPN as well.

I think it's definitely doable to disconnect from the tech giants in your
personal life and on your personal devices while only connecting to them when
your job requires it and on hardware (or a VPN) on which you do the work your
employer asks of you.

