I use graphene OS and Magic Earth instead of Google maps. I only turn on location when navigating. GOS also surfaces app permissions in a more obvious and granular way so I tend to reject most permissions and wait to see if it breaks anything. I also try to use open source apps from F-Droid instead of the Google store. If I need an app on Google store, I use Aurora as my client so I can install apps anonymously.

There’s a number of additional steps I take. Although it seems like a lot, I still feel like I’m not doing everything I could. What really matters though is that I’m always making progress over time.

The degoogle sub is a good resource, as is the [email protected] comm.

Here’s Mitt Romney and Anthony Blinken’s explanation for the ban’s passage:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/mitt-romney-reveals-twisted-reason-why-congress-moved-to-ban-tiktok/ar-BB1lUzZi

TLDR:

Then Romney explained that the TikTok ban overwhelmingly passed both chambers of Congress because of the widespread Palestinian advocacy on the app.

Same here, but apparently this isn’t even an isolated example:

https://youtu.be/fiD24uEvY1U?si=kqH-ixnhSvc4S_HG

(Video about their colonialism and exploitative monetary policy in the Saheel / Africa).

I’ve always heard it attributed (in a slightly different form) to Rahm Emmanuel, e.g. :

Never let a good crisis go to waste