Smartphone, don't spy!
Smartphone checklist: Independence from corporations
Some large corporations accumulate a lot of power and control with their services because they control websites or apps that millions of people use every day. Some governments are increasingly using this concentration of power to sanction or persecute individuals or groups of people. If you want your devices, your chats, your relationships with other people and ultimately your behavior to be under your own control, you should follow these tips.
These tips are also suitable for Digital Independence Day, which was proclaimed in December 2025 by Marc-Uwe-Kling at the 39th Chaos Communication Congress. Take time on the first Sunday of every month and put one of these tips into practice if you can.
- You use privacy-friendly search engines
- You consistently refuse your consent to websites
- Avoid third-party logins via Google, Apple or Microsoft
- You have deactivated or deleted your advertising ID
- You use secure messengers
- You use the Fediverse
- You use tracking and ad blockers
- You use privacy-friendly payment options
- Use alternative frontends
- You are using a free operating system
- You are using GrapheneOS on a compatible device
- You use privacy-friendly app stores
- You use privacy-friendly apps
- You do without Apple devices
- You have freed your phone from bloatware
- You do without Google Play services and Apple services
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