Your documents don’t belong to you if they’re sitting in Google’s hands.

Most people use Google Docs because it’s easy. Because it syncs fast. Because they don’t think it’s dangerous. But here’s what they don’t see:

Every keystroke is logged.

Every revision is stored.

Every document is indexed, scanned, and tagged, not just for “spelling suggestions,” but for profiling.

That draft you never finished? It’s archived.

That private client doc? It’s not private.

And if you think incognito mode helps, you’re dreaming.

You’re not collaborating. You’re volunteering data.

Let’s fix that.

https://untraceabledigitaldissident.com/you-dont-need-google-docs-these-tools-do-it-better-and-safer/

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Discussion

Broken link?

is it not pulling up? I see it

Working now. Thanks

Bro never takes a day off

It's not work if you're obsessed

I know

Awesome. Thanks for sharing.

I just saved this in my Google keep. 😅

It’s been quite a while since I read Google’s ToS. So I may not remember correctly or may have misunderstood it, because lawyer language.

However, if I remember correctly, Google’s policy is that any data stored on Google’s infrastructure is considered Google’s property.

My favorite is Kindle's. You don't own the books you "purchased"

Good read, thank you! kudos for considering that most time you don't actually need Docs per se but a notes app suffices, which I never thought of, yet organically moved in that direction

I noticed you mentioning standard notes and obsidian in other posts too. Personally I am deterred by obsidian as its not OSS and Standard notes have artificial paywalls for my taste. I ended up using Joplin (fully FOSS, sync, encryption)

Have you had a chance to give it a go or are there reasons you don't recommend it I am not aware of?

No, Joplin is great. Fully recommended. Nothing against it I am just trying to be mindful of beginners. I try to not overwhelm with a lot of tools or recommend something that might have too much of a learning curve.

Vim and git makes a fantastic local private notes system, but obsidian is a more palatable suggestion for the masses.