Big Tech companies have a stranglehold on our data, frequently violate our privacy, sell our information to third parties, and build monopolistic power structures worldwide. Europe has taken steps to circumvent this (U.S.-centred) tech dominance by introducing "Digital Sovereignty" policies. Canada is onboard to do the same, but we can also make informed choices as individuals regarding our own technological autonomy, online privacy and freedom, and digital ecosystem buy-in.

The first in a series of articles, this piece examines primarily alternatives for ONLINE platforms. Apps, software and hardware, operating systems, and digital services also have alternatives which will be discussed in future articles.

NOTICE: This article was not
written by an A.I.

Online "Office" Suites

Despite our normal association of Word Processing and Spreadsheet apps with the "desktop," Microsoft is increasingly making this software a "service" which is delivered online, at least in part, with Office / 365 (copilot) subscriptions / 365 Online and Mobile.

Google Docs

It was Google who probably did the most the popularise a "cloud-based documents" option with Google Docs (Docs word processing, Sheets spreadsheets and Slides presentations.) Google clearly can see all of the documents you produce with their suite, is able to use it to train Artificial Intelligence models, and can use it for ad targeting. While Google can do these things now or in the future with "your" data, it may be unknown third parties that present a greater threat. The Google suite lacks end-to-end encryption and its easily-bypassed security and privacy settings can lead to phishing, snooping or data theft.

Sensitive data, especially financial reports, board meeting minutes, proprietary technology documentation, private notes and letters, personal health records and confidential correspondence cannot be safely used with Google Docs. Further, Canadians should be aware that their data is being stored and accessed in various US and international data centres, and there is no transparency or recourse, generally, for misuse.

European Alternatives

The EU is currently moving away from the Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 suites and towards open-source and sovereign alternatives. Their project is called Euro-Office, and it is an exciting prospect that is not yet fully ready. It will be based on OnlyOffice, which is already available (and I fully recommend!) but re-tooled for their initiative.

As of this writing, there is some controversy between the teams at OnlyOffice, Libre Office (another excellent major open-source office suite), and Collabora Online / Collabora Office regarding licensing and deployment of these platforms. At present, there are various web-based, mobile, and desktop-based iterations of these applications, and they are all quite good. I currently run OnlyOffice on my Linux desktop and I appreciate its excellent built-in PDF editor alongside the office suite apps.

Other Alternatives

Zoho Workplace is a private-company solution based in India, with local presence worldwide. Proton is based in Switzerland, with some server space in Germany. Proton Docs is their subscription product, and it is a truly-secure alternative to the Google Workspace suite, and it pairs with their other end-to-end encrypted offerings, including the top-tier Proton Mail email and Proton Drive cloud-storage products.

🇨🇦 A Canadian Contender: cDox

I am writing with it right now! It is an excellent Google Docs alternative, and also has a Spreadsheet application. It is 100% online, 100% Canadian, secure, and free! A paid plan adds some storage and additional functionality if you need it, but either way your data is stored in Canada, never sold or used to train AI, and includes collaboration and sharing options. It is uncluttered and elegant, and is actually a joy to use for writing. It also looks good and works well on any screen. Honestly, the more I use it, the more I like it!

Cloud Storage

Google Docs is often paired with Google Drive. Microsoft has OneDrive. Apple has iCloud. Dropbox and photo-specific cloud storage services like Amazon Photos and Flickr are also popular. Some of these are problematic or not privacy-oriented. They are all US companies (even though Flickr was founded in Vancouver originally.)

Google Cloud Storage has been explicitly used to train AI models, Microsoft can read your OneDrive documents, and Amazon Photos has been used to train and improve Amazon’s AI systems, specifically its Rekognition facial recognition software. Dropbox has used files, including photos, for AI purposes, though the specific mechanisms have evolved lately (not for the better.) Recent reports indicate that Dropbox removed the ability for users to opt their files out of AI training, leading to controversy among users who feared their creative work was being scanned for third-party model training. Apple iCloud is fairly safe, and uses your data only to see broad usage trends while prioritising user privacy.

Where is this data stored? Who can access it now, or some time in the future? Can foreign governments see your data? What about third parties who make paid requests, law enforcement or "authority" groups, or a motivated private investigator or ex-spouse? What we know for sure is murky at best, at least for most of the popular platforms. These are closed, private systems owned by "Big Tech" that are not known for "transparency."

Proton Drive and (Coming Soon!) Tuta Drive

Proton Mail is Swiss, and end-to-end encrypted. So is their Proton Drive Cloud Storage product. No one can read your data, not even the people storing it over at Proton. It is encrypted in both directions, and only the user has the private key. Tuta Mail is German, and they are beta-testing their Tuta Drive product which is similar, but adds their ultra-secure "quantum-safe encryption." Storage with these services generally has a subscription fee, with a small amount available for free or with a bundle for trials.

🇨🇦 Sync.com

Sync.com is a privacy-focused, encrypted storage provider from Canada, with its servers in Toronto, and it is compliant with Canadian PIPEDA standards (plus GDPR and HIPAA). They provide 5GB of storage for free, which is at least a decent start for individuals (unless you have many higher-res photos or video.) It is probably not all of the storage you will need, and if you like the service 150GB can be had for $3.50 CAD per month, billed annually ($4 if billed monthly) or 1TB for $6 CAD per month, billed annually. Other packages are available, and team and collaboration options are handy for organisations.

Other Options or even Self-Hosting

Tresorit (Switzerland) and pCloud (Switzerland / Luxembourg / Bulgaria) might be worth checking out, as well as MEGA (New Zealand.)

With all of these cloud solutions, keep in mind that your data is simply being stored "on someone else's computer." Possibly on a foreign server or even under the control of an unfriendly government or political regime. So... you can always make your own cloud server! Using Nextcloud or ownCloud, you can set up online-connected storage for all of your devices, perhaps on a spare computer that you own and locate at your home or business! It is also a good idea to have data redundancy, with your critical stuff backed up on more than one service or on more than one hard drive.

Having your Eggs in More than one Basket

It is enticing to "just use iCloud for everything" if you are on the "Apple ecosytem." Or maybe do the same for the "Google ecosystem" since it is "convenient." Of course, private companies can change their terms of use at any time, and global politics unfortunately impacts the tech space just like other areas of life.

Maybe put your financial documents over on Proton Drive, encrypted safely in the EU. Put your business files and receipts over at the Canadian sync.com. Maybe leave some unimportant docs or vacation photos that are not so mission-critical over on Apple's iCloud.

If your data was a paper document or folder, would you leave it sitting on the coffee table, stuffed into your wallet, in your home lockbox or safe, or at the bank's safety deposit box? We should use the same kind of security prioritisation with our data.

Email. Never designed to be secure.

One of the most basic tools for any individual online is their email address. While many people never really think about it, the methodology and protocols for old-fashioned regular email lack any inherent privacy.

Anyone with access to the server where the email is stored can read it. If someone sends email to your "work email," the employer who provided you with that email address can read it. The admin person can change your password, log in as you, and read your inbox. grab your attachments, and see whatever they want. Emails sent to and from your work email are generally considered company property.

What about Gmail, Outlook.com, Yahoo! Mail, AOL, or Apple iCloud Mail?

All of the mainstream "free" services (except iCloud) have advertising. How does your provider know how to target the advertising to you? Because they read your email. (And keep track of you in many other ways as you use the internet.) And advertisers pay the providers money to send ads to people they think will buy what the advertiser is selling. With Gmail and similar providers, you are the product they are selling to the advertisers. That's how their "free email product" is free to you.

This is not shocking, ground-breaking, or secret information. However, people routinely seem to treat their emails as a "private" communication when it is anything but.

Keeping with the "paper document" analogy from the previous section, email is basically sending a postcard in the mail. The letter carrier can see the photo of Cancun on one side and the note to your mom saying "Having a wonderful time. Wish you were here!" on the other side. Of course, the person who sorts the incoming mail in your apartment building can read the postcard, so can the guy who mistakenly takes the mail from the wrong box and sticks it back in when they see it isn't theirs, and so can the busybody neighbour who asks your mom why you are always taking vacations when their kids are always working hard!

Proton Mail, Tuta Mail, other encrypted email services

These are excellent services. They can't read your email that is stored on their computers, so they can't share it with advertisers or even governments or law enforcement. If, for example, a Proton / Tuta user sends mail to another Proton / Tuta user, it remains secure. Getting everyone to use Proton would mean your privacy would remain intact. But most people don't want to go to the trouble of ditching Gmail or whatever free provider they use.

If a Proton user sends mail to someone with regular email, it becomes insecure. And remember, any ordinary email recipient can forward your message or hit "reply all" and wind up revealing what you sent to whomever because... hello... email is not inherently secure.

You may have noticed that other systems are in place to send you medical or financial information. Your healthcare provider or mutual fund company sends an email instructing you to "log on to our secure portal" to read messages...because... hello... email is not inherently secure.

Stop using email for private correspondence

People email other people their passwords. People email stuff to themselves for later reference. Cheating spouses email their affair partners. Jeffrey Epstein sent emails. Hillary Clinton sent emails. Please stop... because... hello... email is not inherently secure.

If you want to send a note to grandma or share a neat recipe, send a friend your workout regimen, a photo of your cat, or a message about a sale at Canadian Tire... go ahead and email. Share a link to a cool video on YouTube or a dinner reservation or an invite to a party... but only if national security does not depend on people knowing which parties you attend!

🇨🇦 I chose Northmail.ca for my emails

Northmail.ca is in Quebec City. They are one of several Canadian email providers, but I chose them in large part because of what they say about themselves:

NorthMail.ca was founded with the vision of offering a secure and independent email service free from Big Tech influence. Our goal is simple: provide a 100% Canadian email service that prioritizes privacy, security, and reliability. With servers hosted exclusively in Canada, NorthMail.ca ensures that your data remains protected under Canadian privacy laws.

Their servers are encrypted too, and you can also store your files and photos with their cloud platform. Northmail is not a large super-secure email provider like Proton. It is not "quantum-level" secure like Tuta Mail. I may also have a Proton Mail account for very specific purposes, but that's none of your business... because email is not inherently secure.

Ditch it. Ditch it all if you can. I know, your aunt in Manitoba sends you sewing patterns on there and that cousin you haven't seen in fifteen years posts hilarious memes on her account, and that former co-worker from your first job after high school is posting their kids' graduation pictures...and...and... ditch it, I say!

Meta, the company behind Facebook, Instagram, and the two most-used messaging apps (WhatsApp and FB Messenger) is the single biggest violator of personal privacy I can think of. By far.

Meta violates privacy rights through unlawful data processing, lack of informed consent, and inadequate security measures, resulting in record-breaking fines and legal penalties. They coerce people to give up privacy or lose access, use concealed and covert data collection methods, employ deceptive practices and unlawful biometric data harvesting, mislead regulators during acquisitions, and have woefully inadequate user protections and security measures. Go ahead and Google it! Or DuckDuckGo it... or for fairness' sake, have a look on Wikipedia here.

Even people who have never, ever, used Facebook, Instagram or any other product created or acquired by Meta in their lifetimes... and never have agreed to any terms and conditions with that company... still have a profile about themselves which meta has created. How can this be? Simply because everyone that non-user knows has already shared that non-user's data with Meta. Meta's data collection tentacles are simply everywhere. Meta is so pervasive that just browsing the web or having email contacts will get you tracked, profiled, and violated. That's why I believe the worst thing to do is to participate in that company's platforms willingly!

Too much social media use is linked to increased risks of anxiety, depression, loneliness, and low self-esteem, particularly among adolescents and young adults. Social media has also been found to negatively affect overall well-being by fuelling anxiety, depression, loneliness and FOMO (fear or missing out).

Many people joined Facebook in order to interact with posts from friends and family. Once upon a time, responding to someone's post or "liking" it was the predominant activity. It is not that way any more. In fact, it is mostly a platform to be a passive consumer of entertainment or "information," engineered to keep us on the platform and scrolling longer so that we are exposed to more ads. Social media algorithms are designed to maximise user attention and revenue rather than foster relationships, resulting in feeds dominated by professional content, influencers, and ads. It simply is not about keeping up with friends and family anymore. Your family and friends were just the "hook" to drag you in there.

Why can't we fix it?

It seems that nobody can convince enough of their friends or family to go elsewhere. There a few non-exploitative, privacy-respecting alternatives that do not use manipulative algorithms but these have generally failed to become popular because people just can't seem to get a "critical mass" of their friend group to migrate.

Sometimes people switch as a form of protest

When things get so bad that the platform is seen as an annoying or boring time-wasting exercise that exposes people to propaganda, misinformation, crummy ads, and minimal "friend" posts... people almost quit.

Even though they know their privacy is gone, their data is sold, they are being tracked and surveilled online and in real life, and their mental state is being leveraged for engagement metrics by unscrupulous billionaire-controlled Big Tech Oligarchs... people generally still keep their account.

Why? Younger generations find it difficult to conceive of a life without social media, viewing it as an essential tool for social participation. People who have no presence on the major platforms are viewed as weird, secretive, or antisocial. Heavy social media users may view non-participants as selfish, and point out that non-engagement hinders networking, job hunting, and maintaining relationships in a digital-first world. Many people spend an inordinate amount of time curating their digital identities, and as a result, they don't have much cultivated when it comes to the "analogue" world.

🇨🇦 Hey.café Canadian Ad-Free Alternative to Facebook

All-Canadian, no "Big Tech," no selling your data, no sketchy algorithms in your feed, no AI, and no tracking. It fills a niche where you might use Facebook or Reddit, but without the ad onslaught and AI slop.

So far, it has been an excellent experience for me, but as referenced above, it is a challenge to get anyone to move along from Facebook and join a new platform. Hey.café lets users join or create cafés based on their interests, hobbies, locale, or friend/family group. To "friend" someone, you just mutually "follow" each other and you can then post things only your "friends" can see. There is a DM function, web and mobile / app options, and a friendly interface.

As for the platform's "Canadian-ness," it is clear that many early-joiners are attracted to that aspect, which aligns well with the "Buy Canadian" movement and the USA's present-day tariff-wielding arrogance and "Big Tech" dominance. People in Canada as well as the EU have gotten tired of the bullying and abuse (and economic pressure) which can be ascribed to the political regime in power in the US in 2025-2026 (as of this writing.)

To be clear, Hey.café has no policy against folks from the US or anywhere else. Further, a general demeanour of "Canadian" niceness gives the place a hate-free, inclusive, and safe feeling. Moderation (mainly peer-based) has so far kept things from getting too spammy, ad-filled, or drenched in politics or misinformation.

What is necessary is

for more people to adopt the platform, and
for folks to participate by being social. That was the original purpose of social media: to share and post and not merely to passively watch and observe.

People have gotten out of the habit of sharing online, and maybe it is because we fear being judged, being uninteresting, or being flamed by detractors. Maybe people are even hesitant because folks travelling to the USA can be forced to hand over their social media to be scrutinised at the border! Of course, many Canadians are just not going there anymore.

Fediverse Platforms

There are other open-source, decentralised platforms that are serious alternatives to the "Big Tech" dominant players. Unfortunately, they take a little bit of effort to start and most of us don't know people to "follow" right off the bat. Mastodon is like X or Twitter and is the largest offering in the group. But there is a whole family of social media options that are "federated" together, meaning that joining one of them allows you to interact with them all and follow people across the platforms and their "instances" (which is the word for the individual servers powering the Fediverse "under the hood.") The following platforms use the open-source ActivityPub protocol. Here is what is on offer:

Mastodon: Micro-blogging like Twitter / X.
Pixelfed: Photo-sharing like Instagram
Peertube: Video-streaming like YouTube
Friendica: Similarity to Facebook
Lemmy: Forum service like Reddit
WriteFreely: Blogging platform

Non-Fediverse Options

Similar to Fediverse apps but using its own AT protocol, is Bluesky, which is a centralised but non-profit privacy-focused Twitter / X alternative which has been gaining ground. Pleroma and Diaspora are out there, plus MeWe, WT Social, Minds and Vero. Each of these has pros and cons, but none has gained a large enough user-base to be a "must-have" for the majority of digitally-connected people.

Not putting all of you eggs in one basket again here?

It seems that keeping accounts on multiple channels has become the order of the day. It seems most people have a Facebook, Instagram, Twitter / X, LinkedIn, and Email. We consume media from YouTube, TikTok, Pinterest and Reddit but fewer people consider themselves "creators" in those places. Finally, people also have a messenger app, usually Facebook Messenger, and if we have friends overseas, we also use WhatsApp (both owned by Meta.)

For myself, I currently have an account on Hey.café, Mastodon, Pixelfed, Signal (for Messaging) and an email with Northmail.ca. I left Facebook, never really used Instagram, have ignored my LinkedIn, and moved from Gmail.

But since we have all of these separate places where we can be found and followed, we now need a "Link-in-Bio" type of profile page out there so people can find which we sites we are on! A common one is Linktree. That's another whole ball of wax for a different article, perhaps!

Messaging Apps

So far, not a really good encypted 🇨🇦 alternative...

Many people seem to use Facebook messenger. Perhaps it is convenient, or their friends are already there. But it is totally and completely not private, fuels Meta's efforts to pigeonhole and package you for advertisers, and keeps you locked to their platform. In fact, they have recently killed the separate desktop messenger app so they can get you to go over and look at Facebook's regular site to use the message function while at the computer.

A little history... In many places, especially Asia, Europe and elsewhere, the original SMS messaging was an added charge for mobile phone plans. In North America, SMS messages often came pre-packaged with our plans (which have historically been far costlier than elsewhere.) So historically-speaking, outside of North America people sought an alternative, which was WhatsApp. It is still the main way people "text" each other except in the US and Canada.

Here, we use the messaging that comes with the phone. Android phones have Google's RCS Messaging and iPhones have iMessage... both are tied to our mobile phone numbers. In addition to text, they have photo sharing, emojis, and all the rest. iMessage is end-to-end encrypted but limited to the Apple user base only. RCS can now be used on both Android and with iMessage, but RCS messages are sent through Google's servers. I mean, they never read our messages or emails, right?

WhatsApp does not depend on having a particular mobile phone. But it was acquired by Meta in 2014 and people continue to use it based on "that's what we've always used" thinking. Now WhatsApp has some end-to-end security, at least if used a certain way (both sides of the convo opt-in) or if its current owner, Meta is implementing it as we imagine it ought to be.

iMessage is still pretty good

If you have Apple and all of your friends and family do too, there is nothing wrong with iMessage. It is secure, can be used over wi-fi even without a cell tower signal (unlike most SMS), has rich text and photo sharing, and is encrypted and secure. Apple can't read your messages, and so it cannot be compelled to give them to government censors or authorities (at least everywhere but China.) iMessage also works on the desktop... as long as you have a Mac! The problem is your Android-using friends. When you message them from your iPhone, it used to get sent as a (very insecure as in your mobile provider sees them in the clear) SMS message with no formatting and crummy photo quality. Now, newer iPhone models can use RCS when communicating outside of the Apple ecosystem. But Be very much aware: no matter what non-Apple phone you communicate to and from, rest assured that its standard RCS is way less secure than iMessage.

Use Signal because its good for everyone, on Apple or Android or Desktop

Signal is totally, obsessively, 100% private and secure always. It works on the desktop (Windows, Mac, Linux) or mobile (iPhone, iOS, Android, Google Play) and lets you sent great quality photos and rich text. No worries about Meta, FB Messenger, WhatsApp, RCS or SMS. Honestly, many of the folks who have been sending their passwords or private photos to their mistress or mister over email should be doing it on Signal!!

Session and Threema are actually better than Signal because in addition to the encryption, they don't require a phone number to set up the account. Unfortunately, Session is running out of money it needs to operate, and Threema (Swiss-based security) has a smaller user base.

Element can be great especially for enterprise users, but Telegram falls short in privacy especially in group chats.

FYI: About a false "Signal Messages Hacked" story going around: A recent report notes that Signal messages were retrieved from an iPhone... this came from a law enforcement agency which physically had the phone and its password in its possession. Since the phone's owner allowed the iPhone to send notifications from the Signal app, incoming recent messages could be read outside of the Signal app by looking at the iPhone notifications files. No outgoing messages could be read, and the app's security was untouched. If you are worried someone could get hold of your phone, just don't turn on notifications for Signal. No hack really happened.

There is more to come! I am working on additional articles in this series which will be posted soon.

-- Back to the Beginning of the Article --

Online BigTech Alternatives for Canadians (Part One)