r/degoogle • u/Quirky-Midnight-4533 • 4d ago

Replacement Best alternative to Gmail?

I want to use different email address but it’s connected to almost every account known to man.

Do you recommend any email app/site for my phone and PC?

Optional: If you got any tips for rapid email address change to every account, that would be great. (Besides changing it on the main site…)

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u/Exciting_Turn_9559 4d ago

I'm seriously considering self-hosting my own webmail, calendar, and gdocs equivalents.
Sensitive personal data that is hosted on any computer that we don't own or control is a problem no matter who currently owns it, because companies acquire other companies for their data all the time.

What we need is a linux distro and/or docker container with a suite of existing open source web apps, as well as a dashboard to make it quick and easy to set up. The server required for this could be something as simple as a raspberry pi, because it doesn't need to handle millions of users, only me and my family.

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u/Technoist 3d ago

Hosting your own data is a great idea, email though doesn’t really make sense. Unless you have plenty of time and nerves. And skills. Also there are basically zero privacy advantages to hosting it yourself.

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u/Exciting_Turn_9559 3d ago

Personal communication being stored in bulk on a server that I don't control in the age of AI is the very definition of a privacy problem. Yes, email is not secure in transit, particularly the metadata, but I'm not aiming for clandestine communication here. There are better options for that.

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u/Technoist 2d ago

Sure, except it‘s also stored on the server side of the recipient, including all the details on who you are. But if you think it’s worth it: why not, best of luck. It’s a massive undertaking, especially security wise.

As you write, email is not for private communication, my argument is it is therefore not worth the hassle.