@PsychoCoder said:
Well some of us hate Google, I know I'm one of those, and would never install anything on my system that came from them, nor use their online services, because we dont want God and everyone knowing our information. Google is crap with users data, it's been proven time and time again. In fact, I dont know of a single person I associate with that uses Google Talk (Hell I dont even know what Google Talk is), and I definitely dont know anyone who uses a @gmail account for anything even remotely professional
Thank God somebody else sees the light! I've been preaching this to my Chrome-loving, Gmail-using, Android phone-buying friends for years. Google is quickly becoming what Microsoft was in 1999, except this time nobody seems to care. It's quite scary how large they've become, and like sheep the world keeps using their spyware-driven products. Because you know well that if any other company did what Google is doing with user data (perhaps excluding Facebook) there would be a move to boycott their services among all conscious computer users and an antitrust trial already underway. If you read privacy policies (for whatever they're worth), you'll find that Bing protects your data better than Google. Though not perfect, it's better than Google. If you are looking for an alternative to Gmail, I must admit its hard to find one that matches its functionality and protects your privacy. I don't think Hotmail or Yahoo! Mail are much better, but the way I see it they can't be worse than Google. I use one provided with my web host, the owner of which I know personally. Finally, I suggest installing some sort of filter addon for your browser (which should not be Chrome, if you care about your privacy at all while web browsing). Be sure to filter doubleclick.net and any other Google properties, which are quite pervasive with the number of CDN domains they are using. It's tough, but it is possible to keep Google from invading your life and stealing your privacy. Now if only I could keep them from driving my street to take pictures of my house and steal Wi-Fi traffic...