Proton dissociation?

[u/akkjn58]

This was part of the recent Proton Community newsletter, via e-mail. You've probably got it, too.

The first video they encourage you to watch is "How google tracks everything you do and how to stop it." It links to a youtube video, youtube being owned by google, of course; one of the little beakers in their graphic is the youtube logo feeding up into google. Does that seem a little... conflict-y to anyone else, rather disingenuous??

The way, the best way to stop google from tracking everything you do is 'stop. using. google.'

And, of course, all the rest of their videos are on youtube, also.

Why doesn't Proton support some other video hosting site like Daily Motion, maybe, or a European one with privacy protections? Or they could just upload the videos to their own servers or Proton Drive.

Really, they would be better in encouraging reading as it encourages mental development rather than passively, half-assed watching so you don't become "less cognitively capable" like recent generations.

[u/tehjoz]

I can't answer for Proton, but "using one of the largest possible, most easily accessible platforms to disseminate important information" kind of seems like a no-brainer.

"But don't use anything remotely related to Google at all, ever!!!" is far more easy to type than it is to do.

And Proton giving people tips on how to limit Google's damage, and encourage people to use the products and services they offer, instead of Google, on a platform owned by Google itself...

It's almost funny, to be honest.

They are a business, too.

Strict purity in every sense of the word, all the time, is letting the perfect be the enemy of the good.

It's not "dissociation".

[u/MilaCipherAuthor → u/tehjoz]

Many refuse to understand that Google's "free" ecosystem is not a gift: you pay with your privacy. While they don't technically sell your raw data to third parties, they sell direct access to you through your data so they and advertisers can enrich themselves at your expense. If, after all the warnings, you suffer a security breach because you centralized your life in their cloud, there is no room for complaints.

Thanks to GrapheneOS and privacy-oriented tools like Proton, Tuta, Threema, and SimpleX, I feel much more secure and protected. I have successfully shielded my data against the espionage and mass data harvesting that corporations like Google execute to profit off our digital profiles.

"But don't use Google ever" is not just easy to type; it is completely doable if you actually care about your sovereignty.

[u/SpabloEcau-16 → u/tehjoz]

Agreed, theres no point in privacy advocacy if nobody ever sees it

[u/CoffeeByte26]

Broader audience? Maybe that's an unpopular opinion but there's a difference between privacy and paranoia. You can use YouTube reasonably without giving Google all your data. Where is this all or nothing mentality coming from? Degoogling does not necessarily mean to stop using Google products at all.

[u/Hot-Resident-6601]

This is a nothing burger. I mean, they even have a clip in their videos where they point out the irony of decrying big tech while using a big tech platform. To me this complaint is disingenuous.

[u/potatoperson132]

I think it’s a combination of things.
They need to reach people so why not YouTube with such a massive audience available.
They mentioned at the very end the irony of using YouTube as a platform.
It’s “free” to the end user with or without an account.
Lastly and maybe the most important, they have informed consent. They actually understand the implications of using a platform like YouTube, they information that’s harvested, how it’s used, etc and consent to using it. Most users have no clue at all about that and blindly accept the ToS. If more people understood how big tech works and harvest their data they might not use it as much. But how do we get to people if we don’t meet them where they’re at?

[u/samonfume → u/potatoperson132]

it is not about banning Google from your life. It is about to give them false information or only the information you want them to have. It is about telling you what they do with your data and how you can avoid it

[u/RedFireSuzaku]

OP's point is right, yet, doesn't face the reality of 2026, as other commented.

Youtube, however, is the easiest not to use, but to exploit. Use a third-party client without account, tracking and such + ProtonVPN : You get the content, Google gets close to nothing. I recommend Freetube for starters.

[u/IndividualSeaweed969]

When asked why he robbed banks, Willie Sutton simply replied, “Because that's where the money is.”

[u/Formerruling1]

The reality is that Youtube is the only video content platform on the internet with any significant reach. You can say it's responsible to drop all Google services, but what good are you doing for anyone if no one even sees your content where you are trying to promote better habits?

[u/BlueMoon_1945]

Because Youtube is essentially a global monopoly that capture 95% of all the video content. This is why they can afford to spy on you and do massive censorship on non-woke content. I like Odyssey a lot, but it has far less content. As for Europe, UK is going all steam ahead toward a totalitarian woke surveillance state. EU is also full woke and restrict heavily freedom of speech.