Over at Tech Reclaimers we are walking through my Cybercleanse, going one week (instead of day) at a time. You can follow along via Signal, Discord, Mastodon, BlueSky, and Instagram. This weekend we’ll start in on our Data Roadmaps and make a plan for opting out of services one at a time. It’s never too late to start leaving Big Tech!

In other news to share:

• I spoke about my Opt Out exeriments at UC Berkeley a few weeks ago and the talk is now up on YouTube! Please watch and share!

• Mark Hurst compiled a great set of de-Googling tips following our interview last month: check it out!

• Next weekend I’ll give an Opt Out / Tech Reclaimers workshop at Take Back Tech in Atlanta—I hope to see some of you there!

Other Opt Out news from around the web:

Hello, fellow conscientious objectors! Welcome back to more news from the Opt Out Project.

This list has been quiet of late if only because it has been a busy time launching my new non-profit, Tech Reclaimers — a peer-to-peer initiative that helps us reclaim control over our technologies and our digital futures, together. Opting out is hard to do alone, so now we have a supportive group to work with as you go through your own journey.

You’ll find resources, a community forum to share ideas, a Signal chat and Discord for help and community building, and of course Mastodon and Bluesky for announcements. If that’s not enough, on our Peertube you can find videos and clips, including my new tips for digital resistance.

By the way, thanks to Mark Hurst for hosting me on Techtonic.fm this week! YOu can check out my hour long interview about how to get off Big Tech Systems — and where to move your digital life instead.

I’ve been working on an exciting next step in the Opt Out Project, and I’m delighted to announce the launch of The Tech Reclaimers: a new non-profit aimed at helping people get off toxic systems and reclaim our digital future. Together with some terrific, like-minded folks, we aim to amplify the opt out message by providing tips, assistance, workshops, and peer-to-peer support so that more people feel comfortable reducing the influence of Big Tech on our lives. Expect to see some news from the Reclaimers here as we work to Reclaim Control over our data, our digital identities and footprints, and our social lives.

This Independence Day, declare your independence from toxic corporate social systems and explore alternatives! Our first initiative, #stopthescroll, is a monthly opt out day where we take a step back from the harried social spaces of the internet to reclaim our attention and reset our intention. Starting on July 4, and then once a month every month, resist logging into your favorite social app. Check here for a list of things to do on your day away — and here to start working your way through my 21-day Cybercleanse. You can do one day day a month — the 21 days don’t need to be consecutive!

Tell your friends and family and spread the word. Get tips on BlueSky or Mastodon where you can also grab graphical tiles to “toot”. If you’re still on legacy social media (X, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok), post the image below and use hashtag #stopthescroll to spread the word, declaring your intention to opt out for one day. Let’s remind Big Tech who is really in charge of our digital future!

In other news:

Dear Opt Out netizens,

Welcome to all new subscribers! I’ve had a little hiatus here after blogging every night for a month to complete the instructions for my 21-day “Cyber-cleanse.” Click through for bite-sized instructions, day by day, for reclaiming your data and autonomy online: I cover browsers, email, calendars and contacts, secure messaging, securing your smartphone, social media, shopping, VPNs, photos, collaborations, smart devices, and ditching Google for good! There is more to come, so stay tuned!

Dear followers of The Opt Out Project,

Today I announce the start of Take Back Your Digital Footprint: a 21-day cyber-cleanse designed to help you retrieve your digital life from the Tech giants.

In a post per day, I’ll walk you through a process for changing your digital habits and services to set you up for success in 2025 and beyond.

By the end of January, you will be starting afresh from a new digital perspective. You’ll have retrieved your old data from services like Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and X — places that mine your information for their financial gain not only through advertising, but now through the development of their AI systems.

Dear Opt Out subscribers,

I’ve just published a new piece at Public Books, about the hallucinations of generative “AI” and ordering an encyclopedia in response.

It’s a critique of a fundamental problem in technology ethics—the ignorance of what knowledge is all about. Enjoy, and please share!

Check out my companion blog post at Optoutproject.net to learn more about how to teach young people to detect and evaluate AI-content.

Hello Opt Out travellers,

Did you hear the one about the U.S. grocery stores with fancy automated checkouts --that were actually staffed by people in India? In another lose-lose for our current AI obsession, Amazon backtracked on their Just Walk Out storefronts as it was revealed they weren't too automated after all.

I've written about this phenomenon a few times in scholarly journals--like my article about how to spot "pre-automation," when a tech company uses "gig" work to build a platform monopoly. But this week I got so frustrated with our misguided discourse about AI that I wrote this piece, for Tech Policy Press:

Don’t Be Fooled: Much “AI” is Just Outsourcing, Redux

Hello fellow Opt Out travelers,

As Twitter and Reddit implode around us, the lessons from the Opt Out project are more valuable than ever. If you or a friend are ready to take the plunge, my post on The Tech Breakup offers some helpful tips. Congratulations to those of you trying out new services and migrating your communities off these once-beloved platforms.

It is time to move on. Still, I know full well that there is a grieving process when you leave these places, these relationships. It takes a village to build anything meaningful, and it's disheartening to see that work swept away in a matter of weeks! But let's be honest. The castles we built were on shifting sands, vulnerable to a single capricious CEO who can tear our communities apart. It's so important to take the reins ourselves, to build stronger foundations--foundations that put community first, ahead of investors.

While people leaving Twitter one user at a time are often making migration decisions alone, the Reddit collapse shows the power of working in groups. Traveling together in the same groups we forged first on those platforms, working with trusted peer-to-peer relationships, we can do a lot more to disassemble the toxic web than we ever could alone. This is one of my key Opt Out lessons: don't work alone! If striking out alone can seem daunting, confusing or lonesome, it's so much more empowering to join a group--and much stronger in the long term too!

Dear fellow data economy resistors--and aspiring resistors!

I'm thrilled that my article about my undetectable family trip to Disneyland is now online at PublicBooks.org. You won't want to miss this one. It not only includes the crazy antics necessary to keep our data from being sniffed by The Mouse. It also offers important lessons about those shiny yet flimsy "conveniences" that Big Tech offers us daily. Want the full tech backstory? You can check it out at the Opt Out Project under Stories.

As for more tips and tricks for keeping your data privacy under control, visit the Opt Out Project for newly posted tips on:

1. How to shop untraceably-- online and offline

2. How to use email more effectively in the fight for privacy

3. An introduction to smartphones that don't track you

4. Life with Sailfish, my favorite non-iOS/Android phone

Welcome, new subscribers! With the mass migration to Mastodon this week a lot of new people are discovering the value of leaving behind the technologies, systems, and services we just don't agree with. If you know of someone making the move, be sure to share my post on "the Tech Breakup" with them, a guide to how to leave effectively, without regrets, and never look back.

There's been a lot of activity on The Opt Out Project site these past few weeks. You'll find new posts on:

1. How to Break Up with a system: Any system, although very relevant to Twitter at the moment.

2. The Exit Option Democracy: Why we actually have to vote with our feet, even if Big Tech makes it hard to do so.

3. Keep your pregnancy undetectable: My first post in a how-to series on reproductive privacy.

There is much more to come. I'll share more tools in my Opt Out Toolkit that thwart Big Tech's personal data economy. Mastodon has shone a light on other alternatives to the devices and services we've come to take for granted: I'll share reviews of the (many) tools I've tried, starting with the devices and services that I use every day. I'll share how I support the technologies and relationships I do want to see in the world to suggest how you could do the same. And there is much more to say in my series on reproductive privacy.

The Opt Out Project website is up and running! Featuring initial posts about what to use instead of Google, and laying out my philosophy and approach to opting out.

What you can expect in the next few weeks:

1. How to Break Up with a system

2. Keep your pregnancy undetectable

3. An untraceable Disney adventure

More in philosophy and techniques coming soon! Stay posted, and keep your data yours.