But why write this article?
I really don't see the point. There are lots and lots of choices around and I think we should use all that work for us. I think anyone who relies just on one set of options will be in a bind. These things all change too quickly. I try to use whatever works from anyone and always have an alternative on hand. Google still provides the best search for me as do their maps. I use others but find them not quite good enough. I use gmail, but also yahoo and Hotmail and Verizon and mail.com. When one goes down the others are up usually. The only company I pretty much steer clear of is Apple because they make everything both expensive and proprietary.
I think we can all expect that if we use computers at all - for anything - we are being tracked. Even when we exercise all the privacy options. If you don't want to be tracked by someone you had better use nothing electronic. So just pay attention to everything - all the time. That is the price of this progress.
For that matter if you receive or send snail mail you are being tracked. If you bank at any bank you are being tracked. If you have a driver's licence, if you pay taxes etc.etc. The world of privacy is long gone so you had better adapt. The biggest problems are that all of our data is in the databases of companies who get hacked and then we can get compromised.
