As for google data mining: By using gmail I can't keep my mail away from google, but I can prevent them from matching the mail to other things. I don't do my google searches from the browser which is currently logged in to gmail, I search with another browser (e.g. konqueror - due to firefox' insistence on using the same browser even when you try to start another one). And cookies are all handled as session cookies of course. And IP addresses are not matched either, or not usefully at least, because it's NAT'ed together with a huge group of people.

The question asked was Which of the alternatives do people actually use...

The info you've provided could be found easily by anyone doing a lycos search

I don't see the point in this exercise, but anyway.

I do use many Google services. Too many. They're just too ubiquitous to escape. This is exactly what made me realize there's something wrong with this company and we'll regret it if we don't rise awareness about this.

I try to use scroogle for as many searches as possible, but then far too often I type my search terms in the address bar of the browser (like in MicroB) and don't ever bother re-configuring this kind of stuff. So that goes to Google then.

I do use a Google chat applet - which requires a Google Talk account - for easy XMPP-chats from within our company firewall... So I use Google talk in these situations.

Of course I use Youtube. People inconsideratly post all their videos there, so it's difficult not to use YouTube. (See what the problem is?)


But I don't use the Google Mail account that came with my registration for Google Talk. I have mail accounts, lots of them, I wouldn't see why I'd use this one.
I don't use Google Docs. Again, I don't see why I should. I don't believe in all this web-based-applications-cloud blabla stuff.

For chats that don't go through the Google Talk chat applet, I use ovi and jabber.ccc.de. My own videos live at blip.tv ATM (likely to change). I don't want to force people to go to YouTube. (I actually thought of moving over to Ovi for video and image sharing, but it's just unusable.)

Google Maps can be escaped by maps and satellite images provided for my area at wien.at; the satellite images are even better there. Other areas are usually well covered in Microsoft/bing/whatever its name is now maps. One reason to use Google is when you want to link to a certain place on a map. I found hat very convenient with Google Maps.

What else would you expect me to use and ask for alternatives? Oh, I read here some people have their contacts online at Google. I didn't even know before that Google offers such a service, but I wouldn't put other people's personal data there. I'm using scheduleworld at the moment, which provides a fairly good experience.

You missed the point here: Each and every web server you visit (even if it only delivers static pages) may collect and share data that somehow relates to you.
The point itsn't to find services that cannot - for whatever technical reason - make use of your data.
The point is to spread your data across as many service providers as possible. Each of them may know a bit about you, but you shouldn't make it too easy for one (Google) to know everything.

With great size comes great... mess.

For email, work email, gmail, yahoo, hotmail and lavabit.

For search, depends what it is, regular searches are with google.

For messenger services, yahoo and MSN, google talk is only used from within the gmail page when someone sends me a message.

Contacts are kept on my phone(s).

Hmmmm is anyone collecting all this data ...?

If any of you saw the Nokia in 2015 video over at Nokia Conversations today, then you can see clearer why this double purchase for Google was/is a major deal. There's also a pecular device heavily profiled in the vid that would make a nice Mameo 7ish approach.

Devices are keys to data. The data is where companies make control or keep moneies rolling.

So what exactly do they do with this "data" to make them money? Just advertising? It's not like they are taking my credit card numbers and online bank account numbers to steal money from me. If they have a bit of info on me to give me free services like Google Voice and Gmail, I guess I don't really mind (mostly because I just have no clue what info they get and what exactly they do with it).

Is it possible that the "data" that they collect can do harm to us in anyway?

well first of all they sell your email addy's your phone numbers and your home addresses

then they use that money to fund helicopters which fly over your house and make sure you're using legit copies of chromium and soon to be chrome OS

Yes, if they decided to sell data about each individual to say insurance companies. That way if you say order or Google lots of fast food then they'll pass the data to insurance companies and then they might raise your premiums.

However, that's not likely and would get Google into a court room pretty fast.

Its not like they use dirty tactics like Microsoft has done. Embrace & extend, convicted from abuse of monopoly, SUN Java trick, Wordperfect trick, DRDOS trick, MSIE trick, SMB/CIFS trick, patent FUD, GPL FUD, SCO FUD, Novell FUD, BeOS FUD, I'll stop here. #1 most evil corporation which almost destroyed the desktop client market. Yet, that doesn't mean everything the corporation does is inherently evil. It is just I tend to stay away from Microsoft products. Bringing that up in every thread I don't do though. Blurs topics to wrong subject..,