Hello 

 

You know that awful feeling you get when it suddenly dawns on you that someone or something you thought you could trust turns out to be totally untrustworthy? It's a horrible and depressing sensation, particularly when you find that not only can you not trust them but you should actively avoid them because they actually want to do you harm!

 

I've been getting that feeling rather a lot recently. Not so much about people (although I could tell you some stories!) but more about organisations, companies and, sadly, governments that should be looking after us but are in fact doing quite the opposite.

 

Back in the first half of the last century we saw the havoc that could be wreaked by despots with a bit of money, basic technology and an hypnotic personality. We thought that was all over once WWII finished and the Berlin Wall fell down. 

 

But no. Quietly, almost imperceptibly, Big Tech has taken over our lives, created friendly-looking surveillance products that we are actually keen to own and use, and has been gathering deeply personal information about us that it then either sells on to the highest bidder or uses to manipulate us to buy or do things we wouldn't normally bother with.

 

The MoneyMagpie website and newsletter is about having a richer life and I believe that this increasing surveillance and data-mining is impoverishing all of us in every sense, so I'm bringing you more and more information to help you free yourself from what seems to be an encroaching digital dictatorship. Last week, I warned about the Government's worrying plan to set up a national digital currency (fight against it with all you have!) and this week I'm telling you why you need to stop using Google as your search engine and, instead, move to one of the private and secure search engines that doesn't track your every move and sell it to who knows who!

 

Stay strong and stay awake. Big Tech doesn't like people who are awake!

 

 

Love Jasmine

 

'Don't Be Evil' Google said when it first set up. It's stopped saying that now.

We think of Google as a clever search engine that helps us find information and products for free. Actually it's a massive advertising company that exists to make as much money as it can out of us. 

Every time you do anything through Google search, they follow every move, every keystroke you make and then they use that information to make money out of you and, potentially, to manipulate you to buy and do things you wouldn't otherwise think of.

But there are alternatives. You can protect yourself and your personal information by moving to one of the private, secure search engines. Find out which ones in my article.