Privacy – James Michael

🔒My favourite Proton feature

4 min read

On 25 September 2026

So for the avoidance of doubt, and for anyone who might not know, Proton AG is a Swiss tech company trying to create an internet where privacy is the default option, directly opposing big tech giants like Google or Apple. They are my go-to for Mail and Password/Auth security, as well as more general advice on the current state of the internet.

I could say many things about Proton’s feature-list, some of them excellent, some less so. But one thing stands out in my everyday usage of Proton, and it relates to the calendar.

🇪🇺 Europe isn’t the answer

4 min read

On 7 September 2026

Part of Encrypted Pigeons

Ah, so you’ve decided my deranged ramblings are worthwhile listening to after all. Well, at the end of the last instalment of Encrypted Pigeons, I had a very healthy de-Googled phone, a bunch of data exports, and absolutely no way to do anything with them. The thing about Google apps is that you actually need to replace them with something. Stands to reason, really…

But I wasn’t going to be put off and return to American Big Tech. Rather than tackling Big Tech specifically, I decided it was the Americans who had to go. Hello Brussels.

My concern at this point wasn’t privacy per se — it was simply is an app British or European, and do I enjoy using it. A few notable cases come to mind with this.

🪤 Turns out leaving Google is harder than you think…

2 min read

On 30 August 2026

Part of Encrypted Pigeons

Welcome back to the next part in the series I’m calling “Encrypted Pigeons“. Why? Because it’s a frankly terrible name and I’m sticking with it.

At the end of the last issue, I was talking about my overall experiences with privacy, and how that has changed quite a bit. Roughly six months ago, I had no real understanding of digital privacy, and I was perfectly happy to keep going as I was. My main computer was Windows 11; I messaged everyone on WhatsApp, and practically everything I did backed up onto Google drive in some way or another. Google Photos, Google calendar, Google everywhere.

I was happy with that, because it all worked together quite well. I only had a vague sense that maybe my digital life wasn’t quite in my control.