Week 08/52: RIP to My Favorite Browser 🥲🙏🏽
This week I lost a couple of writing days due to a debilitating and nauseating migraine where I couldn't read words without wanting to pass out. I'm almost certain it was caused by excessive screen time. Probably makes sense with the amount of hours I’ve spent going down digital surveillance rabbit holes in the last week. By the way, if you too suffer from digital eye strain, my favorite beautifully designed tool that reminds me to take eye breaks, blink, and sit up straight is called LookAway (you're welcome).
Screenshots from my LookAway app
In my last newsletter, I mainly focused on my experience switching search engines. This week, I focused on switching browsers. For the last two years I’ve used a browser called Arc, which I deeply love and am a huge fan of. But in my effort to de-google, while any browser is better using Chrome, Arc is still built on Chromium.
The downside is, browsers built on Chromium have also been caught recently sending user data to back to Google (due to code programmed by... you guessed it, Google). A reminder that Chromium is still owned by Google at the end of the day. By using browsers built on Chromium, we continue to rely on Google— and allow Google to rely on leeching off our data.
So what are my alternatives? For most people, there are three main browsers at the top of the browser family tree: Chrome and any browsers built Chromium, Firefox and any browsers built on Firefox, and Safari (which is owned Apple).
Popular Chromium browsers: Chrome, Arc, Vivaldi, Opera, Brave
Popular Firefox browsers: Firefox, Mullvad, Librewolf, Tor
I'll note that outside of Firefox itself, other browsers built on Firefox are known for their souped up privacy features (Tor is notably the browser for buying shit off the Dark Web). While that may be appealing if you're deep on your don't track me / stealth mode shit, it can also make regular web browsing difficult for everyday use. For instance, I tried Mullvad Browser and one of my favorite extensions didn't work so, the browser ultimately wouldn't work for me.
In conclusion, the most simplest switch one can make if trying to fully de-google/de-apple/divest from Big Tech is switching Firefox.
So I downloaded Firefox and am weening myself off using Arc (RIP). There are a couple key features that are going to be HARD not to use. Arc has a seamless and smooth screen capture tool that I didn't realize how frequently I use.
I tried to reflexively use Arc's screen capture tool while using Firefox and admittedly, the first time I realized I couldn't do it, I opened the link back in Arc just to use the tool. Although I'll probably de-install Arc to prevent temptation of use, it still makes me sad to cut out a platform I'm so accustomed to. But hey, going back to taking a regular screenshot and using the crop tool won't kill me.
Wait. Guys. I just remembered that I recently learned about Zen Browser, an Arc lookalike built on Firefox. I've heard it's buggy but I think I have to try it. Maybe I don't have to say goodbye to all the things that I love about Arc while saying goodbye to Google? I guess you'll just have to find out next week.
Down The Rabbit Hole (Relevant Reads & Links)
Apple Pulls End-to-End Encryption in UK For Gov’t Spying | Ars Technica
#TeslaTakedown Says Sell Your Teslas and Dump Your Tesla Stock
DOGE Has ‘God Mode’ Access to Government Data | The Atlantic
Seeking God, or Peter Thiel, in Silicon Valley | The New York Times
2025 Data Privacy Checklist | Firewalls Don’t Stop Dragons
Digital Security 101 [Zoom] | 18MillionRising
