Today is The day we fight back! And I will fight back. The first step will be done on 15th of February 2014, the end of my exams. I will close almost all of my social media accounts:

• twitter
• google+
• anything else related to google
• ebay
• amazon
• kwick (german social media network)
• dropbox
• wordpress
• ifttt
• java-forum.org
• ruby-portal.org
• raspberrypi.org
• ubuntuusers.de
• diaspora (Oh yes, of course!) What I will not close:
• archlinux.de
• archlinux.org
• github.com
• reddit.com
• stackoverflow.com
• last.fm

Why?

Did you hear about Snowden and his leaks?

Why not all?

Why not closing all accounts? Well, some of them are irreplaceable for me: I cannot close my github account, as I want to contribute to open-source projects and this account is also a very good reference for applications! I cannot close my stackoverflow account for the same reason. My last.fm account... I don't know. I really should close it, but I guess I'm a bit scrobbling-addicted! I think there is no questions why I do not close my archlinux accounts! I simply need them when dealing around with my OS. Wait a sec, there is reddit on the list! Yes, I'm really sad about this one, but I decided to not close my reddit account. I want continue posting to /r/coding and so on... and commenting on other peoples ideas. This account is somewhat like github for me, to interact with programmers from all over the world! Wait a sec, there isn't my Skype account listed at all! Yes, that's because I need it! My GF would kill me if I would close my Skype account! But, fortunately, there are alternatives! And she knows that I want to try out these alternatives! I'll post about this, too!

Alternatives?

“Wow, you closing all your social media accounts, you're a big nerd, aren't you? No social interaction at all!” – Yes I am! And I don't want these pseudo-social stuff anymore, anyway! I prefer mailing lists as social media “account”. I can interact with others, comment on others thoughts and ideas - what do you want more? Sharing pictures of yourself, your neighbor and kittens? No, thanks!

What do you do besides this?

Well, I'll try to setup a tor client for my everyday browsing. This will be my first step after closing all these accounts. I'm planning a speech for my local LUG (Linux User Group) about privacy and all the stuff I did until that day to safe my own privacy. I already use GPG for my emails, so there is nothing more I can do except trying to get other people using it (and I guess I almost achieved this goal for at least one person)! So, now it is your turn! What do you do to save your privacy? A good first step would be closing your facebook account, wouldn't it?