Your Guide to #BoycottBigTech: Alternatives & Resources

Advice from your resident Christ & Constitution loving IT arms dealer and trainer

I have been spending time over the past few months traveling the country training groups and individuals on how specifically BigTech (Google, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, etc.) is directly involved with stealing our information on a regular basis. Between the 4 companies just mentioned alone, they make over $1,000,000,000,000 annually (that’s right, One Trillion Dollars… ANNUALLY!) which they in turn use to directly support candidates and causes that we, as Constitutional Conservative Christians, directly oppose.

We must realize that these four companies alone collectively spend orders of magnitude more than nearly every other woke company that we’ve been hearing chants to boycott (Target, Anheuser-Busch, Ben & Jerry’s, etc.) and are far more directly responsible for the censorship and narrative manipulation via their ownership of everything we see and hear through the devices, search tools and applications they directly control… which the majority of Constitutional Conservative Christians still use on a daily basis!

As such, as mentioned above, I have been spending my time trying to teach people that there is another way for us to safely use technology that does not involve the use of ANY of BigTech’s products and services. The answer is open source software and in select circumstances using software that is owned and maintained by individuals who are on the same team and in the same fight we are against BigTech censorship and constant surveillance.

If you can’t make it to any of our upcoming live bootcamp events, you may appreciate listening to and watching the 1st half of the talk I give here:

…or the relatively brief live demo of our product “The Ghost Phone” which I provide to a group of our customers here:

I also have a recorded live stream from an event hosted by the Greenville, SC GOP on June 10th, 2023 that can be seen here:

PART 1 (live version of Part 1 posted above)

PART 2 (expanded live demo of an open source mobile operating system and laptop)

MOST RECENT FULL SLIDE DECK AS A .PDF

Do you have a group of patriots that meet regularly and would like to have Sean come provide training live? Email details on where you’re at, what your group is, how large your group is, etc. to support@MARK37.com and we’ll get back to you shortly to try and get something scheduled.

The evil we oppose will only continue to exist for so long as we continue to feed it our energy. This means our time, attention, and money.

STOP BUYING AND USING SERVICES FROM COMPANIES THAT WANT TO DESTROY YOU AND YOUR FAMILY!

Below is a growing list of alternatives you can and should check out and use that will direct your dollars AWAY from BigTech and TOWARD individuals, families and companies that are actively supporting candidates and causes on the same team as you:

MOBILE DEVICES:

The Ghost Phone by MARK37 (our company and product, which we believe is the most affordable, secure and private smart phone on the market right now)

The Above Phone (owners are libertarian agnostics, not Christian or “America First” focused)

Learn how to install GrapheneOS on your own Pixel device! (There are mountains of videos that you can leverage on most major video platforms that can and will help support you if you choose to go this route)

NOTE - Unlike some Google Android phones, iPhones unfortunately CAN NOT be de-Appled. To learn more about this and all things related to de-googled mobile phones, please review our extensive Forums FAQ.

MOBILE PHONE APP STORES:

Despite what most people are led to believe, we are not stuck relying on the Google Playstore or Apple Store!

F-Droid (A catalog of vetted FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) applications for the Android platform… recommend looking here first for an app you want/need before looking elsewhere!)

Aurora Store (Alternative app store that does not require you login or use any Google services)

Aptoide (Another alternative app store that does not require you login or use any Google services)

Note - You do not always NEED to install an app for you to use an online service! Once you download an app to your device you provide the application, and the company that built the app, access to your device that you may not be comfortable with. Although GrapheneOS prevents the app from accessing any of your data without your permissions, we highly recommend you simply create a bookmark of a website or online service that will allow you to access the service quickly/easily on your phone. To do this, while on the website you want to access from your home screen on your mobile device, click on the 3 dots on the bottom right of your mobile browser (ideally Brave) and click on “Add to Home Screen”. Name it whatever you want and a small icon will pop up on your home screen. Simple as that!

MOBILE APPS:

We pre-load on all Ghost Phones a suite of open source apps that we feel cover the bulk of what 99% of us will need and use on a daily basis. We’ve tested them ourselves and use them ourselves so we can respond to questions about any of them should you for whatever reason have issues while using them. We have outlined what each app is and does in our forums:

Recommended Mobile Apps

Note - Feel free to find these apps and download them on your own devices! Most are found within the F-Droid app store.

LAPTOPS:

The Ghost Laptop by MARK37 (if there is a laptop or desktop that has different specs you would rather have (bigger screen, more RAM, etc.) we can buy and load it with any distribution of Linux you’d like. Just give us a shout at support@mark37.com to start the conversation.)

System76 (Independent manufacturer of laptops, desktops and servers that also maintain their own open source operating system PoP!OS. Although a bit pricey, we are big fans of their products and customer service. Their ownership and leadership are pro American Made, however, like The Above Phone, are libertarian agnostics who are afraid to engage in conversations about faith or politics for fear of disenfranchising any potential customers.)

Learn how to use and install Linux on your own laptops and desktops! (our friend Jeffrey Peterson at Jeff.Pro is the best in the business when it comes to teaching people how to master all things Linux and he has built a large community of doers who are actively supporting one another through the process. Although learning Linux is not required to use various open source operating systems and Linux distributions such as Zorin or Mint, he will help you better understand the how and why related to these devices so you can take control of your devices and not let them control you. There are also mountains of videos online that will walk you through how to install Linux on your devices should you want to go this alone.)

FARADAY BAGS:

Faraday bags are made of material that shield devices from all outside wireless radiation and signals to prevent the data on whatever device or gadget is being protected within the bag from being altered, deleted, or added to the device or gadget.

Government officials, military and corporate executives have been using Faraday cages (entire rooms that serve the same purpose) for a very long time and it has only been over the past few years that this technology has become accessible and affordable for consumers such as you and I to leverage for our own privacy and security.

Your phone or laptop securely closed within such a bag makes it so that no signals can be sent or received. It goes dark, drops all connections with outside towers and devices, and essentially no longer exists as far as the outside world is concerned and is as if you turned the device completely off. Once you take your device out of the bag, it will start to reconnect with whatever towers and devices it was connected to prior and you will receive whatever messages you may have missed, no different than what happens when you turn your phone back on after it may have been turned off for a period of time.

So why is this important? Most of our digital devices, to include our car keys, passport and credit cards, are constantly receiving and/or sending signals that can be intercepted. Hackers leverage the fact that most people are completely unaware of how the devices they use work to steal these signals, gain access to devices and, in turn, steal private data. These same hackers go to where the largest population of targets are such as airports, concerts, sporting events, parks, conventions, grocery stores, malls and pretty much anywhere there is a constant stream of people because there is always low hanging fruit and easy targets to pick off.

Even at security conventions, hackers take pride in being able to show their peers how easy it is to steal other security professionals login/password information from the devices around them!

In addition, the constant radiation emitted by the devices around us, and that we carry around with us, are proven to cause various and numerous health issues over extended exposure.

Over time our team has tested various Faraday materials and bags from numerous manufacturers and companies. We have also spoken with the ownership of these companies trying to find a product and company that we can stand behind as being one that aligns with our values.

Our recommendations are:

Faraday Bag by MARK37 (Practical and affordable option w/ 99% protection for your phone, car keys and wallet. Made by a veteran who spends his free time offering 2 day long bootcamps for those looking to do DEEP dives on all things privacy and open source.)

SLNT (Company that offers every size, shape and style of Faraday coverage you could possibly need from small to duffel bag sized proven to provide 100% protection. USE COUPON CODE “MARK37” TO RECEIVE 10% OFF YOUR ORDER!)

IMPORTANT SAFETY TIP:

Do not login to unknown wireless networks!

This includes coffee shops, restaurants, airports, hotels, home rentals, random businesses you are sitting outside of… pretty much any wireless network that is open to the public (even with a password) or isn’t managed by someone you know and trust. By logging into such a network, you are exposing your device to countless unnecessary security threats and vulnerabilities. If you MUST have remote access while traveling or working outside your home, use the data connection from your phone leveraging the device’s “hotspot” capability. When using your hotspot, also be sure to set a password and not leave it open for anyone who sees it available to access.

When you activate your hotspot it will show up as an available wireless network that you can connect to and once connected will route all your internet traffic via your data connection on your mobile device. If you do not have the hotspot capability available on your phone yet, and you travel often, do some research and add this service to your data plan ASAP. If you don’t want to pay for the hotspot capability then simply make note that you should NEVER connect to a random unknown network unless you absolutely NEED to in an emergency situation.

Related, use a VPN!

WEB BROWSERS & WEB SEARCH:

Brave Browser (Browser, Web Search, VPN, Video Conferencing)

How does Brave measure up to other browsers? See for yourself!

https://privacytests.org/

FREESPOKE (Web Search, American Made Shopping)

VIRTUAL PRIVATE NETWORKS (VPNs):

VPNs allow you to search and operate online somewhat anonymously in that the websites you visit will not be able to pinpoint exactly where your phone, laptop or desktop is located. Once you login to an account online, however, the website you’ve logged into will most often start collecting information on your activity while using the website and often will try to also collect any data on your other browsing activity on other websites. While Brave does a solid job protecting you from having this information tracked while operating online, we highly recommend you learn about the various security features within Brave while doing any web browsing and refrain from using websites notorious for trying to track and spy on your every digital move such as Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Amazon, etc.

There are many VPN services available, however, we must look at who owns the companies that operate the service to really determine just how “secure” your own browsing is while using the service. Specifically, it would be important to know if the VPN service you are using is owned/operated by the Israeli Mossad, CCP, Russians, or even our own 3 letter agencies no? As such, below is a brief list of the VPN services we believe to be “clean”, however, as always, we recommend you do your own research, follow the money and learn what the ethos is of the individuals who own/operate the companies whose services you may be using and relying upon.

Brave VPN

Calyx VPN

Mullvad VPN

VIDEO CONFERENCING:

Stop using Zoom… please… for the love of Pete. Follow the money and look at the history of the founder and CEO. Please also stop using Microsoft Teams and Google Meet. Some alternatives you should use instead:

MEETN (Strictly video conferencing providing all the same bells and whistles as Zoom owned by conservative America First patriots) Using the service from your browser is simple and easy and does not require you download any software onto your device. To use the conferencing software from your mobile phone, however, you do need to download their app, which can be found on the website or you will be prompted to download when you attempt to use on your smart phone. To download the mobile app on a de-googled device (aka, not going through the Google App Store) you need to use the link below: www.meetn.com/android

Jami.net (A peer to peer communications platform that does not rely on a server to relay data between users. A GNU project backed by the Free Software Foundation. Uses state of the art end-to-end encryption with perfect forward secrecy for all communications and comply with the X.509 standard. Pre-loaded on Ghost Phones ordered after Oct 20th, '23)

HUB for Teams (If you need more than just video conferencing and a complete Office 365 or Google Apps alternative for your business, we highly recommend you check out LiberationTek’s HUB for Teams as it integrates email, video conferencing, calendar, group chat and a complete open source office suite all in one platform)

OFFICE 365 / GOOGLE APPS / iWORK:

NextCloud (If you care to host and own ALL of your company data, NextCloud is the answer with a complete suite of services for businesses small and large. A cloud option is also available, but if you are looking for a hosted solution, we recommend using HUB for Teams)

HUB for Teams (A complete hosted/cloud based suite that integrates email, video conferencing, calendar, group chat and open source office suite for online group collaboration… all in one platform)

LibreOffice (If all you need is a Microsoft Office alternative, you can ditch your Office 365 subscription right now. Seriously, go cancel your subscription with Microsoft RIGHT NOW. Libre Office is the open source alternative that will do everything your current Microsoft Office suite does. We’ve been using it for years in our homes and running multiple businesses on this suite without issue. NextCloud and HUB for Teams also leverage it within their platforms. No excuses. Go make the switch right now!)

WEB HOSTING & WEB DESIGN:

LiberationTek (Big fans of their entire suite of services, which are constantly growing, and their team of America First patriots who are all in the fight to defend our freedoms online and build a parallel economy. If you need somewhere to park your domain, buy a domain, build a website or hire a team of web designers to help manifest your vision, look no further.)

AWS / GOOGLE CLOUD ALTERNATIVE:

AmericanCloud (If you are a scaling company or application developer that needs a flexible cloud services provider that isn’t owned and operated by woke technocrats trying to kill you, AmericanCloud is your new home. Their team has some of the brightest infrastructure talent in the industry available to help you scale up/down on demand that is 100% aligned with our desire to protect American values and Constitutional principles. Their co-founder and CEO also happens to be my former COO and a close personal friend.)

SOUP TO NUTS WEB/APP ARCHITECTURE, DESIGN, ENGINEERING AT SCALE:

Need a team of technically savvy America First patriots to help you build the next great thing that will help us defeat the various BigTech and Silicon Valley companies who are hell bent on removing those who love freedom and Jesus Christ from participating online? These guys are among the best in the business.

Daring Bit Assembly, Inc. (aka, DBA) - Let them know MARK37 and Sean Patrick Tario sent you when you give them a shout to get a discount on your initial engagement.

To say your digital privacy does not matter because you have nothing important to hide is like saying your freedom of speech does not matter because you have nothing important to say.

If you have questions about alternative tech for anything NOT mentioned above, or you have a suggestion for a service or product also not mentioned above, please let me know ASAP!