Start Here: The One Change That's Worth More Than All the Others
If you do nothing else on this whole site, do this.
You don’t have to switch email. You don’t have to leave your phone. You don’t have to understand a single acronym. The biggest hold Big Tech has on you isn’t your inbox — it’s that little button you’ve clicked a thousand times without thinking:
“Sign in with Google.” “Sign in with Apple.”
Feels convenient, right? One click, you’re in. Here’s what actually happened. Every time you used that button, you didn’t log into that website — you made Google or Apple the landlord of your account. That recipe site, that store, that forum, your kid’s school portal — none of them know you. They know Google says it’s you. Which means the day Google locks your account, suspends it by mistake, or you simply decide you’re done with them, every single one of those doors locks behind you at the same time. Hundreds of them. All keyed to one company you never meant to put in charge.
That’s the trap. And here’s the way out, in three steps, none of them scary.
1. Get a password manager.
This is the whole game. A password manager is just a vault that remembers your logins so you don’t have to — and so Google doesn’t have to either. Bitwarden is free, open source, and works on everything. Proton Pass is great if you’re already eyeing Proton. Either one. You install it once, it follows you everywhere, and suddenly you don’t need the “Sign in with Google” button, because the thing that button was solving — “I can’t remember my passwords” — is solved by something that doesn’t own you.
2. From now on, make a real account.
When a website offers “Sign in with Google” or “Sign up with email,” pick the email. Every time. It takes ten extra seconds and your password manager fills it in for you anyway. That’s the entire habit. You’re not undoing the past yet — you’re just stopping the bleeding.
3. Use passkeys where you can.
Here’s the part that’ll make you smile: that thing you always wanted — “why can’t I just log in with one thing I control and nothing else?” — already exists. It’s called a passkey, and your password manager holds it. It’s the one-click convenience of the Google button, except you own the key instead of renting it. This is the future the big guys don’t advertise, because the whole point is that it doesn’t need them.
That’s it. That’s Tier 0.
You haven’t changed your email. You haven’t touched your photos. You didn’t blow up your Saturday. But you just took the master key out of Google’s pocket and put it in yours — and every new account from here forward is one they don’t hold.
The rest of this site is what to do next, whenever you’re ready. There’s no rush.