Let’s Get Ethical! A Guide to Leaving the World’s Most Egregious Tech Monopolies (Summer Special)

On this Summer Special, Lottie, Hayden and Nick discuss ways to use technologies more ethically.  We will have one more Summer Special next Sunday Jan 18. Normal Freedom of Species programming will resume on Jan 25.  Music: Spotify loves ICE by Dope Knife. Heavy Foot by Mon Rovia. Robot Writes a Love Song by PUP.  Links: Book: 'Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives' by Siddharth Kara (request it from your local bookstore or library).  Listeners in the US can tell Congress to co-sponsor the Living Wage for Musicians Act! https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-congress-co-sponsor-the-living-wage-for-musicians-act/  - Guide to buying refurbished devices: https://www.trade.com.au/blogs/blog/best-refurbished-phones-australia - Guides to recycling your phone: https://www.trade.com.au/blogs/blog/mobile-phone-recycling https://www.trade.com.au/blogs/mobile/how-to-protect-personal-data-before-selling-old-phone - Donate phones to DV Safe Phone: https://dvsafephone.org/donate-phones - Donate laptops to Glee Givers: https://gleegivers.au/donate - Recycle phones at Mobile Muster: https://www.mobilemuster.com.au/  Main brands to avoid: ️- Meta (Facebook (messenger), Instagram (messenger), WhatsApp) - Google (Chrome, Drive, Docs, Photos, YouTube, Maps, Translate) - Microsoft (Office, e.g. Word, Excel, etc., OneDrive, Edge browser) - Apple (Safari browser, Apple Music, Apple podcasts) - Amazon (Audible, Kindle, Goodreads, IMDB) - X/Twitter - Spotify - Honourable mentions: OpenAI (ChatGPT), Uber, Netflix  Alternative apps and programs: *This is a snapshot of alternatives Lottie is using that appear more ethical as of Jan 2026. The sites linked further below offer more comprehensive options for you to research and try out: - Messenging app:  Signal, ️Telegram - Email: Proton (also offer authenticator, VPN, wallet) - Social media:  Bluesky, Mastodon - Photos and storage: Proton, Ente - Documents: Proton (currently beta) - Browser/search engine: DuckDuckGo, ️Ecosia, ️Firefox - Music: Qobuz - Podcasts: Podcast Addict - Audiobooks: libro.fm Your local library (e.g. through Libby, BorrowBox) - Translate: Lingva - Maps: OsmAnd - Calendar:️ Proton - Books: Find your local bookshop (https://www.bookpeople.org.au/find-a-bookshop/), Request books from your local library,️ Kobo ereader and ebooks  - Reading journal: StoryGraph  Resources: - The Opt Out Project: Guides to leaving Google and protecting your privacy (https://www.optoutproject.net/welcome-to-the-opt-out-project/) - Roots of change - Sam Chavez. E.g. A guide to leaving Google (https://knurdology.com/podcast/de-googling-our-lives-movements-a-digital-revolution-with-stone-cairns/) - Liminal Works. E.g. Alternatives to Google and Microsoft suites (https://www.liminal-works.org/blog-announcements/replatforming-the-movement-ethical-providers-rubric-apr2025) - Brian Merchant - Blood in the Machine substack. E.g. A guide to leaving Spotify (https://substack.com/@bloodinthemachine/p-179993332) - Paris Marx - Disconnect. E.g. Alternatives to US tech companies (https://disconnect.blog/getting-off-us-tech-a-guide/) - Privacy Guides. Companies deemed to have the best privacy for different products (https://www.privacyguides.org/en/tools/) - Rise Against Big Tech (https://riseagainstbig.tech/tech/) - May First (https://mayfirst.coop/en/audio/cutting-the-cord-experiences/) - Electronic Frontier Foundation (https://www.eff.org/pages/tools) - Boycat. Companies to boycott to support DRC, Palestine and Sudan, and divest from the USA (https://boycat.io/