Seems that everyone else has said the same as what I mostly already do, but I’ll just make a couple comments on the student communication topic:

My university already created a Microsoft 365 account for my university user, which included Teams. For my threat profile, I don’t consider Teams a terrible option if I’m only using it for study purposes, so I’ve communicated over that for assignments before (web UI only).

Otherwise like others have suggested, some students are open to something like Signal (a fellow student got me onto it years ago) if you kindly ask and mention upfront that it just requires a phone number. I did an assignment over Signal with two other students, so it’s very doable.

The alternative is a discord server, which in privacy terms is questionable choice too.

I use a Discord-Matrix bridge to communicate with some groups that are only on Discord. Of course it still all goes over Discord’s servers so the messaging itself isn’t private, but you at least don’t have to use Discord’s proprietary client, and the only data Discord will have is the data you send it from the Matrix bridge (plus identifying data on the Matrix server you’re using).

What do you usually use and offer when people ask you for contact?

Signal as a preference—not because I think it’s the best chat app (I dislike its centralised nature; not being able to self-host is a near-on dealbreaker if not for the fact that everyone I know is on Signal; and it requiring a phone number to sign up is also bad for privacy)—but because it’s the one the most people have. All my friends are on it luckily, by nature of my friends largely being communists or young queer people (or both). I also offer SMS and email. If someone asks a pretty open-ended “how can I contact you”, I might also mention Matrix and Simplex as options in case they have those.

Do you use ba[n]king apps?

No, and I really don’t understand why people do unless your bank requires it and there isn’t another appropriate bank that doesn’t require it. I’ve tried my bank’s app (which works fine on GOS luckily) and found it didn’t offer anything the web UI didn’t offer, other than the option to use the app as 2FA for banking stuff, but I just get SMS 2FA from my bank.

What’s your way of transport after having few beers in pub? Do you use taxi via calling it directly or use that weird Telegram taxi addon?

I don’t use taxis; I use public transport. But if I had to get a taxi, I would probably either use my GPlay profile on my GOS phone to install Uber, or I would probably just ring a taxi company over the phone.

Is there a way to convert google map pins to open source solutions and vice versa?

I’m not aware of a way. I’ve just told people to either give me an address or coordinates, because I don’t have google maps.

What’s your recommended software for directions? What do you use for driving?

Organic Maps has been my go-to for a while. It’s wonderful. Works well for driving too. I use RHVoice for text-to-speech, which iirc was recommended to me by a fellow lemming.

I don’t track fitness activities, and I use GOS+Pixel.

1. email, everybody has that, if they can’t use it, well up to them to offer an alternative but anyway with DeltaChat I can get notified instantly.
2. Web. Sure the app does provide some convenience but most banks do have a working website that do not need an app as usually SMS 2FA works.
3. Real taxis do have phone numbers… but they also have apps and most do not required Google Services AFAIK
4. OpenStreetMap and CityMapper and (I know I’m going to sound nuts) but actually road signs or asking people
5. No but same, plenty of apps on F-Droid that don’t require Google Services, otherwise… a .txt file? .ods spreadsheet with visual? Same on NextCloud so you can share with others even though nobody cares? (sorry)
6. PinePhone, PinePhone Pro, Purism Librem, and (ahem…) Apple iPhone if you want a compromise between privacy and still convenience?

Some food for thought:

Absence of information is its own sort of information. You may find it worthwhile in your search for an acceptable compromise to place some kind of value on “looking normal”.

Sometimes for work trips I’ll user uber in a vanadium web browser. I think they also have a number you can call to order one. Primarily for old people but works well in this case.

Using uber is its own question but you got to find the most private set up that works for you. Anything is better than nothing.

As you and others have said, privacy is just much harder on mobile than on desktop. Mobile hardware and software is generally closed-source and locked down. On a tiny screen web apps are also at a genuine UX disadvantage to native apps, which offer much weaker privacy protection.

The pragmatic not-quite solution is to do roughly what you’re doing already. NB: maps are actually pretty easy - many people find that OsmAnd and Organic Maps are superior to the corporate options.

But the optimal solution is to move some of your computing back to desktop, i.e. probably to a laptop. This way you get more control over the hardware and software. And it’s already some kind of privacy win just because the thing is not in your pocket all day. It’s really not that hard and you might even find you appreciate the change! I did.

IMO the big sticking points are the messengers and transport tools - these are where you get genuine convenience from corporate spyware in your pocket. For all the rest, I’m not convinced, personally. For mapping and fitness etc, there are F-Droid apps which work great offline. For everything else including banking, just do it in your web browser while seated comfortably at home. As far as I know, no bank except Revolut insists that you use its app. If you want to do NFC payments, that may require a locked-down OS but not an app and it can be done in airplane mode (I do it regularly).

There are ways to get better privacy on mobile but nothing approaches the benefits of just using your mobile less and your laptop more.

What do you usually use and offer when people ask you for contact?

Ask your family/partner/friends to use signal, it is idiot proof enough for most people. You can provide your email and phone number for acquaintances who you don’t speak with enough to justify installing signal.

I’m not in any student groups, but you can make a dummy Facebook account and only login using their website from behind a VPN.

Banking app I used has blocked me from app after few years of using it when they realized I have it from “unofficial” source - Aurora store.

Just use their website and carry a physical credit card in the back of your phone case.

What’s your way of transport after having few beers in pub? Do you use taxi via calling it directly or use that weird Telegram taxi addon?

We literally just drive drunk here. Is public transit an option? Again, you can sandbox these apps or use their respective websites.

Is there a way to convert google map pins to open source solutions and vice versa? What’s your recommended software for directions? What do you use for driving?

Organic maps is good if you have an address and only need directions. If you need complete records of where local businesses are and traffic info, google maps is your only option. I’d set it up in a sandboxes container though, at the very least.

Do you track fitness activities?

No, and I’d argue that nobody other than serious athletes need to. That being said, you can get a tracker that does not connect to your phone or the internet.

Do you have good phone recommendations? I know that GrapheneOS+Pixel is one, but what about others?

Graphene+pixel is head and shoulders the best option, especially in places like the US where you have to worry about illegal searches. Privacy requires security. That being said, there are alternatives if you cannot afford a new device: https://eylenburg.github.io/android_comparison.htm

4. osm2gmaps (osm -> gmaps) and/or Geo Share (gmaps -> osm)

1. I tell people to contact me on signal or SimpleX, and if they don’t, then I don’t talk to them.
2. My banks app ran fine, but I wanted to use the website instead of having the app and the website did not support all functionality, so I switched banks entirely to an older style bank, not one of these new Neo fintech banks. Think Wells Fargo instead of chime.
3. At least at the moment, you can still use m.uber.com.
4. Use gps-coordinates.net, put in the address you wish to go to, and then copy the latitude and longitude given into OpenStreetmaps OSMAnd (f-droid).
5. No, i dont
6. The combination you mentioned is definitely the easiest. Otherwise, you have to look at lineage OS. And that doesn’t have as many security protections.

Google Pixel 8a is probably the best and most cost effective at the moment and flash GrapheneOS. Typicically a recent “a” series phone is a good choice. Google now supports them for 7 years from release. Divide price by remaining support to get annual cost estimate.

My compromise is to just to minimize big tech tracking.

I mean, 90% of data is because people use corporate social media with real names and real IPs. I don’t use “social media” like everyone else, and that is just cutting away 90% of mass surveillance. I only occasionally look at reddit over VPN (without loggining in and never posting anything), I use Lemmy over Tor. Use Fennec (aka: firefox, but from F-Droid) + uBlock Origin + VPN, for everything else (like watching youtube videos)

I usually only have Fennec and Tor (amongst a few other things) through VPN, everything else is going to clearnet. My though is, if I put the entire traffic over VPN, Google would see my VPN IP attached to my device serial number.

If there is some university thing, I’d just begrudgingly use it. Use browser if possible, but if app is required, probably put it in a “work profile” (the Shelter app from F-Droid can do that) to separate it from everything else, and prevent any such app from seeing my files. Also give as few permissions as possible. And never installing any “profiles” or “certificates” they give you for access to their wifi. They should have a “guest wifi” without such requirements so just use that instead. (Or get a second phone with the “Share Wifi Connection” ability and use that as your “router” and connect your main phone to it.) Or just use mobile data if you can afford it.

For banking, put the app in the “work profile” or use browser if whatever you need to do doen’t require the app.

For uber/lyft/taxi, probably use the browser, or if that doesn’t work, again, put the app in work profile, don’t give permissions until I’m ready to use it, and its getting deleted the moment my ride is done.

For maps, unfortunately I still have to use Google Maps, because I value being alive and not getting lost in some sketchy neighborhood over the privacy… 😓

I feel like Graphene OS is too much of a hassle for me, I’ll have to get a Pixel, which does not have a microSD slot, and that’s a dealbreaker for me.

As for other devices than the Google Pixels, it is pretty bleak since the end of DivestOS a month ago now. One basically has to decide the ROM you want to run, then see what it supports. None of the other ROMs will be as locked down as GrapheneOS and maybe not as compatible. Other ROMs to look at include CalyxOS, /e/, IodeOS, LineageOS, and crDroid. I have no personal experience with these others and not all of them have a privacy focus, but the ones I listed seem to be fairly popular. You might find this comparison of ROMs helpful: https://eylenburg.github.io/android_comparison.htm .

Hardware. I find the Fairphone interesting. Maybe some of the Moto’s since they are so common and inexpensive. One has to decide to what extent you want a Chinese phone considering the current geo-politics and your personal situation. I personally just upgraded to a new Pixel 8a and GrapheneOS myself. You can find my previous post https://beehaw.org/post/17618967 . Feel free to ask me anything.

1. I’m a minimalist, I only use Signal to make others switch to it. Also use Session but its rare.
2. I use banking. Still works on GrapheneOS. Just that it pops up that it might not work as it always scans for google play store.
3. Luckily for me, I have a car. I don’t need other transports.
4. I use OSMand. Predownload a map and you don’t need an internet connection to use it. If you need directions while driving, separate it from your phone and use a GPS in your car or buy an external GPS.
5. No, no tracking of fitness
6. Never used, but look into Pine64. Have hardware switches. Careful as some people have waited like a year, two or three to get their phone. Waiting time seems to be their bottleneck.

Regarding de-googling. Keep in mind it does not have to be all or nothing. At least on Graphene you can just install Google Play and Google Play Services in either the Private Space or in one of the other Profiles (that is one of the other User or Work Profiles). When you close those down that space Google Play and the remaining apps you cannot de-google are locked up. For me, I installed Google Play into my Private Space along with the few apps that I actually needed which was really only Lyft, and Uber. Other apps that I found needed Play and Play Services included GoodRx, Google Maps, PlutoTV, and TubiTV. and Home (for Chomecast) plus any app you want to Chromecast but there are other alternatives for these.

My banking app would just not run on my new phone even with Play installed and so I just left it on my old phone even though it no longer has cell. Primarily I need the banking app to deposit checks. Everything else can be done via the web. Google Wallet at least for payments probably does not run either so I plan on playing with Venmo at some point. That should work though I do not know if it needs Play or not.

Some of this is changing patterns too. A good way to de-google is to use the web more and/or use PWAs (Progressive Web Apps) if they are offered. Native Alpha is also an interesting tool to get a PWA like experience for sites that don’t have PWAs. Some sites heavily promote their Apps to the point that they do not work well without using the Desktop site explicitly. User-Agent Switcher plugin in Firefox can set this by site. Other useful Firefox plugins may include uBlock Origin, NoScript, and Cookie AutoDelete which allow a lot of per site configuration.

Another useful strategy for de-googling is to avoid the Play store where you can and focus on your ROMs App Store (Graphene for example), F-Droid, Accrescent, and Obtainium sources. Then fetch the rest (mostly a few remaining commercial apps) via the Aurora Store with anonymous login.

Edit: Another problematic app is the UPS app. Never got that to work even with Google Play. One can just use the website for this though.

I had very similar experiences around 2015. Before that, it was reasonably easy to use a fully FOSS system, but things have gotten worse over the years. Sure, there’s more FOSS for mobile hardware than ever before, but the world surrounding the phone has moved in the exact opposite direction. Being compatible with the world around you is the problem here.

Back then, I couldn’t find a satisfactory solution. One extreme is to go full on FOSS, and cut at least 50% of the entire world from your life, while the other is to sacrifice your privacy at altar of corporate greed. Between the two there are numerous dissatisfying compromises, and you need to do some soul searching to figure out where you want to draw the line.