The Privacy-Friendly Tech to Replace Your US-Based Email, Browser, and Search

From your email to your web browsing, it’s highly likely that your daily online life is dominated by a small number of tech giants—namely Google, Microsoft, and Apple. But since Big Tech has been cozying up to the second Trump administration, which has taken an aggressive stance on foreign policy, and Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has ravaged through the government, some attitudes towards using US-based digital services have been changing.

While movements to shift from US digital services aren’t new, they’ve intensified in recent months. Companies in Europe have started moving away from some US cloud giants in favor of services that handle data locally, and there have been efforts from officials in Europe to shift to homegrown tech that has fewer perceived risks. For example, the French and German governments have created their own Docs word processor to rival Google Docs.

Meanwhile, one consumer poll released in March had 62 percent of people from nine European countries saying that large US tech companies were a threat to the continent’s sovereignty. At the same time, lists of non-US tech alternatives and European-based tech options have seen a surge in visitors in recent months.

For three of the most widely used tech services—email, web browsers, and search engines—we’ve been through some of the alternatives that are privacy-focused and picked some options you may want to consider. Other options are available, but these organizations and companies aim to minimize data they collect and often put privacy first.

There are caveats, though. While many of the services on this list are based outside of the US, there’s still the potential that some of them rely upon Big Tech services themselves—for instance, some search engines can use results or indexes provided by Big Tech, while companies may use software or services, such as cloud hosting, that are created by US tech firms. So trying to distance yourself entirely may not be as straightforward as it first looks.

Web Browsers

Mullvad

Based in Sweden, Mullvad is perhaps best known for its VPN, but in 2023 the organization teamed up with digital anonymity service Tor to create the Mullvad Browser. The open source browser, which is available only on desktop, says it collects no user data and is focused on privacy. The browser has been designed to stop people from tracking you via browser fingerprinting as you move around the web, plus it has a “private mode” that isolates tracking cookies enabled by default. “The underlying policy of Mullvad is that we never store any activity logs of any kind,” its privacy policy says. The browser is designed to work with Mullvad’s VPN but is also compatible with any VPN that you might use.

Vivaldi

WIRED’s Scott Gilbertson swears by Vivaldi and has called it the web’s best browser. Available on desktop and mobile, the Norwegian-headquartered browser says it doesn’t profile your behavior. “The sites you visit, what you type in the browser, your downloads, we have no access to that data,” the company says. “It either stays on your local machine or gets encrypted.” It also blocks trackers and hosts data in Iceland, which has strong data protection laws. Its privacy policy says it anonymizes IP addresses and doesn’t share browsing data.

Search Engines

Qwant French search engine Qwant has built its own search index, crawling more than 20 billion pages to create its own records of the web. Creating a search index is a hugely costly, laborious process, and as a result, many alternative search engines will not create an extensive index and instead use search results from Google or Microsoft’s Bing—enhancing them with their own data and algorithms. Qwant says it uses Bing to “supplement” search results that it hasn’t indexed. Beyond this, Qwant says it does not use targeted advertising, or store people’s search history. “Your data remains confidential, and the processing of your data remains the same,” the company says in its privacy policy.

Mojeek

Mojeek, based out of the United Kingdom, has built its own web crawler and index, saying that its search results are “100% independent.” The search engine does not track you, it says in its privacy policy, and only keeps some specific logs of information. “Mojeek removes any possibility of tracking or identifying any particular user,” its privacy policy says. It uses its own algorithms to rank search results, not using click or personalization data to create ranks, and says that this can mean two people searching for the same thing while in different countries can receive the same search results.

Startpage

Based in the Netherlands, Startpage says that when you make a search request, the first thing that happens is it removes your IP address and personal data—it doesn’t use any tracking cookies, it says. The company uses Google and Bing to provide its search results but says it acts as an “intermediary” between you and the providers. “Startpage submits your query to Google and Bing anonymously on your behalf, then returns the results to you, privately,” it says on its website. “Google and Microsoft do not know who made the search request—instead, they only see Startpage.”

Ecosia

Nonprofit search engine Ecosia uses the money it makes to help plant trees. The company also offers various privacy promises when you search with it, too. Based in Germany, the company says it doesn’t collect excessive data and doesn’t use search data to personalize ads. Like other search alternatives, Ecosia uses Google’s and Bing’s search results (you can pick which one in the settings). “We only collect and process data that is necessary to provide you with the best search results (which includes your IP address, search terms and session behavioral data),” the company says on its website. The information it collects is gathered to provide search results from its Big Tech partners and detect fraud, it says. (At the end of 2024, Ecosia partnered with Qwant to build more search engine infrastructure in Europe).

Email Providers

ProtonMail

Based in Switzerland, Proton started with a privacy-focused email service and has built out a series of apps, including cloud storage, docs, and a VPN to rival Google. The company says it cannot read any messages in people’s inboxes, and it offers end-to-end encryption for emails sent to other Proton Mail addresses, as well as a way to send password protected emails to non Proton accounts. It blocks trackers in emails and has multiple account options, including both free and paid choices. Its privacy policy describes what information the company has access to, which includes sender and recipient email addresses, plus IP addresses where messages arrive from, message subject lines, and when emails are sent. (Despite Switzerland’s strong privacy laws, the government has recently announced it may require encrypted services to keep user’s data, something that Proton has pushed back on).

Tuta

Tuta, which used to be called Tutanota and is based in Germany, says it encrypts email content, subject lines, calendars, address books, and other data in your inbox. “The only unencrypted data are mail addresses of users as well as senders and recipients of emails,” it says on its website, adding that users’ encryption keys cannot be accessed by developers. Like Proton, emails sent between Tuta accounts are end-to-end encrypted, and you can send password protected emails when messaging an account from another email provider. The company also has an end-to-end encrypted calendar and offers both free and paid plans.