Why I broke up with Gmail

November 13, 2025
by shae
A white smart phone on a white background with Google's logo on the screen scratched out with black marker

Image Source: http://www.quotecatalog.com/

    Tldr (Too long didn’t read) version

    I’ve had my Gmail account for 20 years and I finally said goodbye this year. I switched to Mayfirst.org and using Mozilla Thunderbird as an email client. It took some work but I’m pleased with the result! I did this as a commitment to my values and the work that we do at Sassafras – helping organizations migrate off Google Apps and Office 365 – platforms that are causing increasing harm in the world and providing less and less practical benefits.

    But where did things go wrong?!?!

    New Relationship Energy

    There was a time when Google seemed to be a company at the pinnacle of privacy & responsible business practices. “Don’t be evil” was their motto and they were giving people free email addresses and plenty of storage at a time when storage was not cheap. Google Chrome was considered the fastest and most private browser. They even had a team called the “Data Liberation Front”. But even then the cracks were forming around the edges of this picture perfect image of trust & responsibility.

    The Honeymoon is over

    As their need for growth became a higher priority as a public traded company. They have followed the “Enshittification” process as described by Cory Doctorow nearly to the t. Which describes the first step as (I’m paraphrasing) “Neglecting their users”. This can be seen in:

    • 2012 – Privacy shift – Sharing user data across sites & services
    • 2016 – Silently dropping personally-identifiable info ban
    • 2017 – Admitting emails were being scanned/mined for ads

    One sided relationship

    There is no healthy relationship where there is no space for conversation and listening. As the priority for profit and justifying their decisions to investors increases, Google and their like de-prioritize feedback from users and customers. This can be seen in how they are not even letting people opt out of their features:

    • 2024 – Training so called “generative ai models” using data unless opted out
    • 2025 – Forced opting in to extractive & wasteful generative ai  “features”
    • 2025 – Removing promise to not use AI for weapons & war

    Change is scary

    It’s true that alternatives can take some getting used to. We’ve all become accustomed to things the Google or Microsoft way, even just the way things look. But we believe that in the long run it’s worth making the switch. And even though change is scary, you don’t have to do it alone! At Sassafras we are helping individuals, businesses and non-profits make the switch one platform at a time. And remember all progress counts! These platforms are ingrained deeply into our lives so it’s going to take time to completely break free.