Should you trust Google with your data?

No.

Longer answer: H*ll no.

Anyone who thinks the answer to that question is "yes" should not be using the internet.

Do I trust them?!?! Hmmm,... Trick question... I trust them to serve their interests with it (mine it for ad data, sell a pipeline to me for ads, give me "freebies" in return,...), but Google is also subservient to the Gov't (for no fault of their own, and not for a lack of trying to fight it). I can't trust the Gov't with my data... after all, wasn't it Cardinal Richelieu (controversial, I know) who said, "If you give me six lines written by the hand of the most honest of men, I will find something in them which will hang him."

The bottom line is that unless you live like Richard Stallman,... No cellphone, encrypt everything, no proprietary firmware binary blobs,... You are "touchable" by the Gov't (through your cell carrier, your ISP, your bank, your employer, etc., etc. ...). If you chose and can live like that,... more power to you... I personally support the Second Amendment to the US Constitution,... But I also chose not to own a firearm (too much trouble for what it's worth to me). That might change, in the future,... but probably not. The same can be said of digital freedoms.

Counter-proposition: steganography.

>Counter-proposition: steganography.

Counter-counter proposition: Rent a non-Google server and install postfix, courier, and nextcloud.

All your data is still your data. All you need to do is properly configure the server and do your own backups. It will probably cost about $10 to $15 per month and along with about 2 hours of labor per month after initial config.

Or.

Counter-counter-counter proposition: Virtual host like Hostgator or something... again it will cost you a few dollars a month, but no Google grabbing your data.

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There are numerous other ways to rid yourself of Google services too. It may take some effort, but that's true with anything worth having.

>Counter-counter proposition: Rent a non-Google server and install postfix, courier, and nextcloud.

The best thing to do, the thing I did. Unfortunately, none of the sheeple around me understand this choice. We can't help the helpless, can we ?

>The best thing to do, the thing I did.

One of the most important things to do when registering a new domain is to insert a DMARC policy entry in DNS. Every system that compiles 'reputation' markers for delivery of email to 'not spam'/'spam' will look for the DMARC record and 'usually' follow the policy.

So for anyone 'out there' who doesn't know, set up the DMARC even if, and maybe especially if, your domain does not send email:

This site may be helpful if help is needed:

https://dmarcian.com/dmarc-inspector/

For a domain without email a simple 'reject' will help protect your domain's reputation.

Something like this:

v=DMARC1; p=reject; adkim=s; aspf=s;

I found this helpful when setting up my DMARC...

https://dmarc.org/wiki/FAQ