➡ The author criticizes the over-reliance on technology, particularly Apple products, and the invasion of privacy they bring. He suggests that people are being manipulated into believing they need these products. However, he clarifies that he is not anti-tech, but rather privacy-focused. He shares his own tech habits, which include using a mechanical watch instead of an Apple Watch, a professional camera instead of an iPhone, and open-source phones with privacy-focused apps.
➡ The author uses a Google phone without Google services, avoiding apps like Gmail, Google Docs, and YouTube, as well as Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. Instead, they use apps like Spotify, Amazon, Kindle, and Netflix. They also use a VPN for privacy and run Linux on their laptops for data security. They own a Tesla, which they believe doesn’t collect personal data, and avoid IoT devices like Google Home and Amazon Ring for privacy reasons. They also have a YouTube channel with over 500,000 subscribers.
➡ Braxtech is launching the new Brax 3 phone in January, with pre-orders now available on their website. They’re fixing a glitch with credit card payments and suggest checking their site for updates. They also offer privacy-focused products like the Brax virtual phone for extra phone numbers, Braxmail for unlimited email aliases, and BitesVPN for IP address protection. All these products can be found on Braxme.

Are you into tech fads? Some of you don’t even realize how you’ve been suckered into artificial needs and wants. Buy big tech marketing and you pay for it by living in the matrix. Here are some examples. A friend of mine said to me, I make a point of walking 10,000 steps a day. Say what? 10,000 steps? Why not just say you walked two miles? Well, of course, this is an Apple Watch kind of thing. This is now the new measure of your health. Another friend put all of his life’s photos, including those he converted to digital, on his phone so his phone has everything.

Then he gets to interrupt some conversation to show some very old photo. And of course, this is the same guy that will have Siri interject with some factoid. With his photos and constant hey Siri interactions, he will of course love Apple Intelligence. And Apple Intelligence will have all his intelligence made just for him. Of course, I don’t even bother talking about the dangers of iPhones with my friends, though my anti-iPhone 16 video has already exceeded 1 million views. So someone is listening at least. But I know that if I ask normal people why an iPhone, I get the typical fanboy answer of, it takes the best photos.

Yeah? Who told you that? Oh yeah, Apple says privacy is iPhone. Yeah, right. Another matrix like behavior is when someone says to me that he has to use WhatsApp. It’s non-negotiable. Everyone he talks to is on Facebook and WhatsApp. I’ve managed to survive with either Facebook, WhatsApp, or Instagram. Somehow I don’t feel like a weirdo. People on the street crossing an intersection. Crossing a busy intersection. And instead of paying attention to traffic, they are looking at their phones in the middle of the road. I really wonder why there aren’t more accidents. I’ve survived outside of the matrix.

I don’t follow the trends that Tim Cook dictates, but you’ll be wrong if you imagine me to be some anti-tech Luddite. Well, folks, in this video, I talk about what I personally do, and you can judge for yourself if I live like a sucking caveman. Everything I do is with a privacy focus in mind, yet you might have the wrong impression of me. I think Joe Rogan had a wrong impression of me. I’m not really that different. I don’t forgo what most of you do to enjoy life. In fact, I’m very techie. Except what a few minor changes in understanding of the world, I enjoy a safer life.

It’s not that hard. If you know what I do in real life as a privacy-aware person, you could copy some of what I do. Want to find out what it is I do? Stay right there. The difference between me and the average person listening to Tim Cook at an Apple event is that I have very extensive tech knowledge. Not only do I explain all these privacy and security concepts here to you on YouTube, but I’ve had decades and decades of experience as an enterprise software architect. The reason I’m seemingly so knowledgeable is that since I’ve done just about every kind of tech software in the past, I can predict how someone will use any new tech breakthrough.

This gives me an idea of the potential dangers of any new tech. And surprisingly to many, including my YouTuber friend David Bombal, is that my predictions are pretty much always on the mark. I’ve done three interviews with David so far, and he’s always intrigued by what I will predict since it will always cause him to doubt its accuracy. But then it turns out to be correct after he researches it later. The point is that I have a good understanding of the threats to our privacy. But the assumption is that since I know what the risks are, you would imagine that I would have no internet access, have no phone, and pretty much disappear online.

Which of course is not actually how I live my life. My point is that if you know what I do, you will see that it’s not much of a sacrifice, it just involves some awareness and some changing of habits. Yes, there’s work involved to fight the invasion of privacy, but I don’t live with a tinfoil hat on my head. I’m just aware. Being aware means I don’t take what Tim Cook says as reality. I don’t buy big-text depictions of what a cool modern person looks like, one dependent on iPhones and Google Docs and Gmail.

Some of the things I push are completely low-tech. Some of them are very high-tech. Well, let’s see what my life is like and you can judge for yourself. Since we’re talking Apple, I can assume that you know that I would never have an Apple Watch. So what do I use? Well, if you carry a phone, you know that you don’t really need a watch since you can pull out your phone. But I’m actually super low-tech here. I’m a mechanical watch enthusiast. I’m in the watch-collecting hobby. Here, for example, is what I’m currently wearing, which is an Omega Speedmaster.

This is a modern variant of the Moon Watch from the 1960s. I just love that this watch was built without any silicon chips or without anything electrical in it. Just human hands and human tools. This is probably a very anti-tech choice, I imagine. Though really, I think Omega watches are made by robots now. Here’s a controversial watch that I own. This is a collector’s item. This is a Seagull 1963, which is a Chinese-made chronometer watch used in the Chinese Air Force in 1963. Actually, it was designed in Switzerland and sold to China, but it’s historical for $200.

Not everything has to be super expensive. But because I’m Asian, there will always be the snarky remark that I’m CCP, though I’m not even Chinese. Take note, though. I’m not going to wear an Apple watch that is not only tied to the surveillance iPhone but is tracking my biometrics all day. I’ll stick to the mechanical watches. Thank you. So the Apple fanboys say you need the iPhone to get the best camera. Okay, let’s compare that to the camera I actually use. I obviously do a lot of camera stuff because I do videos. This is a Sony ZV-E1 camera.

You can see some of the lenses I have for it over here. The point is that there is no way that an iPhone can beat the quality of this camera. Now, obviously, this device is all high tech. It has the highest level of technology as far as cameras are concerned. But this is not connected to the internet, and everything that transpires is between me and the SD card on the camera. This camera is so good that it has the same exact specs as the cameras used to create Netflix videos, meaning professional stuff. I’ve got a lot to learn to raise my videos to the pro level, but at least I’m not starting from an iPhone.

Now, this is an expensive camera. This set here could pay for multiple iPhones, but even the medium level Sony cameras would beat the best iPhone, no doubt. Well, obviously, you’d expect me to carry a safe phone. So I’m carrying this iPhone 6 here, which is running IOD OS. I change phones all the time before I was using a Brax 2 phone. It could even be different Brax 2 phones. Soon, I’ll get my hands on the new Brax 3 phone, which is slated for release in January. It’s on pre-order now. I’ll be sure to show it to you when I get it.

But anyone who has a phone will likely wonder, how is it that I can change phones so quickly? Don’t I have to transfer a million photos, ton of emails, and all my contacts? No, it isn’t that much work for me, and this is probably the biggest difference between me and the average iPhone user. I actually mostly use my phone as a phone. I don’t really put much of my stuff on a phone. Even if I take photos, I will often auto-back it up on my Synology drive, or I will sync it with my laptop.

So I’m not forgoing technology at all. I’m just making the deliberate choice of avoiding a focus on mobile tech. You see, in all my lessons on privacy, 80% of the privacy threats are actually on the mobile phone. Now, this is changing. Microsoft and Apple are eager to add threats to PCs as well, with Microsoft Copilot and Apple Intelligence. But I can get around that. Because I don’t rely on my phone as my data storage device, which is an important consideration for privacy, I can change phones constantly with little effort. Now, let’s have no doubt that all my phones are open source phones, no Google or Apple on it, ever.

So the next question is, what apps I run? You’d think I’d be so hyper about what apps I run. It’s not actually as restrictive as you might think. So if you know what I do, then you might understand that it is not that restrictive for you either. I have preset rules, apps I cannot install, and apps I will never install. The Google phones that I use, like this Pixel 6, which is running Android AOSP, does not have Google mobile services. This is required by most Google apps. So the first thing you will realize is that you cannot use most Google apps.

So no Gmail, no Google Docs, no YouTube, no Google Photos, and so on. But in a pinch, you can still access Google, even YouTube, on a browser. What other apps do I ban from my phones? Well, the only real big problem is anything meta. So Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp are never installed on my phones. Absolutely never. Beyond this, I don’t have much restrictions. I use Spotify, Amazon, Kindle, BankApp, Signal, Netflix, Prime Video. I can definitely run TikTok, Snapchat, Pinterest, Yelp, and stuff like that as well. But I don’t personally find that useful for me.

I’ve tested them though, and they work great on a Google phone. I can even use Waze and even Google Maps, though I don’t really need them now. But they’re fine, as long as you don’t log into Google. By the way, the thing I hate the most is when I go to a restaurant and they don’t give me a menu, and I have to use a QR code. This is a pet peeve of mine because this is an example of the new phone culture I detest. I’d rather get a real menu and real service.

Otherwise, why not just do Uber Eats? And to close this out, Uber and Lyft do not work on the Google phones. They really need the spyware provided by Google Mobile Services. So in a pinch, they run on a browser. Me, I never use these apps. So in general, the only concern I have on my phone is with Google sites that I access from a browser. Because the phone does not have a Google ID, Google itself can’t really track your device identifiers like IMEI and so on. But they will attempt to record your IP address if you use a browser.

This is easily handled even with cell data. That will stop them. Or otherwise, if you are using Wi-Fi, use a VPN. But the problem is that Google sites running on a browser will track the IP address constantly even when you leave the browser. So you have to clear cookies to stop further tracking. So that’s what I do. My house runs a VPN router. So the only way to use Wi-Fi in my house is through a VPN router. But to be honest, I seldom use my phone when I’m at home. I use the computer. So I only access Google on the phone from a browser in an emergency.

But I just clear cookies after using it. I have several laptops since I do software development and sometimes I have to do testing. What you see here is my main daily driver. This is a Dell XPS 15. And I have another which is a Dell XPS 13. The main difference with the Dell XPS 15 is that it has an NVIDIA GPU. So I use it for video editing and for doing AI work. Yes, I do a lot of stuff with a local AI as I discussed in my AI videos. That is totally non-cave man. But look at this laptop.

You will see that I’m running Linux on it. Both of these are running Linux. This is what I use when I have real data on it. I don’t care if I’m running Windows if I don’t have personal data on the computer. But if I don’t want to be tracked, I use Linux. This one here is running Ubuntu and the Dell XPS 13 is running PopOS. They’re running great actually. I do just about everything on Linux. This Dell here is dual boot with Windows, but I rarely go to Windows and my Windows instance is a fresh install with no data.

I’m definitely aware that Microsoft Windows and macOS will be scanning my data on device. So no more of that for me. All Linux. But I have to be honest with you. I’m not all anti-Google. Not only am I a major YouTube creator, I’m actually addicted to YouTube even with their censorship. Even when they demonetized my iPhone video. I hardly watch movies, but I am on YouTube constantly. How do I do it safely? I have a dedicated browser just for Google and I keep it separate from any non-Google interaction. This simple procedure allows me to enjoy what I enjoy without much concern about privacy.

This is the part that is most unexpected of what I do. And it is part of the question of what apps I have on my phone. Because one of the apps that I have on my Google phone, which works fine by the way, is a Tesla app. Yes, I have a Tesla. In fact, I’m on my third Tesla. I have a long history of buying mostly Mercedes-Benz. But no, I didn’t buy an EV Mercedes. I stuck to Tesla. Some of you wonder why I chose Tesla. I’m sure you’re all thinking about all the spyware in all cars.

Well, that is true that spyware of some sort exists in all cars. I don’t actually see that Tesla particularly stands out here. In fact, on Tesla, you can choose not to have internet connectivity. You could just provide internet in the car through some hot spot. Then this would prevent the car from communicating. However, in reality, I found that Tesla is not a company that is focused on collection of personal data in anything I’ve detected. Even crash data is kept on the car itself. Camera actions are kept within the car itself and stored on a local drive, which you can access.

Yeah, it may be safer to drive a 1970s car without tech. But here in California, you can’t really keep an old car. So you’re forced to get a newer one. I don’t Uber, by the way. That would have a more extensive tracking of my locations. The real reason I have a Tesla is because it’s really a good car. It performs well. My last one had zero service over three years. Zero. Plus, I wanted to learn about AI, you know, self-driving. Try that with a Mercedes. It’s very fast. No trips to the gas station. Easy long distance travel within 500 miles.

To be honest, all my decision-making was completely based on my perceptions as a consumer. I didn’t make any decision based on guilt about the environment or even the cost of fuel. In fact, in California, the cost of fuel versus electricity is almost equal anyway. So I just like it. That’s really the only reason. Now, I have a standard DSL service, but I also have Starlink. I really only bought Starlink for testing and as a backup. It is more expensive than my normal DSL, but it is nice as a VPN alternative when some site blocks a VPN.

Because it uses IPv6, it shields me when I cannot use a VPN. Can Starlink spy on you? That’s not really all that relevance since 99% of what I do on the internet is protected with HTTPS or TLS. Anyway, I’m more concerned about the IPv4 address. Now, as far as phone carriers, I’ve changed this several times though mostly I’ve stuck with T-Mobile MVNOs. No real reason other than service. But nowadays, I get extra lines with Brac’s virtual phone and I just love that. The less exposure to phone carriers, the better. You might be wondering about what other electronics I use in my house.

I definitely do not use any IoT devices like Google Home or Apple HomeKit nor do I use Amazon Ring cameras. You will never catch me using Alexa Echo either. And of course, no AirTag since I don’t use an iPhone. I’ve tested with the Tile Pro, which is okay because I never identified myself with them. But it’s not very accurate. What about security systems? Well, in the past, I made and actually sold my own security camera system with my own software using a Raspberry Pi. We actually 3D printed the cases and had several around my property.

But I found that Eufy, which you can find on Amazon, does a pretty good job. And it keeps my data on its local hard drive. No issues with privacy here. What about TVs? By the way, you can hardly buy a TV nowadays. That is not a smart TV or that doesn’t have some sort of Alexa in it. So it means microphones in the TVs themselves are standard now. Strangely enough, I hardly ever use the TV. I’m the caveman, but on the computer all day. Not a phone, not a TV. So the TVs are off 90% of the time.

Just make sure they’re really off by disconnecting them from power if that concerns you. Of course, some of you are aware of my other YouTube channels. I have a sailing channel and a jazz channel. I’m an avid sailor and a jazz pianist. Hey man, I’ve finally gotten past 500,000 subscribers here on YouTube. I think that’s pretty cool actually, but I don’t have to act cool with my devices. Let’s all act cool together with our secret and how to make technology work for us. Folks this channel is supported by all of you that are part of this community.

Thank you for supporting us on Patreon and locals and YouTube membership. By the way we are releasing the new Brax 3 phone in January and right now we are setting up the pre-orders on Braxtech.net. We had a little bit of a glitch with that being able to take credit cards, so that will hopefully be handled soon by ordering it from Indiegogo. Please check announcements on Braxtech.net. We are also happy to provide product that help with your privacy and I personally use all of these. We have the Brax virtual phone which allows you to have additional phone numbers so you can keep your phone number from being an ID card on the internet.

We have Braxmail which is incredible because it allows unlimited aliases you can just invent on the fly. It allows you to create different internet identities and you can block each one instantly. We have BitesVPN which protects your IP address from being used to track you on the internet. All these products are available on Braxme. Thank you for your continued support and I’ll see you all next time. [tr:trw].

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