One man’s difficult journey to disconnect from 'creepy' tech giants

A director of a Wellington-based business is overhauling his use of technology, attempting to “decouple” from the likes of Meta, Microsoft and Google - but he’s come to realise it’s not as easy as simply making a switch.

Vincent Olsen-Reeder, works in what he describes as the "AI technology space" but says he is no expert. He's spent the last few weeks diving into alternative options to the readily available big tech software as he believes their security and privacy measures are severely lacking.

“I’ve just been feeling lately they’re not serving me like they used to be," he said. "This isn’t a way I want my life documented or recorded.”

The feeling turned to action when he read a notion by author Ash Sarkar in her book Minority Rule. “One of the things that she mentions is we aren’t users of these products, we are the contributors to their products, and I never thought about myself like that.

“I always thought of myself as a Facebook user, but actually I’m a Facebook seller and Facebook are the purchaser of my data – they’re just purchasing it for free.”

When he thought about the personal data put in and on social media platforms and how it's used by platform owners to create more products and services and - in some cases - to sell to other companies, he decided enough was enough.

“I am selling, and I am selling for free, but I am selling myself. I am selling every keystroke, I am selling every file, I am selling every photo to them for free, for their own use. It’s a bit creepy when you start thinking about it like that.”

There is a growing concern in some quarters about how dependent people and nations have become on big tech platforms, which are predominantly US owned and operated.

In 2025, tech critic and podcaster Paris Marx told Q+A there was an over-reliance on US tech services and infrastructure to the detriment of a country’s digital sovereignty.

There are very real fears of misuse too, as recent disputes between big tech companies and the US government continue to highlight the volatility of an unregulated industry, especially during these turbulent times.

Social media platforms were supposed to be built to connect people, but that’s become less and less the case, said Olsen-Reeder.

“It used to be, Facebook for example, the ability to catch up with friends that I don’t get to see every day, the ability to keep track of their lives and share in their successes, and see what they’re up to in a really easy way. But more and more, Facebook are not delivering that anyway.

“It’s very ad orientated, it’s very politically orientated. We already know from algorithm stuff they’re starting to hide people’s individual feeds to give you more adverts, more politically polarising stuff to keep you on the platform typing.”

The actions Olsen-Reeder has taken are extensive.

Over a period of two weeks he has changed his computer’s operating system, switched browsers, given up his ChatGPT subscription and removed all data from OpenAI. He’s in the process of shifting his email addresses to a more secure platform and he’s removed data from Facebook and closed his account.

He’s also downloaded an alternative word processing software, “invested” in a different mapping app that is “privacy focused” and is using a virtual private network (VPN).

He’s quick to point out that he’s no expert in the matter. As a director of a Māori language-focused business, ReoPol Ltd, with a PhD in te reo Māori revitalisation and bilingualism, there's been a fair bit of trial and error in the process.

He said he's been spending about two hours every day “doing random things to try and either limit what new stuff is going into those places or to try and take stuff down”.

An issue he’s encountered includes incompatibility between two systems.

“I’ve migrated my Google calendar to a new calendar platform that’s private, and of course when I did that the time systems didn’t talk to each so now my entire Google calendar is out by a day and three hours. So all of these things don’t talk to each other anymore, but that’s the price that you pay for trying to do something like this."

He added: “People might be interested to know that you have to pay for your privacy, so none of this stuff is free anymore. This is something that comes with the privilege of access to money.

"It's really sad that the tools that are free, they’re free for a reason - that’s because you’re paying another way.”

Having gone to such lengths so far, he is pragmatic about his chances of success.

“None of those things guarantee that data about me isn’t going to go anywhere, but it’s like you’re trying to find the best-case scenarios that you possibly can.”

Asked about disconnecting from the internet entirely, he says that’s not the goal.

“I don’t want to disconnect completely. I work over the internet. I’m in the AI technology space, so for me, it’s not about disconnecting.

"It’s about seeking out really great avenues to keep my data safe, keep my data protected. But also to try and pre-empt what other people might want to do with my data and taking proactive steps to keep the decision-making level of what happens to it as close to me as possible.”

The experience so far has led him to the conclusion that everyday people need to be aware of what they have signed up for when using these tech services.

He also believes that those in the know – “academics and our people who are really well-known voices in transmitting thought” – need to inform the masses without dressing it up in jargon.

“Now’s the time to put it in plain English, get it out of the lecture theatre, out of the university tower and put it in front of actual people and say ‘do this, don’t do that, here’s how you can do it for free, here’s what you might have to give up’.

"Just do it and do it as fast as you possibly can cause I’m reasonably tech literate but it’s hard.”