In my seemingly never-ending quest to replace all things Google, I’ve finally found some solid, private alternatives to Google Sheets and Google Forms. And we’ll also talk about how the EU is looking to create competing products to reduce their dependence on Big Tech from Silicon Valley.

In the news: Australian drivers’ info exposed in breach; school admissions website leaked student data; Discord is rolling out age verification; more countries move to ban social media for kids; Big Tech companies volunteer data to DHS on anti-ICE users; Meta wanted to sneak out facial recognition; researchers find tricky bugs in password managers; DJI robovacs were wide open on the internet; Ring’s mass surveillance efforts garner blow back; Russia blocks WhatsApp and Telegram.

Article Links

More than 200,000 Australian drivers exposed in massive data breach https://www.drive.com.au/news/over-200000-driver-licences-hacked-in-massive-data-breach/
Bug in student admissions website exposed children’s personal information https://techcrunch.com/2026/02/19/bug-in-student-admissions-website-exposed-childrens-personal-information/
Discord will require a face scan or ID for full access next month https://www.theverge.com/tech/875309/discord-age-verification-global-roll-out
These are the countries moving to ban social media for children https://techcrunch.com/2026/02/17/social-media-ban-children-countries-list/
Reddit, Meta, and Google Voluntarily Gave DHS Info of Anti-ICE Users https://gizmodo.com/reddit-meta-and-google-voluntarily-gave-dhs-info-of-anti-ice-users-report-says-2000722279
Meta reportedly wants to add face recognition to smart glasses while privacy advocates are distracted https://www.theverge.com/tech/878725/meta-facial-recognition-smart-glasses-name-tag-privacy-advoates
Password managers less secure than promised https://ethz.ch/en/news-and-events/eth-news/news/2026/02/password-managers-less-secure-than-promised.html
The DJI Romo robovac had security so poor, this man remotely accessed thousands of them https://www.theverge.com/tech/879088/dji-romo-hack-vulnerability-remote-control-camera-access-mqtt
With Ring, American Consumers Built a Surveillance Dragnet https://www.404media.co/with-ring-american-consumers-built-a-surveillance-dragnet/
WhatsApp and Telegram blocked in Russia, Meta ‘extremist organization’ https://9to5mac.com/2026/02/12/whatsapp-and-telegram-blocked-in-russia-as-meta-designated-an-extremist-organization/
Europe is ready to ditch US tech for private alternatives https://proton.me/blog/european-alternative-us-tech-survey
Tip of the Week: https://firewallsdontstopdragons.com/de-google-my-life-part-5/

Further Info

Avoid tax scams: https://firewallsdontstopdragons.com/its-tax-scam-time/
Try Mastodon! https://firewallsdontstopdragons.com/how-to-move-to-mastodon/
Proton referral link: https://pr.tn/ref/ZMNG3DNK
My book: https://fdsd.me/book
My newsletter: https://fdsd.me/newsletter
Support our mission! https://fdsd.me/support
Give the gift of privacy and security: https://fdsd.me/coupons
Get your Firewalls Don’t Stop Dragons Merch! https://fdsd.me/merch

0:00:07: Intro
0:01:54: News rundown
0:04:27: 200k+ Australian drivers’ data exposed
0:08:08: Aadmissions site exposed children’s info
0:12:44: Discord to implement age checks
0:23:50: Countries looking to ban social media for kids
0:29:40: Meta, Google Gave DHS Info of Anti-ICE Users
0:32:37: Meta wants to add face recognition while privacy advocates are distracted
0:37:10: Password manager bugs fixed
0:39:57: DJI robovacs security flaw fixed
0:45:43: Ring’s new Search Party feature
0:56:36: Russia blocks Telegram, WhatsApp
0:59:15: Europe is ready to ditch US tech
1:04:26: Tip of the Week
1:08:07: Proton referral
1:08:50: Patron podcast preview
1:09:20: Looking ahead

Article Links

Further Info

Table of Contents

New Google Alternatives