Why I moved back to Gmail from Fastmail

May 26, 2026 I am aware that my time on Earth is finite. At 81 years old, I don't plan on going anywhere soon, but I recognize that I won't be here forever. Lately I’ve been thinking about making things easier for the people who will eventually have to pick up the pieces after I’m gone. Years ago I moved away from Google services for privacy reasons. Email went to Fastmail. Calendar went to Apple. I still used Google Search, and lately I’ve found myself using Gemini more and more. Now Apple is integrating Gemini into its own AI features, which makes the whole separation feel a little less meaningful than it once did. The older I get, the more I think privacy on the modern internet is mostly an illusion. Cameras are everywhere. Trackers follow everything we do online. Retailers know what we buy. Streaming services know what we watch. AI companies are scraping everything they can get their hands on, including everything we willingly feed into them. I still use an ad blocker, but at this…