Lots of us are nervous about the extent to which Big Tech companies (think: Facebook, Google, Amazon, and so on) monitor and track our behavior, bombard us with unwanted ads, turn everything into increasingly expensive subscriptions, and seemingly get away with all sorts of other misbehavior. For some people, it’s a practical matter of wanting to avoid annoyances or protect their privacy; others have ethical concerns about supporting businesses they see as harmful.
We here at Take Control Books feel this is an important subject to cover for our audience. But sometimes, doing justice to a topic requires more than just words and screenshots. So, instead of creating a book, we’re doing something different: a live video course, led by Joe Kissell, in which he can demonstrate things on screen, answer questions in real time, and shape the content of the course as it goes to meet your needs.
Besides live classes, the course includes a discussion forum for all participants where you can ask questions or make comments, downloadable PDFs with additional information and resources, and optional (but recommended) homework and quizzes after each class. PLUS, everyone who enrolls in this course gets a free copy of Take Control of Your Online Privacy and Take Control of iCloud, a combined value of $29.98!
The four live sessions—each roughly 90 minutes long, including questions—will be held over eight weeks. Each session starts at 11 a.m. PDT (that’s 12 p.m. CST/MDT, 1 p.m. CDT, 2 p.m. EDT, 6 p.m. GMT/UTC, 7 p.m. BST, and 8 p.m. CEST) on the following dates:
- Saturday, May 23, 2026
- Saturday, June 06, 2026
Saturday, June 20, 2026postponed to Saturday, June 27, 2026- Saturday, July 11, 2026
But, if those times and dates don’t work out for your schedule or you’ve already missed one or more live classes, don’t worry. All sessions are recorded so you can watch the videos at your leisure. And, even if you can’t ask questions during a live class, you can ask them before or after the class in the course’s discussion forum.
Tip: Be sure to check the FAQ tab, above, for questions and answers about this course!
Topics Joe will cover in the class include (among others):
- Why you should be concerned about Big Tech
- What the major companies are doing behind your back
- Dealing with the reality that you can’t (and probably wouldn’t want to) completely abandon all Big Tech companies, products, and services
- Choosing a browser that respects your privacy—and changing settings to stay safer
- Why Google is no longer a smart choice for web searching and what you can use instead
- How to block ads almost everywhere, and why you should (even if you like seeing some of them)
- Safer ways of handling email (in terms of both your provider and your email app)
- Improving the privacy of calendars, contacts, and notes as you sync them across devices and share them with other people
- How you can actively use social media without selling your soul
- Options for viewing streaming video that reduce privacy issues
- How to choose a safe cloud storage provider
- Why you might want to break your habit of buying everything online from Amazon (and how to do it)
- The benefits and risks of using various password managers
- What to do when subscriptions for apps and services become overwhelming
- The thorny issues of using generative AI, LLMs, and chatbots and what your options are
- How smart devices (speakers, thermostats, TVs, and more) can pose privacy risks and what to do about them
- Other services from Google and Microsoft (maps, photos, translations, and so on) that may have unwanted side effects
- Whether Linux and FOSS (free and open-source software) are reasonable alternatives to Big Tech
Joe addressed several of these topics in Take Control of Your Online Privacy, which is included as a free bonus for everyone who takes this course, but the course goes both broader and deeper. And it’s not only about privacy, although that’s certainly part of it. It’s about taking back control of your data, your time, and your money from Big Tech companies.
To be clear, this course won’t tell you what you must do. That’s up to you! If you can’t, or don’t want to, follow any of the advice we offer, we’re not going to make you feel bad about your decision. We just want to lay out the facts as best we can and show you what you can do if you so choose.
Since this course costs more than our ebooks, we’re offering you the option to pay for it in installments over two or three months, if you prefer. Whether you do that or pay all at once, the price is the same.
One last thing! This course is hosted on a platform called Teachable, which has lots of essential course-related features our own site does not. When you buy the course, you’ll be directed to their site to check out. (Teachable uses Stripe for payment processing.) You may be asked to set up a new Teachable account with its own username and password; your Take Control credentials don’t automatically transfer over. We’re sorry for the slight extra hassle, but that’s beyond our control.
About Joe Kissell
Joe Kissell is the author of more than 75 books about technology. In 2017, he also became the publisher of Take Control Books, when alt concepts—the company he runs with his wife, Morgen Jahnke—acquired the Take Control imprint from TidBITS Publishing Inc.’s owners, Adam and Tonya Engst. Before he began writing full-time in 2003, Joe managed software development, a totally normal profession for someone with degrees in philosophy and linguistics.
In his rare non-work hours, Joe likes to walk, cook, read, and teach tai chi. He lives in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, with Morgen and their sons. You can follow him on Mastodon (@joekissell) or Bluesky (@joekissell.com), or visit his personal website, JoeKissell.com.