That makes sense! It’s a constant effort, not a one time thing, to maintain our privacy. It comes in layers. No need to focus much on my previous comment about self-hosting.

You’ve got it backwards, my dude. I’d get your data off of google’s servers. They own everything that hits their servers, including your data.

Protonmail is a solid option. Tutanota is another great second email option that I use. There are others.

If you’re even moderately techy, consider setting up a private cloud on Oracle’s servers for free in their free teir program. You can self-host your own nextcloud, with all the apps included. Edited to add, there are tutorials for this available, which is why I mention it