Get big tech, big government, and randos out of your business

Privacy Nowadays


## Who are you hiding from?

* manipulative advertisers
* nosy ex's
* nosy neighbors
* coworkers with an axe to grind
* rando zealots from the internet
* unscrupulous content outlets
* local and state governments infringing on rights
* world governments looking for a pawn

## Examples of creepy behavior



"I'm boring. Nobody cares what I do." That changed. Here's a sampling of creeps doing creepy things.

Why bother?

A lot of privacy guides go into a lot of detail and it can be overwhelming covering all of the caveats and considerations when you want a Day 1 action plan. This is an opinionated guide to get started quickly. I link to additional resources later. Let's start with free and easy changes you can make today.

## A Good Password Manager

If you're reusing passwords across sites or using a weak password that's easy for you to remember, that would undermine most of what we're working to solve here.

### Personal recommendation

Choose a long, good password for your password manager account, then use the desktop app and mobile app for that password manager to keep the strong, random passwords for your other accounts.

### Good

[Bitwarden](https://bitwarden.com/) or [1Password](https://1password.com/).

### Avoid

LastPass and password managers bundled with a browser.

## Get Better Browsers

Chrome and Edge are full of tracking to enrich Google and Microsoft at the expense of your privacy. Google is an advertising and surveillance company dressed as a tech gadget and software company. Microsoft is legendary for similar behavior.

Apple? No. Safari is a subpar browser that doesn't even have the source code open to public scrutiny. Apple touts it as being good for privacy but every feature it has is available in other browsers. Other browsers which get patched faster and have a better user experience.

Firefox is the best mainstream browser choice but Mozilla is starting to go down that data collection path out of desperation.

Browsers built on the core open source parts of Chrome and Firefox are available though.

### Good

#### Desktop

[Librewolf](https://librewolf.net/) and [Mullvad Browser](https://mullvad.net/en/browser) are Firefox-based and reputable.

[Chromium](https://www.chromium.org/getting-involved/download-chromium/#chromium) is Chrome-based and reputable. Sometimes it's needed for web apps and sites that were designed specifically for Chrome instead of being standards compliant. Flashbacks to Internet Explorer days. I would use it sparingly and favor Librewolf and Mullvad Browser.

#### Android

Librewolf and Mullvad Browser are not available on mobile. The next best thing is [Waterfox](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.waterfox.android.release). Add the icon to open in private mode, change the setting to open links in private mode by default, and make it the default browser.

GrapheneOS, a degoogled android phone distribution mentioned later, bundles a very good Chromium-based browser named [Vanadium](https://grapheneos.org/usage#web-browsing). It is a good option if you have it but does not have an option to default to private tabs.

#### iOS

In the US all iOS browsers still have Safari's rendering at their core even if they are Chrome, Firefox, etc on the outside. Waterfox is not available on iOS so the best case scenario is [Firefox Focus](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/firefox-focus-privacy-browser/id1055677337).

### Avoid

In my opinion, avoid Brave or any similar browser claiming to solve too many problems and bundle too many features.

Avoid browsers directly from Google, Apple, Microsoft, Samsung.

## Segment Use Cases

In other words, split up what you do into different browsers.

Think about how you use the web when you're logged into an account with your name attached. Then think about websites you visit without logging in. Keep those in separate browsers as a habit.

Later we'll use VPNs or proxies to keep them in separate locations.

## Keep A Clean Desk

Keeping more browser tabs open than you can recall off the top of your head is not privacy-friendly. Many browsers even mark tabs stale to save memory, leading to a tab management headache.

If it's important but you're not going to use it in the next 20 minutes and you don't need to log in again to open it, then **just bookmark it and close it**.

Set your browser to delete all history and site data when you close the browser. Anything important is bookmarked. **Anything that requires a login that you want to open quickly** (maybe Bluesky, YouTube, Reddit), **add that to the exception list**.

Some people choose to put all of their exceptions in one browser and leave the other exception free where it will always delete all site data and history from disk. Other people will sandbox some websites in one browser and other websites in another depending how they think the cookies may interact.

## Use Privacy-friendly Frontends for Common Sites

If you're just browsing content without being logged in, might as well use a content proxy frontend.

https://libredirect.github.io/ lists a number of pieces of software that act as intermediaries to make the content available without being exposed to the privacy concerns of connecting to the website directly.

An example of this would be software named Invidious. A site running that software https://inv.nadeko.net acts as a youtube proxy.

Another example of this would be software named Nitter. A site running that software named https://xcancel.com allows you to search tweets.

Sometimes those websites get blocked. To find new ones look through their wiki page for a section listing "instances" of them.

https://libredirect.github.io/ is a good list of the software names but it is not necessary to use the plugin it offers.

## Stop Linking Accounts

Stop using 3rd party OAuth sign in.

It's not google's business if I signed in to Instacart.

Sign up for services hardly ever pre-fills the contact info form when you do that nowadays anyway.

Sign in with email. And make that email not gmail. You're using a password manager anyway.

There's no reason facebook needs to know when you sign in to other apps either.

Go in your account settings. Remove the link from your profile. Remove the app from the allowed apps.

## Use Unique Cards for Each Merchant

Credit cards are insidious. You're paying off the balance each month and then all of a sudden you're not. Or a merchant runs a renewal you weren't expecting. Ever notice it's easier to negotiate from a position of not paying them yet instead of asking for a refund?

In addition to using a unique card number for each merchant I like being able to set spending limits, close cards immediately, or pause them to avoid surprises.

Good

Privacy.com cards. The money flows right from your debit card and 3rd party merchants know nothing about it.

Avoid

IMO, companies that are integrated with several other related products may be stretching their resources thin. There's one I'm thinking of that combines disposable emails with disposable cards. Convenient but I want those separate.

Also, IMO avoid offers from large companies we should already be wary of like PayPal, Google, etc if they offer something like this at one point. They should've done this years ago.


Get started now. Free, simple things you can do to better safeguard your privacy.

Start Here


## Get Better Messaging Apps

Folks recommend a number of messaging apps to replace text messages for your private conversations. Signal, WhatsApp, XMPP clients using private XMPP servers.

XMPP is great but that's not going to get your friends and family to use it.

To help you choose Signal over WhatsApp I'll just include contrasting quotes from Meredith Whittaker and Mark Zuckerberg when it comes to AI adoption.

> *I think in the future, if you don’t have glasses that have AI, or some way to interact with AI, I think you’re kind of similarly probably be at a pretty significant cognitive disadvantage compared to other people.*

**-[Mark Zuckerberg](https://www.tomsguide.com/computing/smart-glasses/mark-zuckerberg-says-that-those-not-wearing-ai-smart-glasses-in-the-future-will-be-at-a-pretty-significant-cognitive-disadvantage)**

vs

> *There’s a profound issue with security and privacy that is haunting this hype around agents, and that is ultimately threatening to break the blood-brain barrier between the application layer and the OS layer by conjoining all of these separate services.*

**-[Meredith Whittaker](https://techcrunch.com/2025/03/07/signal-president-meredith-whittaker-calls-out-agentic-ai-as-having-profound-security-and-privacy-issues/)**

Combine that general vibe with Meta moving into monetizing messaging, adding realtime services such as translation that require sending your message to their cloud servers, and the general authoritarian-friendly stance Meta has nowadays, the choice is easy.

Also, [A Simple WhatsApp Security Flaw Exposed 3.5 Billion Phone Numbers](https://www.wired.com/story/a-simple-whatsapp-security-flaw-exposed-billions-phone-numbers/).

### Good

[Signal](https://signal.org).

### Good, but adoption may be harder

[Conversations](https://conversations.im/) on Android. [Conversations is also available on f-droid](https://f-droid.org/packages/eu.siacs.conversations/) for what it's worth.

Users also need to [choose which XMPP server to use](https://providers.xmpp.net/). That's why adoption may be harder than Signal.

Of course there are XMPP clients other than Conversations. Your iPhone family could use one of those [XMPP iOS Clients](https://xmpp.org/software/?platform=ios).

Or you could use Signal.

### Avoid

SMS regardless of RCS, WhatsApp, Discord, any social media app direct messages including Bluesky, X, Facebook, Patreon.

Matrix seems like it could be a good option but the early adopters have given the ecosystem a bad rep.

## Get a good VPN

VPN choice is very subjective depending on where you're at and who's in your business.

It's also important to note what security researcher Marcus Hutchins has to say about [apps running in the background revealing your identity regardless of your current IP address](https://inv.nadeko.net/watch?v=Y0B_xFxD03g). Use an app like [SuperFreezZ](https://superfreezz.gitlab.io/) to close all other apps.

### Good

[Mullvad](https://mullvad.net/)

or depending on your location, another No logs, Diskless, No analytics provider from [Techlore's VPN comparison list](https://techlore.tech/vpn/).

### Avoid

* VPNs advertised on YouTube
* VPNs you find in search on the Google Play or Apple App stores
* VPNs integrated into a browser
* VPNs that came with a sketchy off-brand device

## Get A Better Email Account

There are two main aspects of email.

* You don't want the provider going through your messages in bulk after the fact.
* You don't want advertisers to tie accounts and identities together by them using the same email address.

First, get your email out of big tech. GMail, Hotmail, Yahoo, whatever your ISP gave you, they're all really bad for privacy. Imagine your google account is locked tomorrow. How difficult would it be to recover your other accounts?

Second, multiple emails will make it more difficult for data brokers to get in your business and link activity together. More on purchases later but email is the first step.

### Good

[Tuta Mail](https://tuta.com/secure-email) or [Proton Mail](https://proton.me/mail).

Tuta's base email is free but adding your own domain and having unlimited email addresses coming into that domain is very cost effective. They also have 30 email addresses at their domains included in that base plan if you don't want to venture into using your own domain name.

Think about it. Keep the account name that you use to sign in secret and hand out other addresses that you only use for specific purposes. They can all come to the same mailbox and sort into folders.

Another nice thing about Tuta (and Proton works similarly) is that emails sent to other Tuta Mail users are end to end encrypted by default.

### Avoid

* Running your own server. You have no idea how much of a headache email is due to spam, phishing, and everything used to combat it.
* Big tech accounts like GMail.
* Just using an mx forwarder to send mail to your big tech account.

## VOIP phone number

You may be familiar with these. Google Voice, Zoom Business Phone, GoDaddy Business Phone, Using Skype/Teams to call a phone number. It's voice calls and text messages on the regular telephone system using an app or your web browser. Some even support faxes in case you need to get in touch with the 1990s to cancel your subscription.

I wouldn't recommend using Google, Zoom, GoDaddy, etc since they're big tech but there are good options with a bit less gloss.

### Good

[VOIP.ms](https://voip.ms/) or [CallCentric](https://www.callcentric.com/).

Imagine a phone number being 85 cents a month and then paying 1 cent per minute for the tiny number of calls you make. Less than a cent per SMS you receive for 2FA codes from the places that refuse to support authenticator apps.

Imagine having a phone number specifically for pet collars that goes straight to voice mail.

Imagine being able to pick a phone number without 5 people standing behind you at the store while you do it.

When numbers are cheap, all sorts of options open up.

### Avoid

Google Voice, Zoom Business Phone, GoDaddy Business Phone, Teams

### Side note about porting out of Google Voice

Porting out of Google Voice isn't that hard. Plenty of phone providers, including regular non-VOIP cellphone providers, make it easy to pull your long-standing Google Voice number out of their system if you're trying to leave Google's web.

[Unredacted Magazine](https://unredactedmagazine.com/issues.html) did a great article on it in issue 8.

### Road bumps

Some businesses refuse to accept a VOIP phone number because they think somehow it's easier to get one than it is to get a burner phone. A cheap, real phone cell plan can cover those use cases for a few dollars a month too.

Now that you're serious about it, add these changes to enhance your security.

Ramp up the effort


## Windows

No. Treat it like a game console but turn it off when you're not using it. Only use it for gaming. No banking, no conversations, no shopping.

## Mac

macOS can be locked down pretty far but it removes most of what makes a Mac a Mac, the invasive and connected ecosystem. It's still an option though for Mac buyers with hardware that is not fully supported in Linux yet.

[Extreme Privacy](https://inteltechniques.com/book7.html) goes into it much better with step by step instructions but the gist is:

1. After wiping the machine, do not sign in to iCloud.
2. Install a software firewall (Lulu or Little Snitch) before connecting it to the network for the first time. Bring the installer on a thumb drive.
3. Turn off all invasive system features, including connectivity and syncing related features.
4. Be sure to encrypt the disk with FileVault.

## Linux

The best desktop platform for privacy is a good Linux distro.

### Good

[Linux Mint](https://www.linuxmint.com/) or [Pop OS](https://system76.com/pop/).

Qubes OS is very useful but it is elaborate excess for someone needing to just leave invasive operating systems like Windows and stock macOS.

### Avoid

Installation and operation has gotten easier, but if you're new to Linux you don't need to use Arch for basic privacy. The same goes for Fedora.

Kali Linux and Parrot OS are predominantly for professional work. They are not a daily driver for someone focused on privacy (even the one labeled as a daily driver).

## iOS

Leave the iPhone ecosystem as soon as you can. Smartphones in general are a privacy nightmare. iPhones reach back to Apple regularly for a number of reasons. They even do it when you're connected to a VPN, sending that traffic outside of the VPN and informing Apple about where you are despite the VPN.

The operating system is closed source, has not been audited by third parties, and regularly sees outrageous security flaws. One example that's top of mind was the ability to remotely execute code by sending a text message or facetiming, even if the recipient doesn't pick up or interact with the message.

In recent years Apple has made great progress protecting the contents of locked phones. They even automatically reboot after 72 hours of being locked to reset them to Before First Unlock mode in case they are stolen.

Regardless, forensic software companies are able to unlock a number of iPhones even when reset to the Before First Unlock state. Being a popular platform also means they're a high priority for those forensics companies.

**Rooting an iPhone does not improve the situation.** While it may give you greater access over the processes running on the phone and allow you to wreak havoc among them in the search for more privacy, jailbreaking also fundamentally breaks the security of the phone since it depends on a software exploit to accomplish.

## Stock Android phones

The versions of android shipped from mainstream vendors have the same kind of privacy concerns that iPhones do:

* system services that report back to the manufacturer, around VPN connections
* system services that report back to Google for functionality related to the Play Store, around VPN connections
* shown to be unlockable with forensic software and popular enough research is always high priority for cracking the newest phones
* likely unpatched vulnerabilities that remain to aid intelligence community backdoors

**As mentioned above for iPhones, jailbreaking the stock operating system of an android phone would compromise the security and create a larger problem.**

## Degoogled Android phones

GrapheneOS, CalyxOS, LineageOS... they're the descendents of the "custom android ROM" fad seen years ago where customers often wanted to upgrade their software sooner than the absentee hardware manufacturers would bother.

Nowadays the main focus is getting Google's ecosystem off of the phone or at least sandboxing it to gain more control over when it runs and with what information.

Another important emphasis is charging port security. USB data blocker cables are nice but you don't always have control over what cable someone will use to charge your phone.

### Good

[GrapheneOS](https://grapheneos.org/) is the standard that phone cracking companies like Cellebrite measure themselves against in sales literature.

### Ok, with caveats

[LineageOS](https://wiki.lineageos.org/) is an ok degoogled android choice but it would not sandbox apps or Google Play the way that Graphene would. Reasonable degoogled choice if you will only use f-droid store or you need to run android on non-Pixel hardware.

### Avoid

CalyxOS would normally be an excellent alternative to Graphene but they are on hiatus and not keeping up with upstream Android security fixes as of mid-late 2025.

Avoid any phone sold by a security influencer youtuber. The reviews for phones like that reveal they're often old hardware, freely available software with very small changes, and builds that aren't keeping up to date with upstream security patches. Ironic.

## What About Flip phones

Flip phones, brick phones, candy bar phones, you remember them.

A few things are working against those classic phones.

First, most of them aged out when phone companies shut down their support for 2G and 3G networks. You can no longer walk around with a working 20 year old Motorola StarTAC.

A second concern is that many "dumb phones" are running a fork of Android operating system anyway. You bought that TCL flip phone? If it's running [KaiOS](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KaiOS), that's a smartphone in a way. Folks buying them for a digital detox are often unpleasantly surprised to find they even have a YouTube app preinstalled.

Perfectly acceptable with the data plan turned off and only accepting calls and text messages though. That's an option you have.

Either that or buy a Jitterbug Flip2. Despite their website text that says paying a minimum of $15 a month for their plan is the only option, Lively clarified in the Best Buy comments that Jitterbug Flip2 is unlocked nationwide and works with carriers that are willing to accept it. That's a $20 roll of the dice to see if your MVNO will work with it.

Improve your privacy and security with a solid foundation.

Secure Platforms


## Faraday sleeves

### Good

Mission Darkness

### Avoid

The cheap, off-brand ones that look like glasses cases. They occasionally work but it's very easy to close them in a way that isn't 100% effective.

## Camera blockers

### Good

Buy the cheap ones that come in many sizes. You'll want to block all sorts of cameras from your laptop to the selfie camera on your phone to the large array on the back of it.

### Avoid

NanoBloc. They're good quality and the designs can be fun but they don't have enough size variety and they're more expensive.

## Update Your Cell Plan or Entire Strategy

Moving urgent calls and 2FA text messages to your flip phone and using only data on your smartphone has an interesting side effect:

Your smartphone could be data-only now. That changes the cellphone plan you need.

Unlimited text and calling for your flip phone could be $9 a month. You don't need to pay Verizon $80.

### Good

Tello. It's cheap and it has worked. No issues with the portal or adding the SIM like other providers.

### Interesting mention

Depending how much data you actually use on your smartphone (which is now a degoogled Pixel, right), a data-only SIM card could last you months before needing refilled / replaced.

Try running a super cheap calling and texting plan in your flip phone and a separate data-only SIM card in your smartphone.

### Probably fine

Most [MVNO](https://noai.duckduckgo.com/?q=MVNO&ia=web)s are probably fine. They're cheap enough it might be worth trying a few.

### Avoid

I don't like the MVNOs who say they automatically switch which network they're using and then add fees each time they do that.

**Especially avoid eSIMs.** eSIMs are very software-centric. There's no physical card. Transferring them between devices may be possible but it could be more difficult or not possible depending on how your devices and network support that. There's also no guarantee that phones forget them when they're deactivated. A physical card you can remove and replace.

## Cell Hotspot with Data SIM

Some degoogled android phone users go as far as keeping the SIM card out of their phone and using wifi only, even on the go.

Hotspots are small enough you can do that.

### Good

GL.iNet GL-XE300 Puli (EC25-AF model for US folks).

It's easy to swap the SIM card. It has a big battery. It supports connecting to a VPN like Mullvad so you can run multiple devices on it instead of installing Mullvad on each one.

The data-only SIM cards are commodities. The only difference seems to be which location your traffic comes from when testing them without a VPN. If you notice the latency is too high, try a different brand.

### Avoid

I'd generally avoid the hotspots that don't have a replaceable SIM or say they're otherwise locked to a certain carrier. Solis looks interesting but 1GB/mo feels low.

Add these purchases to round out your better privacy experience.

Go Even Further


## Get these free things first

- [ ] Bitwarden
- [ ] Librewolf
- [ ] Waterfox mobile
- [ ] Signal
- [ ] Tuta Mail free account
- [ ] Privacy cards

## Probably out of pocket

- [ ] $26 thumbdrive (256GB) to back up the data on your computer [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07D7Q41PM)
- [ ] $15 thumbdrive (16GB is plenty) to install linux [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07D7P4SY4)
- [ ] $15 credit for VOIP Phone Number [VOIP.ms](https://voip.ms/)
- [ ] $20 Get [Easy Opt Outs](https://www.easyoptouts.com/) rolling
- [ ] $8 Camera blockers IMO better than NanoBloc [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B8CSYJT3)

## Next paycheck or next month

- [ ] 36EUR ~$42 Upgrade Email to 1 year of paid plan [Tuta](https://tuta.com/pricing)
- [ ] 30EUR or $29 6 months of Mullvad VPN [Mullvad](https://mullvad.net/en/pricing) [Giftcard on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/Mullvad-VPN-Devices-Protect-Security/dp/B092M55HJ2)
- [ ] $38 Mission Darkness Phone Dry Bag / Faraday Sleeve [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B081D9RV9P)

## Special purchase

- [ ] $399 [Recent, unlocked Pixel](https://grapheneos.org/faq#device-lifetime) for installing Graphene [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/Google-Pixel-Gemini-Smartphone-Incredible/dp/B0DVHV7X53)
- [ ] $50-$100 Unlocked Flip phone 
- [ ] $10 Call/text MVNO plan for your flip phone [Tello](https://tello.com/buy/custom_plans)
- [ ] $95 GL.iNet Puli EC25-AF Cell Hotspot that supports VPN termination [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/GL-XE300-Industrial-T-Mobile-Supported-EC25-AFFA/dp/B08PYQL3V2)
- [ ] $30-$100 Data SIM cards

## Training At Any Time

- [ ] $54 Go Incognito course [TechLore](https://techlore.tech/goincognito/)
- [ ] $40 Extreme Privacy book [Intel Techniques](https://inteltechniques.com/book7.html)


Surely everything comes at a price. What are we looking at?

What Will It Cost Me?


They could change the amounts at any time but if you don't mind following a referral code (noticeably absent on other pages where I link you to their service), please use these.

https://app.tuta.com/signup?ref=YmdHSkVqV2M&s=0

https://app.privacy.com/join/44RZQ

https://tello.com/account/register?_referral=P3DZFD5B

https://voip.ms/en/invite/NTAzMDA2



Links that may give me and/or you credit when you make your purchase

Say Thanks


This is an opinionated quickstart guide built on the shoulders of experts.

Here are the experts.

Where YouTube content is mentioned I included an Invidious (privacy-friendly alternate frontend) link instead though they are easily findable via search.

## Anonymous Planet Hitchhiker's Guide

https://anonymousplanet.org/guide/

Or download the guide [from the Kiwix library](https://library.kiwix.org/#lang=eng&q=anon) and view it offline with the Kiwix viewer app.

## Surveillance Report

Weekly video podcast covering privacy-related news.

https://inv.nadeko.net/channel/UC0W_BIuwk8D0Bv4THbVZZOQ

## Techlore Go Incognito

Thorough, free course covering security and privacy topics beyond the scope of this guide.

https://inv.nadeko.net/playlist?list=PL3KeV6Ui_4CayDGHw64OFXEPHgXLkrtJO

## Extreme Privacy What It Takes to Disappear - 5th Edition (2024)

The book for privacy. It goes well beyond even the Go Incognito course.

https://inteltechniques.com/book7.html

## Introduction to OSINT

A quick, free course on investigations to see what kind of data might be findable on you.

https://www.myosint.training/courses/introduction-to-osint


## Means of Control

A book illustrating the vast surveillance industry tied to smartphones and web traffic and tracking movement through the world.

https://www.byrontau.com/means-of-control

## Your Face Belongs To US

What collection of alarming information would be complete without a book about your most recognizable and often least protected feature?

https://www.kashmirhill.com/book

## Unredacted Magazine

An online-only magazine full of updates from the person that wrote Extreme Privacy.

https://unredactedmagazine.com/issues.html

Discover in much more depth where this guide's recommendations come from.