Privacy Resources 🕵️

The Tor Browser is one of the safest browsing experiences by prioritizing anonymity & freedom of information above all else. It's one of the most effective and accessible anonymity tools.

• Open Source
• Firefox

Mullvad Browser offers a fantastic middle-ground between the strong protections of a hardened Firefox, and the advantages of Tor Browser in a central place.

• Open Source
• Firefox

Brave attempts to offer a familiar browser experience with privacy & security by default. Brave does many neat things for users out-of-the-box, but a possible annoyance is the cryptocurrency features. (Can be disabled)

• Open Source
• Chromium

Firefox doesn't have the best defaults, reserving maximum privacy & security through hardening the browser. An attractive reason to use Firefox is it's an alternative to the Chromium monopoly.

• Open Source
• Firefox

LibreWolf tackles most Firefox hardening out-of-the-box & does a decent job of maintaining security updates. Be aware that using forks of projects come with concerns regarding trusting a new party, in addition to trusting them to maintain security updates.

• Open Source
• Firefox

The Tor Browser is one of the safest browsing experiences by prioritizing anonymity & freedom of information above all else. It's one of the most effective and accessible anonymity tools.

• Open Source
• Firefox

Brave attempts to offer a familiar browser experience with privacy & security by default. Brave does many neat things for users out-of-the-box, but a possible annoyance is the cryptocurrency features. (Can be disabled)

• Open Source
• Chromium

Firefox doesn't have the best defaults, reserving maximum privacy & security through hardening the browser. (Limited on mobile) An attractive reason to use Firefox is it's an alternative to the Chromium monopoly.

• Open Source
• Firefox

Mull is the closest thing to a pre-hardened Firefox on Android. It brings many features from the Tor Uplift Project, the arkenfox project, & more! It is recommended to install 'uBlock Origin'.

• Open Source
• Firefox

Onion Browser is an unofficial Tor Browser. Due to iOS limitations, it should not be considered as safe as the Tor Browser Project, though it still offers users a layer of anonymity.

• Open Source
• WebKit

Brave attempts to offer a familiar browser experience with privacy & security by default. Brave does many neat things for users out-of-the-box, but a possible annoyance is the cryptocurrency features. (Can be disabled)

• Open Source
• WebKit

Firefox doesn't have the best defaults, but it's making progress to improve the situation. The privacy & security offered is maximized through hardening. (Significantly limited on iOS)

• Open Source
• Webkit

Apple's Safari offers users in the Apple ecosystem a moderately safe default browser with basic privacy & security precautions out-of-the-box. Consider using AdGuard for further protections.

• Proprietary
• WebKit

KeePass is a secure & customizable password manager, but it requires work to function as conveniently as some users may expect.

• Open Source
• Free

Bitwarden is a trusted, cloud-based option with zero-knowledge encryption to keep you safe. They offer an attractive middle-ground for password management, as well as the option for self-hosting.

• Open Source
• Free Tier

1Password is an option for users who aren't happy with other offerings. It is similar to most 'mainstream' cloud-based managers, while having an excellent privacy & security record.

• Proprietary
• Paid

KeePassXC is a modern, secure, & customizable KeePass client available on all major desktop operating systems with active development.

• Open Source
• Free
• Windows & MacOS & Linux

KeePassDX is a KeePass client for Android available on F-Droid and the Google Play Store with a modern interface, active development, and strong trust in the community.

• Open Source
• Free
• Android

Strongbox is a beautiful KeePass client that integrates well with iOS & MacOS devices, even offering the option for E2EE syncing via iCloud for those using ADP.

• Open Source
• Free Tier
• iOS & MacOS

Aegis is one of the most polished & simple TOTP services for Android.

• Open Source
• Free

Raivo OTP is one of the most polished & simple TOTP services for iOS.

• Open Source
• Free

Veracrypt offers users encrypted volumes, and on some operating systems full disk encryption. It is a great option for those needing maximum security.

• Open Source

GnuPG offers flexible encryption options across different mediums for users needing a more versatile option, at the cost of generally being more advanced.

• Open Source

7-Zip is an archiving tool with basic file encryption options. It is not as robust as the other options and should be used with caution for sensitive tasks.

• Open Source

Powerful (& beautiful) firewall program for Windows & Linux to give you finer control over what your device connects to.

• Open Source
• Windows & Linux

Firewall program for MacOS to give you finer control over what your device connects to.

• Open Source
• MacOS

Firewall program for Android (no root required) to give you finer control over what your device connects to. Warning: NetGuard by default takes the place of a VPN on Android.

• Open Source
• Android

F-Droid is the go-to FOSS app store for all Android devices.

• Open Source
• Android

Aurora Store allows users to download apps directly from the Google Play Store without a Google Account safely.

• Open Source
• Android

AltStore allows iOS users to install IPA files (apps) to their device without the App Store. Apple's restrictions, however, make this a generally limited experience.

• Open Source
• iOS

Qubes separates programs & operating systems into secure environments for maximum safety. It can be slower and may have compatibility issues with certain hardware.

• Open Source
• Xen
• Advanced

Fedora has strong out-of-the-box privacy & security practices, all backed by a trustworty and commited team.

• Open Source
• Linux
• Moderate

Arch offers bleeding-edge updates with a more configurable option for users. Many looking to harden Linux themselves enjoy the flexibility offered by Arch.

• Open Source
• Linux
• Advanced

Debian offers stability above all else. While updates are generally slower, Debian still pushes frequent security updates.

• Open Source
• Linux
• Moderate

MacOS can be a reasonably private & secure OS for many threat models. Despite being proprietary, it offers strong protection and is a great alternative to Windows. Please refer to the device guides at the top of this page for more details.

• Proprietary
• Apple MacOS
• Simple

Whonix offers both a virtual and live environment with a goal of anonymity. All activies are routed through Tor with strong privacy & security precautions.

• Open Source
• Virtual Machine
• LiveOS

TailsOS offers a Tor-routed live environment for privacy & anonymity.

• Open Source
• LiveOS

CalyxOS maintains stock security, while balancing additional privacy & security features with usability.

• Open Source
• Limited Devices

DivestOS attempts to fix some security issues with LineageOS (like bringing verified boot to some devices) while maintaing large device compatability.

• Open Source
• Many Devices

LineageOS has lower security than stock, but it does attempt to improve privacy & transparency. Users should consider pros/cons before using LineageOS over stock.

• Open Source
• Many Devices

MicroG is an open source replacement to proprietary Google Play Services. It allows apps & services to work as intended in a more privacy-respecting & transparent fashion on most custom ROMs.

• Open Source

While MicroG & de-googled ROMs try to maintain the compatability of Google Play Services, they are not perfect. Plexus allows you to check what apps do/don't work.

• Open Source

SearXNG is an open source, configurable, self-hostable, metasearch engine that compiles results from countless search engines in the same place.

• Open Source
• Metasearch

Brave Search indexes its own results with Brave's crawlers while respecting user privacy.

• Proprietary
• Crawler

DuckDuckGo is a metasearch engine with mainly Bing results and an emphasis on user privacy.

• Proprietary
• Metasearch

Startpage is a metasearch engine with privately proxied Google results.

• Proprietary
• Metasearch

IVPN is one of the most transparent providers with some of the most robust measures to keep users safe. Use the VPN Toolkit for more details.

• Open Source
• Paid

Mullvad is one of the most transparent providers with some of the most robust measures to keep users safe. Use the VPN Toolkit for more details.

• Open Source
• Paid

Quad9 offers a private & secure DNS service.

• Free

Mullvad offers a private & secure DNS service.

• Free

Briar is a Tor-routed, E2EE, P2P, anonymity-oriented messenger with some of the most robust protections. It can even be used without internet access.

• Open Source
• Android Only
• Desktop
• Free

Signal is the gold standard for private & secure messaging, all with a simple interface. Threat modeling is necessary though, as Signal requires a phone number which may be problematic for some.

• Open Source
• Android & iOS
• Desktop
• Free

Session strives for a balance between privacy, security, anonymity, & usability.

• Open Source
• Android & iOS
• Desktop
• Free

Matrix is a federated protocol with the option for E2EE. There is a degree of trust with each homeserver, especially regarding metadata. Its federation is both a pro & a con that users should be aware of before using.

• Open Source
• Android & iOS
• Desktop
• Free

Nextcloud is a self-hostable suite for photos, documents, files, contacts, and more. It's a robust service, with the main drawback being an unpolished E2EE offering.

• Open Source
• Varying Prices

Cryptee predominantly offers E2EE notes, documents, & photos. It is not collaborative nor designed for external sharing.

• Open Source
• Free & Paid

CryptPad is an E2EE, document collaboration platform.

• Open Source
• Free Tier

Cryptomator allows users to encrypt their files before uploading them to another cloud provider (Google Drive, Dropbox etc.)

• Open Source
• Free

Tutanota offers a transparent service with trust, security, and privacy as its focus.

• Open Source
• Free Tier

Mailbox.org offers privacy & security with an incredibly feature-rich experience. It may be overwhelming and cluttered to some, or a power user's dream.

• Proprietary
• Paid

Self-hosting is commonly touted as the safest email approach, but this isn't always the case. Self-hosting comes with risks you should read in the referenced link.

AnonAddy is a private & secure email aliasing service with a very generous free option.

• Open Source
• Free Tier

MySudo is predominantly a phone number aliasing solution. Like most aliasing solutions, it's a transfer of trust from countless services to one.

• Proprietary
• Paid

Guerrilla Mail is a disposable email service, allowing users to generate ephemeral emails conveniently.

• Proprietary
• Free

Monero is one of the strongest, private-by-default cryptocurrencies to ensure the safety of transactions.

• Open Source

Bisq is a P2P, KYC-free, decentralized Bitcoin exchange.

• Open Source

Samourai Wallet allows users to more privately transact & store Bitcoin. It does not solve Bitcoin's privacy problems, and only attempts to improve them.

• Open Source

Cake Wallet is a wallet to store your Bitcoin, Monero, & Litecoin in a trusted place.

• Open Source

Yubikey is one of the most polished and trusted U2F solutions.

• Proprietary

SoloKeys provide affordable, open source U2F hardware.

• Open Source

Nitrokey provides affordable, open source U2F hardware and more private payment methods.

• Open Source

Njalla offers domains & servers with privacy at the forefront of their products and cryptocurrency options for payment.

• Proprietary

1984 Hosting offers private VPS hosting and other services to keep their users safe.

• Proprietary

OnionShare allows users to share files, websites, chats, and more over the Tor network directly from their system with no central parties for absolute safety.

• Open Source
• Desktop

Syncthing allows users to easily sync files between devices without needing to upload them to the internet.

• Open Source
• All Devices

Orbot allows users to connect to the Tor network on mobile devices.

• Open Source
• iOS & Android

BleachBit is a file shredding and data removal tool.

• Open Source
• Desktop

AlternativeTo allows users to find more privacy-respecting alternatives to the software they use.

• Proprietary
• Web

Objective-See offers a suite of open source security & privacy tools for MacOS.

• Open Source
• MacOS