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Over the last 16 months, as I've debated this issue around the world, every single time somebody has said to me, "I don't really worry about invasions of privacy because I don't have anything to hide." I always say the same thing to them. I get out a pen, I write down my email address. I say, "Here's my email address. What I want you to do when you get home is email me the passwords to all of your email accounts, not just the nice, respectable work one in your name, but all of them, because I want to be able to just troll through what it is you're doing online, read what I want to read and publish whatever I find interesting. After all, if you're not a bad person, if you're doing nothing wrong, you should have nothing to hide." Not a single person has taken me up on that offer.

Read also:

• Nothing to hide argument (Wikipedia)
• How do you counter the "I have nothing to hide?" argument? (reddit.com)

The UKUSA Agreement is an agreement between the United Kingdom, United States, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand to cooperatively collect, analyze, and share intelligence. Members of this group, known as the Five Eyes, focus on gathering and analyzing intelligence from different parts of the world. While Five Eyes countries have agreed to not spy on each other as adversaries, leaks by Snowden have revealed that some Five Eyes members monitor each other’s citizens and share intelligence to avoid breaking domestic laws that prohibit them from spying on their own citizens. The Five Eyes alliance also cooperates with groups of third party countries to share intelligence (forming the Nine Eyes and Fourteen Eyes), however Five Eyes and third party countries can and do spy on each other.

Why is it not recommended to choose a US based service?

Services based in the United States are not recommended because of the country’s surveillance programs, use of National Security Letters (NSLs) and accompanying gag orders, which forbid the recipient from talking about the request. This combination allows the government to secretly force companies to grant complete access to customer data and transform the service into a tool of mass surveillance.

An example of this is Lavabit – a discontinued secure email service created by Ladar Levison. The FBI requested Snowden’s records after finding out that he used the service. Since Lavabit did not keep logs and email content was stored encrypted, the FBI served a subpoena (with a gag order) for the service’s SSL keys. Having the SSL keys would allow them to access communications (both metadata and unencrypted content) in real time for all of Lavabit’s customers, not just Snowden's.

Ultimately, Levison turned over the SSL keys and shut down the service at the same time. The US government then threatened Levison with arrest, saying that shutting down the service was a violation of the court order.

Related Information

• Avoid all US and UK based services
• Proof that warrant canaries work based on the surespot example.
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UKUSA_Agreement
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lavabit#Suspension_and_gag_order
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_disclosure_law
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Mass_surveillance

Sortable VPN Providers Table	Yearly Price	Free Trial	# Servers	Jurisdiction	Website
	54 €	Yes	162	Italy	AirVPN.org
	45 €	Yes	5	Sweden	AzireVPN.com
	99 €	Yes	27	Hong Kong	blackVPN.com
	$ 52	Yes	18	Iceland	Cryptostorm.is
	39,99 €	No	432	Northern Cyprus	EarthVPN.com
	$ 99.95	Yes	145	British Virgin Islands	ExpressVPN.com
	$ 35.88	No	27	Sweden	FrootVPN.com
	$ 65.04	Yes	88	Malaysia	hide.me
	$ 100	Yes	21	Gibraltar	IVPN.net
	60 €	Yes	168	Sweden	Mullvad.net
	$ 69	Yes	475	Panama	NordVPN.com
	$ 84	Yes	39	Sweden	OVPN.com
	124.95 €	No	41	Panama	Perfect-Privacy.com
	Free	Yes	112	Switzerland	ProtonVPN.com
	$ 90	No	300	Seychelles	Proxy.sh
	$ 39.95	Yes	48	Seychelles	Trust.Zone
	$ 39.99	No	122	Hong Kong	VPN.ht
	$ 35.88	No	80	Seychelles	VPNTunnel.com

A warrant canary is a posted document stating that an organization has not received any secret subpoenas during a specific period of time. If this document fails to be updated during the specified time then the user is to assume that the service has received such a subpoena and should stop using the service.

Warrant Canary Examples:

1. https://proxy.sh/canary
2. https://www.ivpn.net/resources/canary.txt
3. https://www.vpnsecure.me/files/canary.txt
4. https://www.bolehvpn.net/canary.txt
5. https://lokun.is/canary.txt
6. https://www.ipredator.se/static/downloads/canary.txt

Related Warrant Canary Information

• Warrant Canary Frequently Asked Questions
• Companies and organizations with warrant canaries
• Warrant canary criticism by Bruce Schneier and an example of a law against warrant canaries.

When you visit a web page, your browser voluntarily sends information about its configuration, such as available fonts, browser type, and add-ons. If this combination of information is unique, it may be possible to identify and track you without using cookies. EFF created a Tool called Panopticlick to test your browser to see how unique it is.

Test your Browser now

You need to find what most browsers are reporting, and then use those variables to bring your browser in the same population. This means having the same fonts, plugins, and extensions installed as the large installed base. You should have a spoofed user agent string to match what the large userbase has. You need have the same settings enabled and disabled, such as DNT and WebGL. You need your browser to look as common as everyone else. Disabling JavaScript, using Linux, or even the TBB, will make your browser stick out from the masses.

Modern web browsers have not been architected to assure personal web privacy. Rather than worrying about being fingerprinted, it seems more practical to use free software plugins like Privacy Badger, uBlock Origin and Disconnect. They not only respect your freedom, but your privacy also. You can get much further with these than trying to manipulate your browser's fingerprint.

Related Information

• How Unique Is Your Web Browser? Peter Eckersley, EFF.
• Join our discussion on reddit.com about browser fingerprinting.
• Our Firefox privacy add-ons section.
• BrowserLeaks.com - Web browser security testing tools, that tell you what exactly personal identity data may be leaked without any permissions when you surf the Internet.

While software like NoScript prevents this, it's probably a good idea to block this protocol directly as well, just to be safe.

Test your Browser now

How to disable WebRTC in Firefox?

In short: Set "media.peerconnection.enabled" to "false" in "about:config".

Explained:

1. Enter "about:config" in the firefox address bar and press enter.
2. Press the button "I'll be careful, I promise!"
3. Search for "media.peerconnection.enabled"
4. Double click the entry, the column "Value" should now be "false"
5. Done. Do the WebRTC leak test again.

If you want to make sure every single WebRTC related setting is really disabled change these settings:

1. media.peerconnection.turn.disable = true
2. media.peerconnection.use_document_iceservers = false
3. media.peerconnection.video.enabled = false
4. media.peerconnection.identity.timeout = 1

Now you can be 100% sure WebRTC is disabled.

Test your Browser again

How to fix the WebRTC Leak in Google Chrome?

WebRTC cannot be fully disabled in Chrome, however it is possible to change its routing settings (and prevent leaks) using an extension. Two open source solutions include WebRTC Leak Prevent (options may need to be changed depending on the scenario), and uBlock Origin (select "Prevent WebRTC from leaking local IP addresses" in Settings).

What about other browsers?

Chrome on iOS, Internet Explorer and Safari does not implement WebRTC yet. But we recommend using Firefox on all devices.

Stop Tracking with "Privacy Badger"

Privacy Badger is a browser add-on that stops advertisers and other third-party trackers from secretly tracking where you go and what pages you look at on the web. Privacy Badger learns about trackers as you browse by inspecting external resources websites request. Please be aware that Google Analytics is considered first-party by Privacy Badger, which means that Google Analytics will not be blocked if you do not use another blocker, such as uBlock Origin. https://www.eff.org/privacybadger/

Block Ads and Trackers with "uBlock Origin"

An efficient wide-spectrum-blocker that's easy on memory, and yet can load and enforce thousands more filters than other popular blockers out there. It has no monetization strategy and is completely open source. We recommend Firefox but uBlock Origin also works in other browsers such as Safari, Opera, and Chromium. Unlike AdBlock Plus, uBlock does not allow so-called "acceptable ads".
https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/ublock-origin/

Automatically Delete Cookies with "Cookie AutoDelete"

Automatically removes cookies when they are no longer used by open browser tabs. With the cookies, lingering sessions, as well as information used to spy on you, will be expunged.
https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/cookie-autodelete/

Encryption with "HTTPS Everywhere"

A Firefox, Chrome, and Opera extension that encrypts your communications with many major websites, making your browsing more secure. A collaboration between The Tor Project and the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere

Block Content Delivery Networks with "Decentraleyes"

Emulates Content Delivery Networks locally by intercepting requests, finding the required resource and injecting it into the environment. This all happens instantaneously, automatically, and no prior configuration is required. Source code: GitHub.
https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/decentraleyes/

Stop cross-site requests with "uMatrix"

Many websites integrate features which let other websites track you, such as Facebook Like Buttons or Google Analytics. uMatrix gives you control over the requests that websites make to other websites. This gives you greater and more fine grained control over the information that you leak online.
https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/umatrix/

Be in total control with "NoScript Security Suite"

Highly customizable plugin to selectively allow Javascript, Java, and Flash to run only on websites you trust. Not for casual users, it requires technical knowledge to configure.
https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/noscript/

Preparation:

1. Enter "about:config" in the firefox address bar and press enter.
2. Press the button "I'll be careful, I promise!"
3. Follow the instructions below...

Getting started:

1. privacy.firstparty.isolate = true
• A result of the Tor Uplift effort, this preference isolates all browser identifier sources (e.g. cookies) to the first party domain, with the goal of preventing tracking across different domains. (Don't do this if you are using the Firefox Addon "Cookie AutoDelete" with Firefox v58 or below.)
2. privacy.resistFingerprinting = true
• A result of the Tor Uplift effort, this preference makes Firefox more resistant to browser fingerprinting.
3. privacy.trackingprotection.enabled = true
• This is Mozilla’s new built in tracking protection. It uses Disconnect.me filter list, which is redundant if you are already using uBlock Origin 3rd party filters, therefore you should set it to false if you are using the add-on functionalities.
4. browser.cache.offline.enable = false
• Disables offline cache.
5. browser.safebrowsing.malware.enabled = false
• Disable Google Safe Browsing malware checks. Security risk, but privacy improvement.
6. browser.safebrowsing.phishing.enabled = false
• Disable Google Safe Browsing and phishing protection. Security risk, but privacy improvement.
7. browser.send_pings = false
• The attribute would be useful for letting websites track visitors’ clicks.
8. browser.sessionstore.max_tabs_undo = 0
• Even with Firefox set to not remember history, your closed tabs are stored temporarily at Menu -> History -> Recently Closed Tabs.
9. browser.urlbar.speculativeConnect.enabled = false
• Disable preloading of autocomplete URLs. Firefox preloads URLs that autocomplete when a user types into the address bar, which is a concern if URLs are suggested that the user does not want to connect to. Source
10. dom.battery.enabled = false
• Website owners can track the battery status of your device. Source
11. dom.event.clipboardevents.enabled = false
• Disable that websites can get notifications if you copy, paste, or cut something from a web page, and it lets them know which part of the page had been selected.
12. geo.enabled = false
• Disables geolocation.
13. media.navigator.enabled = false
• Websites can track the microphone and camera status of your device.
14. network.cookie.cookieBehavior = 1
• Disable cookies
• 0 = Accept all cookies by default
• 1 = Only accept from the originating site (block third party cookies)
• 2 = Block all cookies by default
15. network.cookie.lifetimePolicy = 2
• cookies are deleted at the end of the session
• 0 = Accept cookies normally
• 1 = Prompt for each cookie
• 2 = Accept for current session only
• 3 = Accept for N days
16. network.http.referer.trimmingPolicy = 2
• Send only the scheme, host, and port in the Referer header
• 0 = Send the full URL in the Referer header
• 1 = Send the URL without its query string in the Referer header
• 2 = Send only the scheme, host, and port in the Referer header
17. network.http.referer.XOriginPolicy = 2
• Only send Referer header when the full hostnames match. (Note: if you notice significant breakage, you might try 1 combined with an XOriginTrimmingPolicy tweak below.) Source
• 0 = Send Referer in all cases
• 1 = Send Referer to same eTLD sites
• 2 = Send Referer only when the full hostnames match
18. network.http.referer.XOriginTrimmingPolicy = 2
• When sending Referer across origins, only send scheme, host, and port in the Referer header of cross-origin requests. Source
• 0 = Send full url in Referer
• 1 = Send url without query string in Referer
• 2 = Only send scheme, host, and port in Referer
19. webgl.disabled = true
• WebGL is a potential security risk. Source
20. browser.sessionstore.privacy_level = 2
• This preference controls when to store extra information about a session: contents of forms, scrollbar positions, cookies, and POST data. more information
• 0 = Store extra session data for any site. (Default starting with Firefox 4.)
• 1 = Store extra session data for unencrypted (non-HTTPS) sites only. (Default before Firefox 4.)
• 2 = Never store extra session data.
21. network.IDN_show_punycode = true
• Not rendering IDNs as their punycode equivalent leaves you open to phishing attacks that can be very difficult to notice. Source

Related Information

• ffprofile.com - Helps you to create a Firefox profile with the defaults you like.
• mozillazine.org - Security and privacy-related preferences.
• user.js Firefox hardening stuff - This is a user.js configuration file for Mozilla Firefox that's supposed to harden Firefox's settings and make it more secure.
• Privacy Settings - A Firefox addon to alter built-in privacy settings easily with a toolbar panel.

Email Service	URL	Since	Server	Storage	Price / Year	Bitcoin	Encryption	Own Domain
		2013	Switzerland	500 MB	Free	Accepted	Built-in	Yes
		2015	Netherlands	4 GB	Free	Accepted	Built-in	Yes
		2011	Germany	1 GB	Free	No	Built-in	Yes
		2013	Belgium	500 MB	Free	Accepted	Built-in	Yes
		2014	Germany	2 GB	12 €	Accepted	Built-in	Yes
		2009	Germany	2 GB	12 €	No	Built-in	No
		1999	Norway	1 GB	$ 19.95	No	No	Yes
		2003	Switzerland	1 GB	$ 49.95	Accepted	Built-in	Yes
		2014	Netherlands	10 GB	$ 59.95	Accepted	Built-in	Yes
		2010	Switzerland	2 GB	$ 60	Accepted	No	Yes

Interesting Email Providers Under Development

• Confidant Mail - An open-source non-SMTP cryptographic email system optimized for large file attachments. It is a secure and spam-resistant alternative to regular email and online file drop services. It uses GNU Privacy Guard (GPG) for content encryption and authentication, and TLS 1.2 with ephemeral keys for transport encryption.

Become Your Own Email Provider with Mail-in-a-Box

Take it a step further and get control of your email with this easy-to-deploy mail server in a box. Mail-in-a-Box lets you become your own mail service provider in a few easy steps. It’s sort of like making your own gmail, but one you control from top to bottom. Technically, Mail-in-a-Box turns a fresh cloud computer into a working mail server. But you don’t need to be a technology expert to set it up. More: https://mailinabox.email/

Privacy Email Tools

• gpg4usb - A very easy to use and small portable editor to encrypt and decrypt any text-message or -file. For Windows and Linux. GPG tutorial.
• Mailvelope - A browser extension that enables the exchange of encrypted emails following the OpenPGP encryption standard.
• Enigmail - A security extension to Thunderbird and Seamonkey. It enables you to write and receive email messages signed and/or encrypted with the OpenPGP standard.
• TorBirdy - This extension configures Thunderbird to make connections over the Tor anonymity network.
• Email Privacy Tester - This tool will send an Email to your address and perform privacy related tests.

Related Information

• Aging ‘Privacy’ Law Leaves Cloud E-Mail Open to Cops - Data stored in the cloud for longer than 6 months is considered abandoned and may be accessed by intelligence agencies without a warrant. Learning: Use an external email client like Thunderbird or Enigmail, download your emails and store them locally. Never leave them on the server.
• OpenMailBox keeps one year logs of meta-data - Forum discussion, reply of the server admin.
• With May First/Riseup Server Seizure, FBI Overreaches Yet Again
• Autistici/Inventati server compromised - The cryptographic services offered by the Autistici/Inventati server have been compromised on 15th June 2004. It was discovered on 21st June 2005. One year later. During an enquiry on a single mailbox, the Postal Police may have tapped for a whole year every user's private communication going through the server autistici.org/inventati.org.

Worth Mentioning

• K-9 Mail - An independent mail application for Android. It supports both POP3 and IMAP mailboxes, but only supports push mail for IMAP.
• GNU Privacy Guard - Email Encryption. GnuPG is a GPL Licensed alternative to the PGP suite of cryptographic software. Tutorial. Use GPGTools for Mac OS X.
• Mailpile (Beta) - A modern, fast web-mail client with user-friendly encryption and privacy features.

Firefox Addon

• Google search link fix - Firefox extension that prevents Google and Yandex search pages from modifying search result links when you click them. This is useful when copying links but it also helps privacy by preventing the search engines from recording your clicks. (Open Source)

Worth Mentioning

• findx - Open Source. No logging. No tracking. Transparent algorithms. Hosted in Europe.
• Qwant - Qwant's philosophy is based on two principles: no user tracking and no filter bubble. Qwant was launched in France in February 2013. Privacy Policy.
• MetaGer - An open source metasearch engine, which is based in Germany. It focuses on protecting the user's privacy.
• ixquick.eu - Returns the top results from multiple search engines. Based in the Netherlands.

Worth Mentioning

• ChatSecure - ChatSecure is a free and open source messaging app that features OTR encryption over XMPP.
• Cryptocat - Encrypted open source messenger. Supports file sharing and multiple devices. Available for Windows, Linux and Mac.
• Kontalk - A community-driven instant messaging network. Supports end-to-end encryption. Both client-to-server and server-to-server channels are fully encrypted.
• Conversations - An open source Jabber/XMPP client for Android 4.4+ smart phones. Supports end-to-end encryption with either OMEMO or openPGP. There is also Conversations Legacy which still supports OTR.
• List of OTR Clients - Wikipedia

Related Information

• Ricochet, the Messenger That Beats Metadata, Passes Security Audit | Motherboard
• Chatting in Secret While We're All Being Watched - firstlook.org
• Advanced users with special needs can download the Signal APK directly. Most users should not do this under normal circumstances.
• Secure Messaging App Wire Stores Everyone You've Ever Contacted in Plain Text | Motherboard
• Telegram encryption isn't secure.
• Telegram is marketed as a private messenger, but it's not private by default.

Worth Mentioning

• Jitsi - Jitsi is a free and open source multiplatform voice (VoIP), videoconferencing and instant messaging application.
• Tox - A free and open-source, peer-to-peer, encrypted instant messaging and video calling software.
• Ring (formerly SFLphone) - Gives you a full control over your communications and an unmatched level of privacy.

Related Information

• Advanced users with special needs can download the Signal APK directly. Most users should not do this under normal circumstances.
• Secure Messaging App Wire Stores Everyone You've Ever Contacted in Plain Text | Motherboard

Worth Mentioning

• Muonium - Free encrypted cloud storage for your files.

Related Information

• Cryptomator - Free client-side AES encryption for your cloud files. Open source software: No backdoors, no registration.

Worth Mentioning

• Nextcloud - Free and open-source, allows anyone to install and operate it for free on a private server, with no limits on storage space or the number of connected clients.
• Muonium - Free encrypted cloud storage for your files.

Worth Mentioning

• git-annex - Allows managing files with git, without checking the file contents into git. While that may seem paradoxical, it is useful when dealing with files larger than git can currently easily handle, whether due to limitations in memory, time, or disk space.

Worth Mentioning

• Secure Password Generator - generates a unique set of custom, high quality, cryptographic-strength password strings which are safe for you to use.
• SuperGenPass - A master password and the domain name of the Web site you are visiting is used as the “seed” for a one-way hash algorithm (base-64 MD5). The output of this algorithm is your generated password. You remember one password (your “master password”), and SGP uses it to generate unique, complex passwords for the Web sites you visit. Your generated passwords are never stored or transmitted, so you can use SGP on as many computers as you like without having to “sync” anything.
• Password Safe - Whether the answer is one or hundreds, Password Safe allows you to safely and easily create a secured and encrypted user name/password list. With Password Safe all you have to do is create and remember a single "Master Password" of your choice in order to unlock and access your entire user name/password list.

Related Information

• Edward Snowden on Passwords - YouTube

Worth Mentioning

• fruux - a unified contacts/calendaring system that works across platforms and devices.
• Flock - a discontinued calendar and contacts sync service by Open Whisper Systems. Despite being shut down the source code is still available on GitHub.
• cloud backups - consider regularly exporting your calendar and or contacts and backing them up on a separate storage drive or uploading them to cloud storage (ideally after encrypting them).

Who is required to hand over the encryption keys to authorities?

Mandatory key disclosure laws require individuals to turn over encryption keys to law enforcement conducting a criminal investigation. How these laws are implemented (who may be legally compelled to assist) vary from nation to nation, but a warrant is generally required. Defenses against key disclosure laws include steganography and encrypting data in a way that provides plausible deniability.

Steganography involves hiding sensitive information (which may be encrypted) inside of ordinary data (for example, encrypting an image file and then hiding it in an audio file). With plausible deniability, data is encrypted in a way that prevents an adversary from being able to prove that the information they are after exists (for example, one password may decrypt benign data and another password, used on the same file, could decrypt sensitive data).

* (people who know how to access a system may be ordered to share their knowledge, however, this doesn't apply to the suspect itself or family members.)

Related Information

• Wikipedia page on key disclosure law
• law.stackexchange.com question about key disclosure law in US
• DEFCON 20: Crypto and the Cops: the Law of Key Disclosure and Forced Decryption

Worth Mentioning

• Cryptomator - Free client-side AES encryption for your cloud files. Open source software: No backdoors, no registration.
• miniLock - Browser plugin for Google Chrome / Chromium to encrypt files using a secret passphrase. Easy to use. From the developer of Cryptocat.
• AES Crypt - Using a powerful 256-bit encryption algorithm, AES Crypt can safely secure your most sensitive files. For Windows, Mac, Linux and Android.
• DiskCryptor - A full disk and partition encryption system for Windows including the ability to encrypt the partition and disk on which the OS is installed.
• Linux Unified Key Setup (LUKS) - A full disk encryption system for Linux using dm-crypt as the disk encryption backend. Included by default in Ubuntu. Available for Windows and Linux.

Worth Mentioning

• ZeroNet - Open, free and uncensorable websites, using Bitcoin cryptography and BitTorrent network.
• RetroShare - Open Source cross-platform, Friend-2-Friend and secure decentralised communication platform.
• GNUnet - GNUnet provides a strong foundation of free software for a global, distributed network that provides security and privacy.
• IPFS - A peer-to-peer hypermedia protocol to make the web faster, safer, and more open. (important privacy warning)

Worth Mentioning

• Mastodon - An open sourced, free and decentralized social network built on top of GNU Social.

Related Information

• Facebook Container by Mozilla - Prevent Facebook from tracking you around the web.
• Delete your Facebook account - Direct link to delete your Facebook account without being able to reactivate it again.
• How To Permanently Delete A Facebook Account - This guide will take you through a smooth and successful Facebook account deletion.

Worth Mentioning

• NoTrack - A network-wide DNS server which blocks Tracking sites. Currently works in Debian and Ubuntu.
• Namecoin - A decentralized DNS open source information registration and transfer system based on the Bitcoin cryptocurrency.

Worth Mentioning

• Paperwork - Open source and self-hosted solution. For PHP / MySQL servers.

• Org-mode - A major mode for GNU Emacs. Org-mode is for keeping notes, maintaining TODO lists, planning projects, and authoring documents with a fast and effective plain-text system.

Worth Mentioning

• disroot.org - Free privacy friendly service that offers PrivateBin and other applications.
• hastebin.com - Haste is an open-source pastebin software written in node.js, which is easily installable in any network.

Worth Mentioning

• EtherCalc - EtherCalc is a web spreadsheet. Data is saved on the web, and people can edit the same document at the same time. Changes are instantly reflected on all screens. Work together on inventories, survey forms, list management, brainstorming sessions.
• disroot.org - Free privacy friendly service that offers Etherpad, EtherCalc and PrivateBin.
• dudle - An online scheduling application, which is free and OpenSource. Schedule meetings or make small online polls. No email collection or the need of registration.

Warning

• Don't use Windows 10 - It's a privacy nightmare

Worth Mentioning

• OpenBSD - A project that produces a free, multi-platform 4.4BSD-based UNIX-like operating system. Emphasizes portability, standardization, correctness, proactive security and integrated cryptography.
• Arch Linux - A simple, lightweight Linux distribution. It is composed predominantly of free and open-source software, and supports community involvement. Parabola is a completely open source version of Arch Linux.
• Whonix - A Debian GNU/Linux based security-focused Linux distribution. It aims to provide privacy, security and anonymity on the internet. The operating system consists of two virtual machines, a "Workstation" and a Tor "Gateway". All communication are forced through the Tor network to accomplish this.
• Subgraph OS - Another Debian based Linux distribution, it features security hardening which makes it more resistant to security vulnerabilities. Subgraph runs many desktop applications in a security sandbox to limit their risk in case of compromise. By default, it anonymizes Internet traffic by sending it through the Tor network. Note: It is still in alpha, and much testing and bug fixing still has to be done.

Worth Mentioning

• Tiny Core Linux - A minimal Linux operating system focusing on providing a base system using BusyBox and FLTK. The distribution is notable for its size (15 MB) and minimalism, with additional functionality provided by extensions.

Worth Mentioning

• Replicant - An open-source operating system based on Android, aiming to replace all proprietary components with free software.
• OmniROM - A free software operating system for smartphones and tablet computers, based on the Android mobile platform.
• MicroG - A project that aims to reimplement the proprietary Google Play Services in the Android operating sytem with a FLOSS replacement.

Control your traffic with "NetGuard"

NetGuard provides simple and advanced ways to block certain apps' access to the internet without the help of root privileges. Applications and addresses can individually be allowed or denied access to your Wi-Fi and/or mobile connection, allowing you to control which apps are able to call home or not. https://www.netguard.me/

Manage your apps' permissions with XPrivacyLua

Revoking Android permissions from apps often let apps crash or malfunction. XPrivacyLua solves this by feeding apps fake data instead of real data. https://lua.xprivacy.eu/

Requirements: Magisk (xda-developers) Xposed Framework (xda-developers)

Worth Mentioning

• OpenBSD - A project that produces a free, multi-platform 4.4BSD-based UNIX-like operating system. Emphasizes portability, standardization, correctness, proactive security and integrated cryptography.
• DD-WRT - A is Linux-based firmware for wireless routers and wireless access points. It is compatible with several models of routers and access points.

1. Data syncing is by default enabled.
• Browsing history and open websites.
• Apps settings.
• WiFi hotspot names and passwords.
2. Your device is by default tagged with a unique advertising ID.
• Used to serve you with personalized advertisements by third-party advertisers and ad networks.
3. Cortana can collect any of your data.
• Your keystrokes, searches and mic input.
• Calendar data.
• Music you listen to.
• Credit Card information.
• Purchases.
4. Microsoft can collect any personal data.
• Your identity.
• Passwords.
• Demographics.
• Interests and habits.
• Usage data.
• Contacts and relationships.
• Location data.
• Content like emails, instant messages, caller list, audio and video recordings.
5. Your data can be shared.
• When downloading Windows 10, you are authorizing Microsoft to share any of above mentioned data with any third-party, with or without your consent.

Download: W10Privacy

This tool uses some known methods that attempt to disable major tracking features in Windows 10.

Arguing that you don't care about the right to privacy because you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don't care about free speech because you have nothing to say.

The NSA has built an infrastructure that allows it to intercept almost everything. With this capability, the vast majority of human communications are automatically ingested without targeting. If I wanted to see your emails or your wife's phone, all I have to do is use intercepts. I can get your emails, passwords, phone records, credit cards. I don't want to live in a society that does these sort of things... I do not want to live in a world where everything I do and say is recorded. That is not something I am willing to support or live under.

We all need places where we can go to explore without the judgmental eyes of other people being cast upon us, only in a realm where we’re not being watched can we really test the limits of who we want to be. It’s really in the private realm where dissent, creativity and personal exploration lie.

Guides

• Surveillance Self-Defense by EFF - Guide to defending yourself from surveillance by using secure technology and developing careful practices.
• The Crypto Paper - Privacy, Security and Anonymity for Every Internet User.
• Email Self-Defense by FSF - A guide to fighting surveillance with GnuPG encryption.
• The Ultimate Privacy Guide - Excellent privacy guide written by the creators of the bestVPN.com website.
• IVPN Privacy Guides - These privacy guides explain how to obtain vastly greater freedom, privacy and anonymity through compartmentalization and isolation.
• The Ultimate Guide to Online Privacy - Comprehensive "Ninja Privacy Tips" and 150+ tools.

Information

• r/privacytoolsIO Wiki - Our Wiki on reddit.com.
• Security Now! - Weekly Internet Security Podcast by Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte.
• TechSNAP - Weekly Systems, Network, and Administration Podcast. Every week TechSNAP covers the stories that impact those of us in the tech industry.
• Keybase.io - Get a public key, safely, starting just with someone's social media username.
• Freedom of the Press Foundation - Supporting and defending journalism dedicated to transparency and accountability since 2012.
• Erfahrungen.com - German review aggregator website of privacy related services.
• Terms of Service; Didn't Read - “I have read and agree to the Terms” is the biggest lie on the web. We aim to fix that.

Tools

• ipleak.net - IP/DNS Detect - What is your IP, what is your DNS, what informations you send to websites.
• The ultimate Online Privacy Test Resource List - A collection of Internet sites that check whether your web browser leaks information.
• PRISM Break - We all have a right to privacy, which you can exercise today by encrypting your communications and ending your reliance on proprietary services.
• Security in-a-Box - A guide to digital security for activists and human rights defenders throughout the world.
• AlternativeTo.net - Great collection of open source online and self-hosted software sorted by likes.
• SecureDrop - An open-source whistleblower submission system that media organizations can use to securely accept documents from and communicate with anonymous sources. It was originally created by the late Aaron Swartz and is currently managed by Freedom of the Press Foundation.
• Reset The Net - Privacy Pack - Help fight to end mass surveillance. Get these tools to protect yourself and your friends.
• Security First - Umbrella is an Android app that provides all the advice needed to operate safely in a hostile environment.
• Block Cloudflare MiTM Attack - Firefox add-on to detect and block corporate MITM attack.

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