{% include sections/header.html %} {% include sections/fourteen-eyes.html %} {% include sections/key-disclosure-law.html %} {% include sections/vpn.html %} {% include sections/warrant-canary.html %} {% include sections/browser-recommendation.html %} {% include sections/browser-fingerprint.html %} {% include sections/browser-webrtc.html %} {% include sections/browser-addons.html %} {% include sections/browser-tweaks.html %} {% include sections/email-providers.html %} {% include sections/email-clients.html %} {% include sections/email-alternatives.html %} {% include sections/search-engines.html %} {% include sections/instant-messenger.html %} {% include sections/voice-video-messenger.html %} {% include sections/file-sharing.html %} {% include sections/cloud-storage.html %} {% include sections/selfhosted-cloud.html %}

Secure Hosting Provider

{% include card.html color="success" title="BAHNHOF" image="assets/img/tools/bahnhof.png" url="https://www.bahnhof.net/" description="BAHNHOF is a widely known 'bullet-proof' hosting company utilized by Wikileaks." %} {% include card.html color="primary" title="Colocation: DataCell" image="assets/img/tools/datacell.png" url="https://datacell.is/" description="DataCell is a data center providing secure colocating in Switzerland and Iceland." %} {% include card.html color="warning" title="VPS/Web Hosting: Orange Website" image="assets/img/tools/orange_hosting.png" url="https://www.orangewebsite.com/" description="Orange Website is an Icelandic web hosting provider that prides themselves in protecting online privacy and free speech." %}

Secure File Sync Software

{% include card.html color="success" title="SparkleShare" image="assets/img/tools/SparkleShare.png" url="https://sparkleshare.org/" footer="OS: Windows, macOS, Linux." description="SparkleShare creates a special folder on your computer. You can add remotely hosted folders (or \"projects\") to this folder. These projects will be automatically kept in sync with both the host and all of your peers when someone adds, removes or edits a file." %} {% include card.html color="primary" title="Syncthing" image="assets/img/tools/Syncthing.png" url="https://syncthing.net/" footer="OS: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, BSD, Solaris." description="Syncthing replaces proprietary sync and cloud services with something open, trustworthy and decentralized. Your data is your data alone and you deserve to choose where it is stored, if it is shared with some third-party and how it's transmitted over the Internet." %}

Worth Mentioning

Password Manager Software

{% include card.html color="success" title="KeePass / KeePassXC - Local" image="assets/img/tools/KeePass.png" url="https://keepass.info/download.html" website="keepass.info" footer="OS: Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, BSD." description='KeePass is a free open source password manager, which helps you to manage your passwords in a secure way. All passwords in one database, which is locked with one master key or a key file. The databases are encrypted using the best and most secure encryption algorithms currently known: AES and Twofish. See also: KeePassXC with official native cross-platform support for Windows/macOS/Linux.' %} {% include card.html color="primary" title="LessPass - Browser" image="assets/img/tools/LessPass.png" url="https://lesspass.com/" footer="OS: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android." description="LessPass is a free and open source password manager that generates unique passwords for websites, email accounts, or anything else based on a master password and information you know. No sync needed. Uses PBKDF2 and SHA-256. It's advised to use the browser addons for more security." %}

Worth Mentioning

Related Information

Calendar and Contacts Sync

{% include card.html color="success" title="Nextcloud" image="assets/img/provider/Nextcloud.png" url="https://nextcloud.com/" footer="Client OS: Windows, macOS, Linux, BSD, Unix, iOS, Android, Fire OS. Server: Linux." description="NextCloud is a suite of client-server software for creating and using file hosting services. This includes calendar sync via CalDAV and contacts sync via CardDAV. Nextcloud is free and open-source, thereby allowing anyone to install and operate it without charge on a private server." %} {% include card.html color="primary" title="Email Providers" image="assets/img/misc/email.png" url="#email" website="Email Providers section" footer="OS: depends on email provider." description="Many email providers also offer calendar and or contacts sync services. Refer to the Email Providers section to choose an email provider and check if they also offer calendar and or contacts sync." %} {% include card.html color="warning" title="EteSync" image="assets/img/provider/etesync.png" url="https://www.etesync.com/" footer="Client OS: Android, Web. Server OS: Linux." description="EteSync is a secure, end-to-end encrypted and journaled personal information (e.g. contacts and calendar) cloud synchronization and backup for Android and any OS that supports CalDAV/CardDAV. It costs $14 per year to use, or you can host the server yourself for free." %}

Worth Mentioning

File Encryption Software

{% include card.html color="success" title="VeraCrypt - Disk Encryption" image="assets/img/tools/VeraCrypt.png" url="https://veracrypt.fr/" footer="OS: Windows, macOS, Linux." description="VeraCrypt is a source-available freeware utility used for on-the-fly encryption. It can create a virtual encrypted disk within a file or encrypt a partition or the entire storage device with pre-boot authentication. VeraCrypt is a fork of the discontinued TrueCrypt project. It was initially released on June 22, 2013. According to its developers, security improvements have been implemented and issues raised by the initial TrueCrypt code audit have been addressed." %} {% include card.html color="primary" title="GNU Privacy Guard - Email Encryption" image="assets/img/tools/GnuPG.png" url="https://gpgtools.org/" footer="OS: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, BSD." description="GnuPG is a GPL Licensed alternative to the PGP suite of cryptographic software. GnuPG is compliant with RFC 4880, which is the current IETF standards track specification of OpenPGP. Current versions of PGP (and Veridis' Filecrypt) are interoperable with GnuPG and other OpenPGP-compliant systems. GnuPG is a part of the Free Software Foundation's GNU software project, and has received major funding from the German government. GPGTools for macOS." %} {% include card.html color="warning" title="PeaZip - File Archive Encryption" image="assets/img/tools/PeaZip.png" url="http://www.peazip.org/" footer="OS: Windows, Linux, BSD." description="PeaZip is a free and open-source file manager and file archiver made by Giorgio Tani. It supports its native PEA archive format (featuring compression, multi volume split and flexible authenticated encryption and integrity check schemes) and other mainstream formats, with special focus on handling open formats. It supports 181 file extensions (as of version 5.5.1).

macOS alternative: Keka is a free file archiver." %}

Worth Mentioning

Self-contained Networks

{% include card.html color="success" title="Tor Browser" image="assets/img/tools/Tor-Project.png" url="https://www.torproject.org/" tor="http://expyuzz4wqqyqhjn.onion" footer='OS: Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, OpenBSD.' description="The Tor network is a group of volunteer-operated servers that allows people to improve their privacy and security on the Internet. Tor's users employ this network by connecting through a series of virtual tunnels rather than making a direct connection, thus allowing both organizations and individuals to share information over public networks without compromising their privacy. Tor is an effective censorship circumvention tool." %} {% include card.html color="primary" title="I2P Anonymous Network" image="assets/img/tools/I2P.png" url="https://geti2p.net/" footer="OS: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, BSD / Solaris." description="The Invisible Internet Project (I2P) is a computer network layer that allows applications to send messages to each other pseudonymously and securely. Uses include anonymous Web surfing, chatting, blogging and file transfers. The software that implements this layer is called an I2P router and a computer running I2P is called an I2P node. The software is free and open source and is published under multiple licenses." %} {% include card.html color="warning" title="The Freenet Project" image="assets/img/tools/Freenet.png" url="https://freenetproject.org/" footer="OS: Windows, macOS, Linux." description="Freenet is a peer-to-peer platform for censorship-resistant communication. It uses a decentralized distributed data store to keep and deliver information, and has a suite of free software for publishing and communicating on the Web without fear of censorship. Both Freenet and some of its associated tools were originally designed by Ian Clarke, who defined Freenet's goal as providing freedom of speech on the Internet with strong anonymity protection." %}

Worth Mentioning

Decentralized Social Networks

{% include card.html color="success" title="Mastodon" image="assets/img/tools/Mastodon.png" url="https://joinmastodon.org" website="mastodon.social" description='Mastodon is a social network based on open web protocols and free, open-source software. It is decentralized like e-mail. It also has the most users, and the most diverse (in terms of interests) users, looks good, and is easy to setup.' %} {% include card.html color="primary" title="diaspora*" image="assets/img/tools/diaspora.png" url="https://diasporafoundation.org/" description="diaspora* is based on three key philosophies: Decentralization, freedom and privacy. It is intended to address privacy concerns related to centralized social networks by allowing users set up their own server (or \"pod\") to host content; pods can then interact to share status updates, photographs, and other social data." %} {% include card.html color="warning" title="Friendica" image="assets/img/tools/Friendica.png" url="https://friendi.ca/" description="Friendica has an emphasis on extensive privacy settings and easy server installation. It aims to federate with as many other social networks as possible. Currently, Friendica users can integrate contacts from Facebook, Twitter, Diaspora, GNU social, App.net, Pump.io and other services in their social streams." %}

Worth Mentioning

Related Information

Domain Name System (DNS)

{% include card.html color="success" title="Njalla - Domain Registration" image="assets/img/provider/Njalla.png" url="https://njal.la/" tor="http://njalladnspotetti.onion" description="Njalla only needs your email or jabber address in order to register a domain name for you. Created by people from The Pirate Bay and IPredator VPN. Accepted Payments: Bitcoin, Litecoin, Monero, DASH, Bitcoin Cash and PayPal. A privacy-aware domain registration service." %} {% include card.html color="primary" title="DNSCrypt - Tool" image="assets/img/tools/DNSCrypt.png" url="https://dnscrypt.info/" description="A protocol for securing communications between a client and a DNS resolver. The DNSCrypt protocol uses high-speed high-security elliptic-curve cryptography and is very similar to DNSCurve, but focuses on securing communications between a client and its first-level resolver." %} {% include card.html color="warning" title="OpenNIC - Service" image="assets/img/tools/OpenNIC.png" url="https://www.opennic.org/" description="OpenNIC is an alternate network information center/alternative DNS root which lists itself as an alternative to ICANN and its registries. Like all alternative root DNS systems, OpenNIC-hosted domains are unreachable to the vast majority of the Internet. Only specific configuration in one's DNS resolver makes these reachable, and very few Internet service providers have this configuration." %}

Worth Mentioning

Digital Notebook

{% include card.html color="success" title="Joplin" image="assets/img/tools/Laverna.png" image="assets/img/tools/Joplin.png" url="https://laverna.cc/" url="https://joplin.cozic.net/" footer="OS: Windows, macOS, Linux, Web." footer="OS: Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Firefox/Chrome (Web Clipper)." description="Laverna is a JavaScript note-taking web application with a Markdown editor and encryption support. The application stores all your notes in your browser databases, which is good for security and privacy reasons, because only you have access." description="Joplin is a free, open source, fully featured note taking and to-do application, which can handle a large number of markdown notes organized into notebooks and tags. It offers E2EE encryption and can sync through Nextcloud, Dropbox and more. It also offers easy import from Evernote and plain text notes." %} {% include card.html color="primary" title="Standard Notes" image="assets/img/tools/StandardNotes.png" url="https://standardnotes.org/" footer="OS: Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Web." description="Standard Notes is a simple and private notes app that makes your notes easy and available everywhere you are. Features end-to-end encryption on every platform, and a powerful desktop experience with themes and custom editors." %} {% include card.html color="warning" title="Turtl" image="assets/img/tools/Turtl.png" url="https://turtlapp.com/" footer="OS: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android." description="Turtl lets you take notes, bookmark websites, and store documents for sensitive projects. From sharing passwords with your coworkers to tracking research on an article you're writing, Turtl keeps it all safe from everyone but you and those you share with." %}

Warning

Worth Mentioning

Paste Services

{% include card.html color="success" title="PrivateBin" image="assets/img/tools/PrivateBin.png" url="https://privatebin.net/" description="PrivateBin is a minimalist, open source online pastebin where the server has zero knowledge of pasted data. Data is encrypted/decrypted in the browser using 256bit AES. It is the improved version of ZeroBin." %} {% include card.html color="primary" title="Zerobin.net" image="assets/img/tools/ZeroBin.png" url="https://zerobin.net/" tor="http://zerobinqmdqd236y.onion" description="Zerobin is a minimalist, open source online pastebin where the server has zero knowledge of pasted data. Data is encrypted/decrypted in the browser using 256bit AES." %} {% include card.html color="warning" title="Ghostbin" image="assets/img/tools/Ghostbin.png" url="https://ghostbin.com/" description="Ghostbin supports encryption, expiration, sessions, grant users to edit your notes and pastes up to one megabyte. You can also create your own account to keep track of your pastes.
The software is good but ghostbin.com's security is worrisome." %}

Worth Mentioning

Productivity Tools

{% include card.html color="success" title="Etherpad" image="assets/img/tools/Etherpad.png" url="http://etherpad.org/" footer="OS: Windows, macOS, Linux." description="Etherpad is a highly customizable Open Source online editor providing collaborative editing in really real-time. Etherpad allows you to edit documents collaboratively in real-time, much like a live multi-player editor that runs in your browser. Write articles, press releases, to-do lists, etc." %} {% include card.html color="primary" title="Write.as" image="assets/img/tools/WriteAs.png" url="https://write.as/" tor="http://writeas7pm7rcdqg.onion" footer="OS: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, Chrome OS, Web." description="Write.as is a cross-platform, privacy-oriented blogging platform. It's anonymous by default, letting you publish without signing up. If you create an account, it doesn't require any personal information. No ads, distraction-free, and built on a sustainable business model." %} {% include card.html color="warning" title="ProtectedText" image="assets/img/tools/ProtectedText.png" url="https://www.protectedtext.com/" footer="OS: All Browsers." description="ProtectedText is an open source web application. It encrypts and decrypts text in the browser, and password (or its hash) is never sent to the server - so that text can't be decrypted even if requested by authorities. No cookies, no sessions, no registration, no users tracking." %}

Worth Mentioning

PC Operating Systems

{% include card.html color="success" title="Qubes OS" image="assets/img/tools/Qubes-OS.png" url="https://www.qubes-os.org/" tor="http://qubesos4rrrrz6n4.onion" description="Qubes is an open-source operating system designed to provide strong security for desktop computing. Qubes is based on Xen, the X Window System, and Linux, and can run most Linux applications and utilize most of the Linux drivers." %} {% include card.html color="primary" title="Debian" image="assets/img/tools/Debian.png" url="https://www.debian.org/" tor="http://sejnfjrq6szgca7v.onion" description="Debian is a Unix-like computer operating system and a Linux distribution that is composed entirely of free and open-source software, most of which is under the GNU General Public License, and packaged by a group of individuals known as the Debian project." %} {% include card.html color="warning" title="Trisquel" image="assets/img/tools/Trisquel.png" url="https://trisquel.info/" description="Trisquel is a Linux-based operating system derived from Ubuntu. The project aims for a fully free software system without proprietary software or firmware and uses Linux-libre, a version of the Linux kernel with the non-free code (binary blobs) removed." %}

Warning

Worth Mentioning

Live CD Operating Systems

{% include card.html color="success" title="Tails" image="assets/img/tools/Tails.png" url="https://tails.boum.org/" description="Tails is a live operating system, that starts on almost any computer from a DVD, USB stick, or SD card. It aims at preserving privacy and anonymity, and helps to: Use the Internet anonymously and circumvent censorship; Internet connections go through the Tor network; leave no trace on the computer; use state-of-the-art cryptographic tools to encrypt files, emails and instant messaging." %} {% include card.html color="primary" title="KNOPPIX" image="assets/img/tools/KNOPPIX.png" url="https://www.knopper.net/knoppix/" website="knopper.net" description="Knoppix is an operating system based on Debian designed to be run directly from a CD / DVD (Live CD) or a USB flash drive (Live USB), one of the first of its kind for any operating system. When starting a program, it is loaded from the removable medium and decompressed into a RAM drive. The decompression is transparent and on-the-fly." %} {% include card.html color="warning" title="Puppy Linux" image="assets/img/tools/Puppy-Linux.png" url="http://puppylinux.org/" description="Puppy Linux operating system is a lightweight Linux distribution that focuses on ease of use and minimal memory footprint. The entire system can be run from RAM with current versions generally taking up about 210 MB, allowing the boot medium to be removed after the operating system has started." %}

Worth Mentioning

Mobile Operating Systems

{% include card.html color="success" title="LineageOS" image="assets/img/tools/LineageOS.png" url="https://www.lineageos.org/" description="LineageOS is a free and open-source operating system for smartphones and tablets, based on the official releases of Android by Google. It is the continuation of the CyanogenMod project." %}

Worth Mentioning

Android Privacy Add-ons

Control your traffic with "NetGuard"

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

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)

Open Source Router Firmware

{% include card.html color="success" title="OpenWrt" image="assets/img/tools/OpenWrt.png" url="https://openwrt.org/" description="OpenWrt is an operating system (in particular, an embedded operating system) based on the Linux kernel, primarily used on embedded devices to route network traffic. The main components are the Linux kernel, util-linux, uClibc and BusyBox. All components have been optimized for size, to be small enough for fitting into the limited storage and memory available in home routers." %} {% include card.html color="primary" title="pfSense" image="assets/img/tools/pfSense.png" url="https://pfsense.org/" description="pfSense is an open source firewall/router computer software distribution based on FreeBSD. It is installed on a computer to make a dedicated firewall/router for a network and is noted for its reliability and offering features often only found in expensive commercial firewalls. pfSense is commonly deployed as a perimeter firewall, router, wireless access point, DHCP server, DNS server, and as a VPN endpoint." %} {% include card.html color="warning" title="LibreCMC" image="assets/img/tools/LibreCMC.png" url="https://librecmc.org" description="LibreCMC is a GNU/Linux-libre distribution for computers with minimal resources, such as the Ben Nanonote, ath9k-based Wi-Fi routers, and other hardware with emphasis on free software. The project's current goal is to aim for compliance with the GNU Free System Distribution Guidelines (GNU FSDG) and ensure that the project continues to meet these requirements set forth by the Free Software Foundation (FSF).." %}

Worth Mentioning

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

Windows 10 Privacy
  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.

Quotes

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.

Recommended Privacy Resources

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Information

Tools

Note: Just being open source does not make software secure!

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