| Service | -Against ToS | -Requires Phone | -Requires E-Mail | -VPN Sign-up | -Tor Sign-up | -Captchas | -ID or -Financial Checks |
-Facial Checks | -Manual Checks | -Overall difficulty | -
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon | -No | -No | -Yes | -Yes | -Yes | -No | -Yes* | -No | -Unclear | -N/A | -
| Apple | -Yes* | -Yes | -Yes | -Yes | -Yes | -No | -No | -No | -No | -Medium | -
| Binance | -Yes* | -No | -Yes | -Yes | -No | -Yes | -No | -No | -No | -Medium | -
| Briar | -No | -No | -No | -Yes | -Yes | -No | -No | -No | -No | -Easy | -
| Discord | -No | -No | -Yes | -Yes | -Yes | -Yes | -No | -No | -No | -Medium | -
| Element | -No | -No | -No | -Yes | -Yes | -Yes | -No | -No | -No | -Easy | -
| Yes* | -Yes | -Yes | -Maybe | -Maybe | -Yes | -Maybe | -Maybe | -Maybe | -Hard | -|
| GitHub | -No | -No | -Yes | -Yes | -Yes | -Yes | -No | -No | -No | -Easy | -
| GitLab | -No | -No | -Yes | -Yes | -Yes | -Yes | -No | -No | -No | -Easy | -
| No | -Likely | -Likely | -Yes | -Yes | -Yes | -Maybe | -No | -Maybe | -Medium | -|
| HackerNews | -No | -No | -No | -Yes | -Yes | -Yes | -No | -No | -No | -Easy | -
| Unclear | -Likely | -Yes | -Yes | -Yes | -Yes | -No | -Maybe | -Maybe | -Medium | -|
| Jami | -No | -No | -No | -Yes | -No | -No | -No | -No | -No | -Easy | -
| iVPN | -No | -No | -No | -Yes | -Yes | -No | -No | -No | -No | -Easy | -
| Kraken | -Yes* | -No | -Yes | -Yes | -No | -No | -No | -No | -No | -Medium | -
| Yes* | -Yes | -Yes | -Yes | -Yes | -Yes | -Maybe | -Maybe | -Maybe | -Hard | -|
| MailFence | -No | -No | -Yes | -Yes | -Maybe | -Yes | -No | -No | -No | -Medium | -
| Medium | -No | -No | -Yes | -Yes | -Yes | -No | -No | -No | -No | -Easy | -
| Microsoft | -Yes* | -Maybe | -Maybe | -Yes | -Yes | -Yes | -No | -No | -No | -Medium | -
| Mullvad | -No | -No | -No | -Yes | -Yes | -No | -No | -No | -No | -Easy | -
| Njalla | -No | -No | -No | -Yes | -Yes | -No | -No | -No | -No | -Easy | -
| OnionShare | -No | -No | -No | -Yes | -Yes | -No | -No | -No | -No | -Easy | -
| OnlyFans | -No | -No | -Yes | -Yes | -Yes | -Yes | -Yes (for full functionalities) | -No | -No | -Hard (for full functionalities) | -
| Proton Mail | -No | -Maybe | -Likely | -Yes | -Yes | -Yes | -No | -No | -No | -Medium | -
| Proton VPN | -No | -No | -Yes | -Yes | -Yes | -No | -No | -No | -No | -Medium | -
| No | -No | -No | -Yes | -Yes | -No | -No | -No | -No | -Easy | -|
| Slashdot | -Yes* | -No | -No | -Yes | -Yes | -Yes | -No | -No | -No | -Medium | -
| Telegram | -No | -Yes | -No | -Yes | -Yes | -No | -No | -No | -No | -Easy | -
| Tutanota | -No | -No | -No | -Maybe | -No | -Yes | -No | -No | -No | -Hard | -
| Twitch | -No | -No | -Yes | -Yes | -Yes | -Yes | -No | -No | -No | -Easy | -
| No | -Yes | -Yes | -Yes | -Yes | -Yes | -No | -No | -Maybe | -Medium | -|
| Yes* | -Yes | -No | -Yes | -Yes | -No | -No | -No | -No | -Medium | -|
| 4chan | -No | -No | -No | -No | -No | -Yes | -No | -No | -No | -Hard | -
| App0 | -e2ee1 | -Roll Your Own Crypto | -Perfect -Forward Secrecy |
-Zero-Access Encryption at-rest5 | -Metadata Protection (obfuscation, encryption…) | -Open-Source | -Default Privacy Settings | -Native Anonymous Sign-up (no e-mail or phone) | -Possible through Tor | -Privacy and Security Track Record *** | -De-centralized | -Additional notes | -
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Berty -(avoid) |
-Yes | -No | -Yes | -Yes | -Yes | -Yes 13 | -Good | -Yes | -Yes | -Good | -Yes (peer to peer) | -Not sufficiently reviewed by this project, cannot recommend | -
| Briar (preferred) | -Yes | -No 1 | -Yes | -Yes | -Yes (strong) | -Yes | -Good | -Yes | -Natively3 | -Good | -Yes (peer to peer) | -- |
Cwtch -(preferred) |
-Yes | -No | -Yes | -Yes | -Yes (strong) | -Yes | -Good | -Yes | -Natively | -Good | -Yes (peer to peer) | -- |
Discord -(avoid) |
-No | -Closed-source7 | -No | -No | -No | -No | -Bad | -E-Mail Required | -Virtualization | -Bad | -No | -- |
| Element / Matrix.org (preferred) | -Yes (opt-in) | -No | -Yes | -Yes | -Poor2 | -Yes | -Good | -Yes | -Via Proxy3 or Virtualization | -Good | -Partial (federated servers) | -- |
| Facebook Messenger (avoid) | -Partial (Only 1to1 / opt-in) | -Closed-source7 | -Yes | -No | -No | -No | -Bad | -E-Mail and Phone required | -Virtualization | -Bad | -No | -- |
| OnionShare (preferred) | -Yes | -No | -TBD8 | -TBD8 | -Yes (strong) | -Yes | -Good | -Yes | -Natively | -Good | -Yes (peer to peer) | -- |
| Apple Messages (aka iMessage) | -Yes | -Closed-source7 | -No | -Partial | -No | -No | -Good | -Apple device Required | -Maybe Virtualization using real Apple device ID | -Bad | -No | -- |
| IRC | -Yes (OTR plugins) | -No | -No | -No | -No | -Yes | -Bad | -Yes | -Via Proxy3 or Virtualization | -Good | -No | -- |
Jami -(preferred) |
-Yes | -No3 | -Yes | -Yes | -Partial | -Yes | -Good | -Yes | -Via Proxy3 or Virtualization9 | -Good | -Partial | -Tor breaks some features | -
| KakaoTalk (avoid) | -Yes | -Closed-source7 | -No4 | -No | -No | -No | -Bad | -No (but possible) | -Virtualization | -Bad | -No | -- |
| Keybase | -Yes | -No | -Partial (exploding message) | -No | -No | -Yes | -Good | -E-Mail Required | -- | - | No | -- |
| Kik (avoid) | -No | -Closed-source7 | -No | -No | -No | -No | -Bad | -No (but possible) | -Virtualization | -Bad | -No | -- |
| Line (avoid) | -Partial (opt-in) | -Closed-source7 | -No | -No | -No | -No | -Bad | -No (but possible) | -Virtualization | -Bad | -No | -- |
| Pidgin with OTR (avoid) | -Yes (OTR5) | -No | -Yes | -No | -No | -Yes | -Bad | -Yes | -Via Proxy3 or Virtualization | -Bad6 | -No | -- |
| Tox (avoid) | -Yes | -No | -No | -No | -No | -Yes | -Good | -Yes | -Via Proxy3 or Virtualization | -Medium7 | -Yes | -Known cryptographic weaknesses14 | -
Session -(Preferred only on iOS) |
-Yes | -No | -No | -Yes | -Yes | -Yes | -Good | -Yes | -Via Proxy3 or Virtualization10 | -Good | -Yes | -Lacks PFS, deniability | -
| Signal | -Yes | -No | -Yes | -Yes | -Yes (moderate) | -Yes | -Good | -Phone Required | -Virtualization | -Good | -No | -Requires burner or anonymous VOIP number for anonymous usage | -
| Skype (avoid) | -Partial (Only 1to1 / opt-in) | -Closed-source7 | -No | -No | -No | -No | -Bad | -No (but possible) | -Virtualization | -Bad | -No | -- |
| SnapChat (avoid) | -No | -Closed-source7 | -No | -No | -No | -No | -Bad | -No (but possible) | -Virtualization | -Bad | -No | -Deleted/expired messages are easily recoverable15,16 | -
| Teams (avoid) | -Yes | -Closed-source7 | -No | -No | -No | -No | -Bad | -No (but possible) | -Virtualization | -Bad | -No | -- |
| Telegram | -Partial (Only 1to1 / opt-in) | -Yes (MTProto8) | -Partial (secret chats only) | -Yes | -No | -Partial5 | -Medium (e2ee off by default) | -Phone Required | -Via Proxy3 or Virtualization | -Medium9 | -No | -- |
| Viber (avoid) | -Partial (Only 1to1) | -Closed-source7 | -Yes | -No | -No | -No | -Bad | -No (but possible) | -Virtualization | -Bad | -No | -- |
| WeChat (avoid) | -No | -Closed-source7 | -No | -No | -No | -No | -Bad | -No | -Virtualization | -Bad | -No | -- |
| WhatsApp (avoid) | -Yes | -Closed-source7 | -Yes | -No | -No | -No | -Bad | -Phone Required | -Virtualization | -Bad | -No | -- |
| Wickr Me | -Partial (Only 1to1) | -No | -Yes | -No | -Yes (moderate) | -No | -Good | -Yes | -Virtualization | -Good | -No | -- |
| Gajim (XMPP) (preferred) | -Yes | -No | -Yes | -No | -No | -Yes | -Good | -Yes | -Via Proxy3 or Virtualization | -Good | -Partial | -- |
| Zoom (avoid10) | -Disputed11 | -No | -TBD8 | -No | -No | -No | -Bad | -E-Mail Required | -Virtualization | -Bad12 | -No | -Malware risk17 | -
| Molly | -Yes | -No | -Yes | -Yes | -Yes (moderate) | -Yes | -Good | -Phone Required | -Virtualization | -Good | -No | -Requires phone number. Security hardened fork of Signal client. Security may be delayed for up to a week | -
Briar Documentation, Bramble Transport Protocol version 4 https://code.briarproject.org/briar/briar-spec/blob/master/protocols/BTP.md [Archive.org]↩︎
Serpentsec, Matrix https://web.archive.org/web/https://serpentsec.1337.cx/matrix↩︎
Wikipedia, GnuTLS, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GnuTLS [Wikiless] [Archive.org]↩︎
KTH ROYAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGYSCHOOL OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING, A Security and Privacy Audit of KakaoTalk’s End-to-End Encryption www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1046438/FULLTEXT01.pdf [Archive.org]↩︎
Wikipedia, OTR https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Off-the-Record_Messaging [Wikiless] [Archive.org]↩︎
Pidgin Security Advisories, https://www.pidgin.im/about/security/advisories/ [Archive.org]↩︎
Whonix Forum, Tox Integration https://forums.whonix.org/t/tox-qtox-whonix-integration/1219 [Archive.org]↩︎
Telegram Documentation, MTProto Mobile Protocol https://core.telegram.org/mtproto [Archive.org]↩︎
Wikipedia, Telegram Security Breaches, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telegram_(software)#Security_breaches [Wikiless] [Archive.org]↩︎
TechCrunch, Maybe we shouldn’t use Zoom after all, https://techcrunch.com/2020/03/31/zoom-at-your-own-risk/ [Archive.org]↩︎
The Incercept, Zoom Meetings Aren’t End-to-End Encrypted, Despite Misleading Marketing https://theintercept.com/2020/03/31/zoom-meeting-encryption/ [Tor Mirror] [Archive.org]↩︎
Serpentsec, Secure Messaging: Choosing a chat app https://web.archive.org/web/https://serpentsec.1337.cx/secure-messaging-choosing-a-chat-app↩︎
Berty, Development, https://berty.tech↩︎
Tox Handshake Vulnerable to KCI, https://github.com/TokTok/c-toxcore/issues/426↩︎
The Guardian, Deleted Snapchat photos recovered 'within days' by forensics company, https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/may/09/snapchat-photos-not-deleted↩︎
The Guardian, Snapchat's expired snaps are not deleted, just hidden, https://web.archive.org/web/20131115224243/https://www.theguardian.com/media-network/partner-zone-infosecurity/snapchat-photos-not-deleted-hidden↩︎
The Guardian, ‘Zoom is malware’: why experts worry about the video conferencing platform, https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/apr/02/zoom-technology-security-coronavirus-video-conferencing↩︎
| Type | -Whonix | -Prism-Break.org | -PrivacyGuides.org | -Tails | -This guide | -
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Offline Document Editing | -LibreOffice | -N/A | -LibreOffice* | -LibreOffice | -LibreOffice, -Notepad++ |
-
| Online Document Editing (collaboration) | -N/A | -Cryptpad.fr | -Cryptpad.fr, -Etherpad.org, -Privatebin.net |
-N/A | -Cryptpad.fr, -Etherpad.org, -Privatebin.net |
-
| Pictures Editing | -Flameshot (L) | -N/A | -N/A | -GIMP | -GIMP | -
| Audio Editing | -Audacity | -N/A | -N/A | -Audacity | -Audacity | -
| Video Editing | -Flowblade (L) | -N/A | -N/A | -N/A | -Flowblade (L) -Olive (?) -OpenShot (?) -ShotCut (?) |
-
| Screen Recorder | -Vokoscreen | -N/A | -N/A | -N/A | -Vokoscreen | -
| Media Player | -VLC | -N/A | -N/A | -VLC | -VLC | -
| PDF Viewer | -Ristretto (L) | -N/A | -N/A | -N/A | -Browser | -
| PDF Redaction | -PDF-Redact Tools (L) | -N/A | -N/A | -PDF-Redact Tools (L) | -LibreOffice, -PDF-Redact Tools (L) |
-
| Browser | -https://coveryourtracks.eff.org/ -Fingerprinting Test with real Ad |
-
|---|---|
| Safari (Normal)* | -Fail (Unique) | -
| Safari (Private Window) * | -Fail (Unique) | -
| Edge (Normal)** | -Fail (Unique) | -
| Edge (Private Window) ** | -Fail (Unique) | -
| Firefox (Normal) | -Fail (Unique) | -
| Firefox (Private Window) | -Fail (Unique) | -
| Chrome (Normal) | -Fail (Unique) | -
| Chrome (Private Window) | -Fail (Unique) | -
| Brave (Normal) | -Passed (Randomized) | -
| Brave (Private Window) | -Passed (Randomized) | -
| Brave (Tor Window) | -Passed (Randomized) | -
| Tor Browser (Normal mode) | -Partial | -
| Tor Browser (Safer mode) | -Partial | -
| Tor Browser (Safest mode) | -Unknown (Result did not load) | -