Privacy Badger automatically learns to block invisible trackers. Instead of keeping lists of what to block, Privacy Badger learns by watching which domains appear to be tracking you as you browse the Web.
Control your cookies! This WebExtension is inspired by Self Destructing Cookies. When a tab closes, any cookies not being used are automatically deleted. Whitelist the ones you trust while deleting the rest. Support for Container Tabs.
Privacy, simplified. Our add-on provides the privacy essentials you need to seamlessly take control of your personal information, no matter where the internet takes you: tracker blocking, smarter encryption, DuckDuckGo private search, and more.
Block connections to pages and web resources hosted in major cloud services if the user wishes to do so. Supports blocking Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, Microsoft and Cloudflare.
CSS Exfil is a method attackers can use to steal data from web pages using Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). This plugin sanitizes and blocks any CSS rules which may be designed to steal data.
Firefox Multi-Account Containers lets you keep parts of your online life separated into color-coded tabs that preserve your privacy. Cookies are separated by container, allowing you to use the web with multiple identities or accounts simultaneously.
Some web pages use intermediary pages before redirecting to a final page. This add-on tries to extract the final url from the intermediary url and goes there straight away if successful.
Open tabs, websites, and links in automatically managed disposable containers. Containers isolate data websites store (cookies, storage, and more) from each other, enhancing your privacy and security while you browse.
Blocks websites from using javascript to port scan your computer/network and dynamically blocks all LexisNexis endpoints from running their invasive data collection scripts. Website, Source Code
This is not an extension, instead it is a Firefox user.js config file. This file is a template which aims to provide as much privacy and enhanced security as possible, and to reduce tracking and fingerprinting as much as possible - while minimizing any loss of functionality and breakage (but it will happen).
Replacements/alternatives
Disclaimer
Only privacy/security focused alternatives will be suggested.
Products from companies such as Microsoft, Apple, Yahoo, Amazon, etc. will not be recommended unless there is a very good reason to. This includes companies/apps/services they own.
Controversial services will have a disclaimer attached if needed.
5-eyes, 9-eyes, and 14-eyes services will be listed and marked as such. Both the location the company is registered and the server IP are taken into consideration.
An open-source comparison table of popular search engines. It was made by a former team member at PrivacyGuides, though is not affiliated with the site.
Another privacy search engine that claims to not track any of your data. They operate servers in both USA and Europe. Note: Startpage was recently acquired. See Issue #12. Thanks @pydo, @ThijsRay, and @DatAres37. Also see this comment in Issue #99 from @danarel on Startpage.
A Swiss search engine that offers a unique search experience for the web, images, videos, music, and more. They are currently funding a mail service. Read through their datacenter about page, it's really interesting.
Unlike other privacy search engines which act as a "middle man" between you and Google/Bing/Yahoo, Mojeek has their own crawler and index. The results aren't as complete as some of the others, but it is still impressive and they are actively building their index to include more results with better accuracy.
Decentralized Google. A web 3 alternative for the Google search engine. In Beta testing mode. Uses IPFS and Tendermint consensus for security and economic incentives. Visit their ELI-5 FAQ for more info.
Infinity Search is a privacy metasearch engine that does not log any information about its users. In terms of privacy, it works the same way as DuckDuckGo. It is free to use and is funded by non-tracking advertisements and affiliate links. It is also completely open-source.
Decentralized, federated video hosting network. Still quite small, but is growing and has a dedicated community. Although there is no central database/server, all the separate instances can still talk to one another. This allows for data exchange and a way to view anyone's videos while only associating with one instance. Thanks @kdkasad for clarifying federation.
Also P2P, but not decentralized. Due to it being proprietary, if BitChute goes down then the whole thing goes down (unlike PeerTube). (thanks u/up-sky-7)
An open-source front-end alternative to YouTube. Seems to work pretty well from my experience so far, and it hasn't triggered anything on my adblocker/privacy extensions. Also offers downloads in many formats for videos (including .vtt subtitles).
A decentralized platform for distributing and supporting creators's work. It aims to be Open, Community driven "digital marketplace". It can be used in a similar way to YouTube: browsing, subscribing to channels, there is a mechanism to send "tips" to creators. Looks up videos based on a blockchain and is open-source and uncensored. It already has some "larger" creators like Minutephysics, Veritasium, Barnacules and Lunduke.
Open-source browser-based client for watching Youtube anonymously and with greater page performance. Non-video requests can be routed through Tor. Optionally the videos can be routed through Tor as well. Can be used without Javascript. No server software installation required. Uses self-hosted subscriptions and playlists.
Mailman is free software for managing electronic mail discussion and e-newsletter lists. Mailman is integrated with the web, making it easy for users to manage their accounts and for list owners to administer their lists. Mailman supports built-in archiving, automatic bounce processing, content filtering, digest delivery, spam filters, and more.
Discourse is the 100% open-source discussion platform built for the next decade of the Internet. Use it as a mailing list, discussion forum, or long-form chat room.
a privacy focused email list system that does not track you, nor your members. It is not open source. Data is hosted on one central server but the server is encrypted. It has modern email group features such as a wiki, integrations, and RSS import support.
Use other forum sites relating to specific topics. This is a very broad service.
DeepL is an artifical intelligence translation service. Please keep in mind DeepL tracks the text you translate unless you purchase Pro. See sections 4 & 5 of their privacy policy for more information. Thanks u/TheCy-FiJuggernaut
Alternative front-end for Google Translate. Operates similar to NewPipe or Invidious, Lingva "scrapes through GTranslate and retrieves the translation without using any Google-related service, preventing them from tracking".
Nextcloud 19 now has Community Document Server and ONLYOFFICE apps integrated which allows self-hosted instances of docs/sheets/slides. Users are able to edit documents in real time. Thanks @k3tan172 and @plutocrat
A secure hosted email and productivity platform, designed for providers of all sizes to offer their customers email, calendar, storage, encryption and more.
An open-source self-hosted web hosting platform for a wide set of web applications, including Etherpad (collaborative text editing), Radicale (calendar), Lychee (image hosting), Wekan (Kanban)
Open source no-code business and process automation tool. For example, you can set up a flow to receive Slack messages whenever a new Trello card is added.
FLOSS private blogging platform. Easy to self-host (standard rails app, ships with AWS and Raspberry Pi deployment scripts. AWS is not required). Access restricted to accounts which you create and hand out. Good for private blogs but not for commercial/public blogging. Built-in feed reader.
Simple, privacy-focused analytics with event tracking, real-time dashboard and filters. No cookie or localstorage usage. Servers in EU. Free and paid plans available.
An open-source web server analysis tool. Installs on your web server (ideally), but works just as well if you download your logs someplace else. Interactive; cursor around in the report and see what's going on. Can generate HTML reports. Can also generate realtime interactive HTML reports if you run it in server mode. Lightweight, only requires UTF-8 support and ncurses (ncursesw, if you want a UTF-8 enabled console). Available in the default package repositories of multiple Linux distros. Thanks @virtadpt
Self-hosted alternative to Google Analytics, similar to Matomo but cheaper for premium features. Includes user segments, heatmaps, session recordings and A/B testing.
Self-hosted photo and video manager. Cross-platform (macOS, Windows, Linux, Docker). Scales to millions of assets, with automatic organization, auto-transcoding, and advanced de-duplication.
Enables people to backup photos / videos from any devices to their own self-hosted server, and intelligently manages these personal assets via AI. Run the Lomorage server at your home, download mobile client to save the memories, and enjoy the moments.
Open-source calendar using "sabre/dav" (FOSS WebDAV, CardDAV, and CalDAV). They mention privacy quite a bit on their site. Very large number of features, and supports nearly every device: Windows, iOS, Linux, Android, BlackBerry, SailFish, and also a webapp for browsers.
a lightweight CalDAV+CardDAV server. It offers an extensive web interface with easy management of users, address books and calendars. It is fast and simple to install and only needs a basic php capable server. The data can be stored in a MySQL or a SQLite database. Thanks @mahdi1234
Self-hosted collaborative editor. Does not use the browser. Not the greatest interface, but it's open-source and you have full control over who can see your data.
Open-source and privacy focused photo and document storage/editing. Based in Estonia, so your files are outside the reach of any 14-eyes country. They don't even require an email address to sign up.
A decentralized office suite with high-security and zero-knowledge on your data. With Arcane Office, you have maximum control on your personal stuff. Full-featured online document and spreadsheet editor. Secure storage to save your photos. All free for personal use. Thanks @taraletti
Offline version of ONLYOFFICE, an open-source private cloud replacement for Google Docs suite and Office 360. Also available as a self contained rich application. Thanks @PalmoliveDev
Offline version of Cryptee for web. Runs as a progressive web app. Works most modern phone browsers (Chrome, Opera or Firefox on Android; Safari on iOS). Also works in desktop browsers that support PWA (the website lists that only Chrome works, but others will work too.
Calligra Suite is an office and graphic art suite by KDE. It is available for desktop PCs, tablet computers, and smartphones. It contains applications for word processing, spreadsheets, presentation, vector graphics, and editing databases. (Free and open-source Software)
Privacy-focused domain registration. Competitive pricing and a large list of available domain extensions. They also offer VPS hosting. Built by people who built The Pirate Bay among others. (thanks u/brais33 and u/HumbleBasis6). Note: some users may have issues with them legally owning your domain.
A public encrypted DNS service that people can use to maintain the secrecy of their DNS traffic, but also circumvent censorship. It already supports DNS over HTTPS & DNS over TLS. They also operate a number of open-source projects
An open-source continuous file synchronization program. It synchronizes files between two or more computers in real time, safely protected from prying eyes. Your data is your data alone and you deserve to choose where it is stored, whether it is shared with some third party, and how it's transmitted over the internet.
French based cloud storage provider with free and paid plans. Can also be self-hosted and is open-source. And it also offers a collaborative notes editor.
For individuals and organizations who want to safeguard their digital sovereignty. It is a high security, end-to-end encrypted solution for file sharing, collaboration, and backup that prioritizes security and confidentiality.
Tox is unique as it uses P2P technology to ensure the network never goes down, as long as there are users to keep it alive. They specifically say on the website "Tox has no central servers that can be raided, shut down, or forced to turn over data".
Open-source privacy-focused chat service with end-to-end encryption. They offer webapps, desktop apps, iOS, and Android (Play Store and F-Droid). Uses the "Matrix" protocol for decentralized communication.
Swiss-based GDPR-compliant instant messenger. Has apps for both iOS and Android. Unlike Signal, no phone number is required (nor is an email) to sign up. End-to-end encrypted. Thanks to @nathanvogel
Encrypted chat like Signal with features like Slack. Does not require a phone number to sign up. Also has file storage. Note: Keybase was acquired by Zoom, Inc. in May 2020 (Keybase blog, Zoom blog). Thanks @notpushkin & @multimob.
Jitsi is an open-source secure video conferencing platform. No account is needed to use it, simply enter a Room Name to join or host a meeting. The host is able to kick rogue users from the call. Works directly in your browser, with apps available for iOS and Android. It is not necessary to self-host, but self-hosting is an option for those who wish to. Very low latency and easy to set up. A free public server is available at meet.jit.si. (5-eyes server)
Open-source. It is an end-to-end encrypted messenger that removes sensitive metadata collection. No phone number required to create an account.
See this article for why I didn't include WhatsApp and why you should NOT use it (if someone has a better Outline link, that would be much appreciated).
I have also removed Telegram. See Issue #29 from @arsv.
One of the top privacy-focused email providers. Servers are in Switzerland in an underground guarded bunker that they claim can "survive a nuclear attack". Privacy note: Visit Issue #258 for info on ProtonMail privacy & integrity concerns.
A secure and private email provider much like Protonmail and Tutanota. There are no google analytics nor hidden cookies. There are options to pay anonymously via cryptocurrency. It features a wide array of collaboration tools, such as groups, calendar, contacts, documents with editing space. Offers free, paid, and freemium plans. Can pay with cryptocurrency and has a warrant canary. Thanks @resto1231
Open-source Anonymous forwarding email service. Forwarded email can be encrypted (OpenPGP) to prevent Google from reading it. Accepts cryptocurrencies (including Monero).
Open-source notes/todo app. Available for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS. Also offers a terminal version. It can import Evernote .enex files if you use that. It can also sync with Nextcloud (mentioned above).
Encrypted note storage with loads of features. Offers a web app as well as downloads for most operating systems. Has a paid plan, but the free tier has many useful features as well.
A distraction free notes taking app for Nextcloud. It provides categories for better organization and supports formatting using Markdown syntax. Notes are saved as files in your Nextcloud, so you can view and edit them with every Nextcloud client.
An open-source personal note-taking system that can run in the browser as a single HTML file or as a NodeJS application. It can be stored locally on a hard drive or removable drive, self-hosted on one's own server, or use various web-based storage options.
A truly zero-knowledge note taking app, encrypted using XChaChaPoly1305-IETF & Argon2. It is available on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, and has browser extensions too. It is not self-hostable and follows a freemium model.
Open-source alternative to the Play media services. You do need to provide your own content, however. In active development with frequent updates (to the source, that is).
Self-hosted open-source media streamer. Has features for transcoding audio on-the-fly for "virtually any audio format". You can also set bandwidth limits if you need to. Looks very powerful.
Open-source software for desktop and mobile that let you easily stream movie/TV torrents. Be careful if your country or ISP has policies against torrenting, a VPN is recommended. Thanks @je-vv
Open-source peer-to-peer file sharing that provides a "Youtube"-like streaming experience. Tribler uses Tor-like onion routing to protect the privacy of its users.
Open-source and self-hosted web based media manager and media server. API available to allow usage on various platforms. On-the-fly transcoding available. Supports both music and video.
An open-source Transit app on Android that takes information from several providers (e.g Deutsche Bahn in Germany) and enables you to use them in the app. Visualises the routes on an online OpenStreetMap map. Works in most of Western-Europe, as well as the USA, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Brazil, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, the UAE and Ghana. Beware: most information-providers only have beta or alpha support, it may be a good idea to keep a second app as a fallback option
BlockSurvey enables digital rights (identity and data ownership) to users using Blockstack's blockchain. Users truly own their data with BlockSurvey. All your data is protected using your key and only you can access it. There are no trackers, cookies, or fingerprints on the forms of data providers. Thanks @compressstudio
Budibase is an open-source low-code platform that helps IT professionals create internal apps in minutes. Users can deploy Budibase on their existing infrastructure, using Docker, Kubernetes, and Digital Ocean.
Secure Android built for encrypted and secure phones by a privacy focused company. Paid product that combines the best-in-class hardening and privacy protections from various projects.
Open-source Android-based OS with an emphasis on security and privacy. Provides good combination of privacy and security together with usability. Optional support for MicroG.
DivestOS is an alternative Android ROM with enhanced privacy and security along with support for many older devices. It is an unofficial soft fork of LineageOS. Website also available through Tor.
You'll either need a rooted device with an unlocked bootloader, or a specific device depending on which OS you like.
You can use Anarchy-Droid to install a new operating system on many Android devices.
The OS of Purism Laptops (mentioned in the Hardware section). Very clean UI. Editor note: I could not get this working on a UEFI Dell laptop. The group behind PureOS does not provide any UEFI support.
It's incredibly powerful and backed by one of the strongest communities around. Tons of plugins to do nearly anything you want. Software installs on nearly any platform.
Chromium (which Chrome and countless other browsers are built on top of) is one of the cleanest and light-weight browsers available. This version cuts out all the Google crap.
Firefox-based browser routed through the Tor network. Automatically has a few privacy extensions installed (such as HTTPS Everywhere). Read this article for more info on how it works and the benefits of using Tor. Available for Windows, Linux, macOS, and Android.
Librewolf is a fork of Firefox, with improved privacy defaults. Similarly to Waterfox, Librewolf is based on Firefox and intends to improve privacy by default. Many privacy enthusiasts have recommended it as a more effective privacy browser than other Firefox forks.
Based on Firefox, but 64-bit only with an emphasis on speed and privacy. Has a "classic" version built off older Firefox for legacy extension support and also an "alpha" version built off Quantum. It doesn't collect any telemetry and also removes Pocket from the alpha release. Project is run by Alex Kontos and is constantly in active development. Looks very clean and fast. Android versions are in the works too. UPDATE: @Nudin pointed out in Issue #85 that Waterfox is now a part of System1.
Firefox-based, a collaboration between Mullvad and The Tor Project. Similar to Tor Browser in privacy and security, without the use of the Tor network.
Aurora Store is simply a fork of the Yalp Store no longer a fork of Yalp, but is now its own project (see their readme). Update: Removed note on using microG as Aurora Store does not use it. Thanks @notpushkin
A privacy-focused version of Firefox Android available on F-Droid. It's focused on removing any proprietary bits found in official Mozilla's builds. (thanks u/SupremeLisper)
A Firefox for Android fork compiled from source, with proprietary blobs removed, and many security/privacy changes made using an altered arkenfox/user.js
Open-source feature-rich calculator. App itself is no longer in development, but the developer does encourage pull requests. I've used it frequently and it works great. Not on F-Droid, but a 3rd party play store can probably find it; or the APK's are available as releases on GitHub. You can also compile from source.
ICSx⁵ is an Android app to subscribe to remote (“Webcal”) or local iCalendar files (like time tables of your school/university or event files of your sports team). Thanks @je-vv
Developer states that he had "spent a night out with the boys and drank a bit too much but needed to be up in the morning". So, he made the loudest alarm clock possible based off an emergency alarm from when he was in the military. This app doesn't mess around, use it wisely.
An open-source simple alarm clock that implements many useful features while following regular design standards to ensure that it is quick and intuitive to use.
Open-source. Signal possesses SMS/MMS capabilities on Android. Using it as your default SMS app has the advantage of having your SMS and your online-messaging-service integrated within one app. Doing so will also show stats within the app of how many messages you send are encrypted, and offers to send invites to your contacts.
Thanks @Glitchy-Tozier for suggesting it be listing as SMS/MMS alternative.
Open-source keyboard that supports many languages that other keyboards sometimes don't support. Not on F-Droid, but can be built from source or possibly through a Play Store alternative.
Scroll down on the GitHub page until you reach the Android download links. No F-Droid repo, but you can download the APK directly instead of using the Play Store.
Open-source. Notes are stored in the plain-text Org mode format. Supports searching, metadata, and manual sync with Dropbox or local directory, which can be synced using e.g. Syncthing.
A truly zero-knowledge note taking app, encrypted using XChaChaPoly1305-IETF & Argon2. It is available on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, and has browser extensions too. It is not self-hostable and follows a freemium model. Downloads are available on Google Play and the iOS App Store.
Open-source navigation app based on MAPS.ME. Searching for addresses doesn't always work and finding businesses can be a slight hassle, but overall one of the better apps I've used.
OpenStreetMap for Android. (thanks u/masao77). As OsmAnd is primarily crowdsourced, many regions may not be totally accurate. If you would like to help improve OpenStreetMap and OsmAnd, check out StreetComplete (available from F-Droid.
Öffi is a public transport Android app (also shows delays and replacement bus service for more and more transport authorities in Europe and beyond) - similar to Transportr
A convenient, easy to use Gallery/Camera application with Backup and Sync functionality for your photos and videos which seamlessly provides strong security, privacy and encryption. All photos and videos are encrypted prior to being stored and backed up, so they are secure at rest, in transit and on cloud storage.
A simple, end-to-end encrypted, open-source photo storage service with a focus on security and privacy. Apps are available for iOS, Android, web and desktop.
Pay
No known alternatives.
Realistically, there most likely is not a privacy friendly alternative to Google Pay. Get a wallet with RFID protection and keep your cards with you.
A music player app to complement your offline music collection with playlist support, theme options, multiple now playing screen, quick play shortcuts, QS tiles, sleep timer and lot of useful customisations.
Encrypted chat like Signal with features like Slack. Does not require a phone number to sign up. Also has file storage. Note: Keybase was acquired by Zoom, Inc. in May 2020 (Keybase blog, Zoom blog). Thanks @notpushkin & @multimob.
Jitsi is an open-source secure video conferencing platform. No account is needed to use it, simply enter a Room Name to join or host a meeting. The host is able to kick rogue users from the call. Works directly in your browser, with apps available for iOS and Android. It is not necessary to self-host, but self-hosting is an option for those who wish to. Very low latency and easy to set up. A free public server is available at meet.jit.si. (5-eyes server)
An open-source app which supports Peer-to-Peer encrypted messaging. No phone number required for signing up. If the internet’s down, Briar can sync via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, keeping the information flowing in a crisis. If the internet’s up, Briar can sync via the Tor network, protecting users and their relationships from surveillance. Can install through a third-party F-Droid repo.
Open-source. It is an end-to-end encrypted messenger that removes sensitive metadata collection. No phone number required to create an account. Can be downloaded from the Play Store or as an APK file from GitHub. Also has apps for iOS and Desktop.
Jitsi is an open-source secure video conferencing platform. No account is needed to use it, simply enter a Room Name to join or host a meeting. The host is able to kick rogue users from the call. Works directly in your browser, with apps available for iOS and Android. It is not necessary to self-host, but self-hosting is an option for those who wish to. Very low latency and easy to set up. A free public server is available at meet.jit.si. (5-eyes server)
Open-source virtual assistant for Android. Can replace Google Assistant (home button functionality) on most devices. Either uses the author's server by default, or you can run your own server. Thanks @FultonBrowne (author of Ara)
A re-implementation of Google’s proprietary Android user space apps and libraries. It allows to use more precise navigation (which is proprietary in standard Android ROMs) and optionally receive push messages (requires connection to Google's servers, but also supports routing this connection through Tor). Thanks @notpushkin
Open-source Android launcher styled after the Google Pixel launcher. Available to download from an alternative F-Droid, APK Mirror, or GitHub Releases.
Open-source launcher. Active development with lots of nice features. Downloads available from GitHub. Previously known as ZimLX which has since been replaced by Omega.
Another open-source launcher, also built to look similar to Google's launcher (it is built off AOSP Launcher3). Available from F-Droid and also APKMirror. (thanks u/droidonomy)
From GitHub README: "Nebulo is a free, open-source, no-root, light-weight dns-over-https, dns-over-tls, and dns-over-http-over-quic client for Android with emphasis on privacy and security. Nebulo is fast, highly-customizable, ad-free, efficient on the battery, contains zero analytics / tracking.
From the website: "Rethink DNS + Firewall is the easiest way to monitor app activity, circumvent Internet censorship, block ads and trackers on your Android device."
From the GitHub README: Allows users to monitor and control the widespread, ongoing, hidden data collection in mobile apps about user behaviour ("tracking"). To detect tracking, TrackerControl checks all network traffic against the Disconnect blocklist, used and trusted by the Mozilla Firefox browser. Thanks @E5dZEUpc3BKaJrHnQVZd5zE
Privacy-focused laptop maker out of Germany. Tech specs are very competent and can easily compete with other modern systems. Fully Linux compatible. They also offer desktops. (thanks u/itsec_ho)
The only reason I'm recommending this Microsoft product is because there is no possible way for it to extract any data and ship it off to Microsoft. If anyone is able to find proof that it can, I will remove it.
Everything you need to become a privacy wizard. This section has two subsections: The first has links with self-explanatory titles, the second has more detailed descriptions.
AlternativeTo is a free service that helps you find better alternatives to the products you love and hate. Used extensively to build this guide.
block-all-google.sh is a script for blocking everything Google at the network level. This can and probably will break other alternatives that rely on Google to serve content.
Databunker is a network-based, self-hosted, GDPR compliant, secure database for personal data or PII.
ethical.net is a not-for-profit project building a collaborative, online directory of ethical companies of all kinds.
Firefox Profilemaker is a tool to help you create a Firefox profile with the defaults you like.
Framasoft is a collection of alternative software. Too many to fit elsewhere in the list.
Go Incognito A guide to security, privacy, and anominity.
Go FOSS is a guide on ditching big-tech, with a focus on seven core areas.
Hybrid Analysis a free malware analysis service for the community that detects and analyzes unknown threats using a unique Hybrid Analysis technology. Powered by Falcon Sandbox, which is developed by CrowdStrike.
Outline is an awesome tool for getting all the junk out of news articles (I've used it a few times in this guide already). Sometimes it can get around paywalls for "premium" news sites.
Plexus Plexus is a website where you can check andriod app compatibility with microg or no google services. It is a crowdsourced project where people test an app's compatibility in those environments and then sumbit it to the database.
PRISM Break is a guide on how to opt out of global data surveillance programs like PRISM, XKeyscore and Tempora.
Privacy Guides provides services, tools and knowledge to protect your privacy against global mass surveillance.
retiolus/privacysec is a collective guide built off the data of other guides, including this one, whose aim is to be translated into as many languages as possible.
r/Privacy wiki has a lot of useful information. This guide also automatically mirrors itself to the wiki!
r/VPN wiki to learn more about why you should consider using a VPN.
Switching.software is a collection of ethical, easy-to-use and privacy-conscious alternatives to well-known software.
VirusTotal lets you upload files and scans them against multiple antivirus programs at once. Very helpful for checking false negatives. Be aware that Alphabet Inc owns VirusTotal.
VPN Toolkit Community driven tools for VPNs. Includes a VPN finder, chart, and other useful imformation.
Snowden (2016) - Based on the true story of Edward Snowden, the CIA/NSA/etc whistleblower. Directed by Oliver Stone.
Deep Web (2015) - Documentary (narrated by Keanu Reeves) about Ross Ulbricht aka. Dread Pirate Roberts and the infamous "Silk Road" dark market. Directed by Alex Winter.
The Great Hack (2019) - Documentary about the Facebook–Cambridge Analytica data scandal. Thanks @woutfeys
Mr. Robot - Hacker-drama starring Rami Malek. Producers hired actual hackers as consultants to ensure the show is as accurate as possible; real-world tools used in the show.
Silicon Valley - Satirical tech comedy about a compression startup struggling to take off in Silicon Valley, California.
Darknet Diaries (by Jack Rhysider) - Highlights real-life hackers and their stories. Covers privacy topics a fair bit.
The WAN Show (Linus Tech Tips) - Not specifically privacy, but they cover all sorts of tech news.
The Privacy, Security, & OSINT Show - "This weekly podcast presents ideas to help you become digitally invisible, stay secure from cyber threats, and make you a better online investigator."
Security Now! - "TechTV's Leo Laporte and I spend somewhat shy of two hours each week to discuss important issues of personal computer security." (Thanks u/Abaddon182)
Surveillance Report - "Weekly security and privacy news - Presented by Techlore & The New Oil "
System32 Comics Instagram and Reddit - Comedic computer comics.
Closing remarks
It's a shame that Google, with their immense resources, power, and influence, don't see the benefits of helping people secure themselves online. Instead, they force people like us to scour the web for alternatives and convince our friends and family to do the same, while they sell off our data to the highest bidder.
Hopefully this guide can serve as a starting point for those new to privacy, or be a good refresher for the experts.
Good luck and stay safe!
Stargazers over time
License
This project is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC-BY-SA 4.0).
Attribution: You are free to:
Share: Copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format.
Adapt: Remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
Under the following terms:
Attribution: You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
ShareAlike: If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original.
Hi and thank's a lot for the Listing. I think it's important work you're doing here. I'd like to mention that Nextcloud with its intern Appstore and Clients is a quite complex Solution for some of the here mentioned tasks. NC was critical for me to degoogle myself and I think everyone interested in the topic should have a look. Contact/Calender/Task-sync, a newsapp and together with collabora a real good alternative to google docs. There's a lot of community support and it's really easy to start your own instance.
I'm totally in Love with this project and I think it's the biggest bundle of solutions as alternative to google.
I translated your collection of tools into German. This might help the Germans who don't speak English or don't speak any English to turn away from Google as well.
If you update something on your site, I will translate it into German.
Description: end-to-end encrypted chats, encrypted file storage (250 GB), doesn't require phone number to sign up (unlike Signal & co.), open source and free to use (unlike Threema).
My only concern is that they explicitly ask to use their binaries and not compile from source, but AFAIK it doesn't do anything nasty.
For mobile mail client apps there's K9 and Fairmail, being K9 fairly used.
For calendar, besides mentioning davdroid you should also mention icsdroid both work together.
As phone OS, Something in between LineageOS and /e/, is LineageOS for microG. LineageOS for microG is in essence Lineage with necessary changes to provide microG and all of its functionality. Actually the /e/ is in essence Lineage for microG changing and adding default apps as well as its look and feel.
For mail service, calendar service, contacts service, and if you'd like also for Gogle Drive replacement, I'd also mention /e/ and nextCloud, since Nextcloud is an open source self hosted cloud providing all those services and more, and there are 3rd parties offering Nextcloud service such as /e/, thus providing those services.
You don't mention camera, but Open Camera is a good mobile app to keep in mind.
Related to mail clients, and for encryption purposes, I would also mention OpenKeychain.
Finally I don't know if popcorntime deserves being mentioned on TV and similar, since Kodi is also mentioned there... Though not sure if it would imply mentioning some VPN services as well (you do mention you use PIA though).
It is not obvious as to what the implications of using the services marked with these labels actually means.
5-eyes, 9-eyes, and 14-eyes services will be listed, and marked as such. This means the company, not the server IP.
5: Australia, Canada, New Zealand, UK, USA
9: Denmark, France, Netherlands, Norway
14: Germany, Belgium, Italy, Sweden, Spain
Description: microG a re-implementation of Google’s proprietary Android user space apps and libraries. It allows to use more precise navigation (which is proprietary in standard Android ROMs) and optionally receive push messages (requires connection to Google's servers, but it's the only way so uh; it also supports routing this connection through Tor I guess?).
It's briefly mentioned in Aurora Store entry (as an optional dependency, which isn't true by the way – it doesn't interact with microG at all, see Do I need Google Play Services to use Aurora Store?) but I guess it could use a bit more love <3
Description:
Infinity Search is a privacy metasearch engine that does not log any information about its users. In terms of privacy, it works the same way as DuckDuckGo. It is free to use and is funded by non-tracking advertisements and affiliate links. It is also completely open source at https://gitlab.com/infinitysearch/infinity-search. The privacy policy can be found at https://infinitysearch.co/privacy.
Infinity Search currently has search capabilities for websites, images, news, videos, and maps.
One way that it is different from other search websites is that it has a sidebar that makes it easy to search for the same topic on several other sites if you can't initially find what you're searching for.
Description: Ar is a voice assistant that has some very basic iot capability, full search capability, and expected voice assistant stuff. ara is free and private
When you sign up for a mailbox.org account, it will give the IMAP settings to allow adding to any mail app. I've successfully added a mailbox.org account on iOS and Android devices using the IMAP settings provided.
It may need to be noted that iOS devices require a profile to be downloaded and installed for calendar and tasks to work properly, but I do not recall Android requiring any additional downloads in order to add the IMAP info.
Description: Nextcloud 18 now has Community Document Server and OnlyOffice apps integrated which allows self hosted instances of docs/sheets/slides. Users are able to edit documents in real time.
Hey, why do you even recommend Zoho? It's another proprietary cloud based in India. There were controversial reports of their staff reading your emails.
They offer you 5GB for free with custom domain which is almost not different from Gmail offering (5GB for emails is quite a lot) and their web apps are quite good. Why would anybody offer you good software and cloud space absolutely free? You will have same story as with Gmail, Outlook etc.
Toki was listed by mistake, incorrectly described. Please remove it.
Quite obviously Toki.com is an unlisted instance of Searx which is not distributed but a meta search engine. From a quick glance it have numerous problems such as lack of source (e.g. public code repository, issues management system, etc.), UI customisations to remove references to Searx (commented in HTML source), etc.
Basically Toki is a dodgy service that is not qualified (unworthy) to be listed here.
Description: * BlockSurvey enables digital rights(identity and data ownership) to users using Blockstack's blockchain. Users truly own their data with BlockSurvey. All your data collection is protected using your key and only you can access it. You have the key to it. There are no trackers or cookies or fingerprints on the forms of data providers. Yet to charge users. It is free to use.*
First, another good source site to use for alternatives is switching.software - might be worth adding to the intro as well.
As for some suggestions:
Photos: JottaCloud (not E2EE, but based in Norway, on green energy, and with a privacy guarantee - 5gb free tier), and Crypt.ee (relatively young, so no native apps yet, but is E2EE - tiny free tier though).
Drive: JottaCloud (again), and Sync.com (E2EE, with 5gb free tier). Also re NextCloud - might want to point out that there are lots of hosted NextCloud solutions available too, for those unable to self-host)
Search: Ekoru (much like Ecosia, but for ocean cleanup, and with a better privacy policy)
Map: Qwant Maps (uses OpenStreetMap data, but their geocoding seems to be slightly better subjectively - dependent on WebGL being enabled in your browser)
Fonts: Font Squirrel (includes some free fonts, but you can also upload fonts to generate webfonts for self-hosting)
Framasoft is a French non-profit that does amazing work for free software and digital freedom. https://framasoft.org/en/
They perfectly fit this project, to "de-google-ify internet" has been one of their goals for a while.
You can read their philosophy about it here: https://degooglisons-internet.org/en/
Conversations (Android | ca. 2$ on Google Play | free on F-Droid) (Cant look up the exact price in USD now) Jabber/XMPP Client, decentral, end to end encrypted and quite similiar to the Matrix protocol
Keep
Nextcloud Notes ( Google Play | F-Droid)to write and sync Notes to an existing Nextcloud Instance
Backup and Sync to Google Account (Contacts, Calendar, Wifi Password, Settings, Applications, etc.)
DAVx5 Sync Android Contacts and Calendars to an existing Nextcloud Instance
Titanium Backup Backup applications including data and more things like settings, wifi passwords, etc.
Find my Device
Find my Phone (F-Droid) Respondes with the current GPS Postition to incoming SMS
Finder (F-Droid) Remote mobile phone searching via SMS-requests.
PhoneTrack (F-Droid) Logs positions to Nextcloud PhoneTrack app or any custom server
Maps
MAPS.ME (Google Play | F-Droid) Maps Application wich is based on OpenStreetMaps with offline track recording. F-Droid Version is Open Source and has no tracker/ads.
RunBox is an email hosting service located in Norway and adheres to strict Norweigan privacy laws. The RunBox policy is stated here in explicit detail. Been using them for years, cheap too: ~$30/yr for a dozen domains I own.
KDE Marble is a good alternative for Google Earth. It currently only works on Linux, but KDE is trying to port a lot of their applications to Windows, so it might be there in the future.
/e/ is an Android alternative. There seems to be a bit of controversy over whether or not it is truly privacy friendly. Read the above issues or this link for privacytools.io.
The founder of e.foundation reached out to me over email and provided me with a number of links:
Conflict of interest for Wikipedia user. Appears to be resolved. Original accusation only backed up by assumptions (quote: "the nature of your edits gives the impression")
Very detailed analysis of /e/. Posted December 25/26 2019. Discusses ongoing issues with /e/ and the progress on fixing them. At least 3 analysis' have been done by this website.
Forum thread discussing the included app store. Very lengthy post. One user finds that "most" APK files are from either F-Droid or APKpure. Thread ends with moderator linking to the wiki and closing the thread. Wiki mentions the same site that frequently appears in thread (cleanapk.org). At this time it is still unknown where APK's actually come from and who owns cleanapk.org. It appears as though the moderator kept trying to doge the questions. Many apps available also appear to violate open source licensing terms.
Based on the above links, it is difficult to be certain that /e/ is totally Degoogled. I do think they have privacy in their best interests. It is clear based on forum posts that transparency between the company and users is an ongoing issue. I recommend each user read through the links to determine if it is the proper solution for them.
Consider this pinned issue as a place for open discussion. Avoid starting flamewars! This is also not the place for personal opinions.
There is a /e/ OS based on LineageOs 16 (pie). It is clearly stated on their website that E-OS is based on Lineage OS. It has a large userbase who really do bring forth issues which are attented to. Everyone can check this personally from their issue tracker page. Issues seem to be fixed reasonably fast given smaller group of contributors. All the issues in the trashtalk link are either solved or on the table.
Eos differs from lineage os and microg for lineageos in that eos tries to remove google from AOSP-code itself, which is mandatory if one really wants to de-google a phone. That alone would make E OS more secure than any of the AOSP or OEM based custom roms.
The text in the afore mentioned link is ill-adviced, biased rant without a reasonable fact checking.
I wanted to comment on the other post but it was closed. But when it comes to the Startpage thread, it's worth looking at the research we did at PrivacyTools.io and the questions we asked the CEO about the sale of the company.
youtube-dl works with lots of sites, is constantly being updated when the sites change, and avoid the whole issue of browser based tracking by simply downloading the video page and then the video file itself.
There are at least 2 popular public transport app on fdroid :
Transportr (with a small 'r' after the 't') which is opensource and allow to calculate route on public transport in various countries. It is simple visually and in usage.
Offi : Another open source app with 3 parts - one for directions (routing), one for informations about the stations (what is the next bus/train/... at the nearby stations) and one for plans (some cities have their public transport plans in the apps). It feel more complex and complete.
Both are complementary and offer services in places where the public transport companies offer open feed to get the schedule and information live. They are multi-modal so it helps when having to take multiple transport too. It works generally well in western Europe as far as i know, but i never tested in other place.
It says that it is an fork of YalpStore what it was but it isn't anymore in their readme it says
While Aurora Store was originally based on Sergei Yeriomin's Yalp store, v3.0 is a clean & complete rewrite from scratch that follows Material Design and runs on all devices running Android 5.0+.
One very popular alternative to these services is of course iCloud.com which offers collaboration & synchronisation with Apple devices (note that an Apple device is not required to use iCloud.com)
Description: Arcane Office is a decentralized office suite with high-security and zero-knowledge on your data. With Arcane Office, you have maximum control on your personal stuff. Full-featured online document and spreadsheet editor. Secure storage to save your photos. All free for personal use. Arcane Office is in beta state, so we don't have a pricing structure yet. But don't worry, there will always be a free version, and we let you know before any changes happen. Arcane Office encrypts all your document and photos and then send them to a hub of your choice. The default storage provider is Gaia by Blockstack. It's decentralized storage that works by hosting data in one or more existing storage systems. Thanks to Blockstack, you have an option to choose your own storage provider if you want. There is no difference in what provider you are using; Arcane Office will encrypt all your data with the highest security standards.Arcane Office operates as a transparent and secure system based on Bitcoin blockchain. It will always encrypt everything using ECIES and AES256 encryption, and only a specific recipient key can decrypt it. Also, the protocol codebase is open-source and hosted on GitHub.
i'd suggest that you properly say that /e/ sucks, because it does. it came bundled with pre-built apks and even some non-free apps, using google dns among other things.
Error:
In December 2019, Waterfox was acquired by System1. System1 is an ad agency. Those are known to be interested in tracing and spying users. System1 is seated in the UK (5 eyes).
React
Typescript
Django
Laravel
Facebook
Microsoft
Google
Alibaba
D3
Tencent