Re-Focusing on Privacy-Focused Applications - Where to Begin?

Now, I am hoping I am not the only one in this community who has realized that privacy should be one of the top considerations when choosing what software to use on any device.

Leaving Reddit has been the catalyst for me to realize this, as silly as that might sound, and now I have to re-evaluate my list of "convenient" apps that are in NO WAY secure or private.

I want to ask everyone here if they have any recommendations for essentially replacement applications for all of the major categories of software that we use on our computers and mobile devices.

For example, here are some of the switches I made today: Chrome Mobile > Opera Mobile Chrome Desktop > Opera Desktop Facebook Messenger > Signal Facebook Social Media > No alternative just deleted it.

My hope with this post is that we can have a discussion on privacy apps in general as trying to track down information for each sector one by one and test each out can be arduous.

To kick off the discussion here are some other categories that I have not figured out an answer for yet:

Search Engines (duckduckgo is mentioned a lot, why?) Operating Systems Cloud Storage Email Providers Podcasts Video/Music Services (Youtube, Paid services, etc) Environment Specific advice for Android, iOS, and any others.

Also if it makes sense, should we consider privacy when choosing, say, a news website to frequent? Or would browser choice ultimately be the decider there.

yote_zip,
@yote_zip@pawb.social avatar

privacyguides.org has been a great resource for years now. They also have a community at !privacyguides

Edit: Specifically the tools page if you’re only looking for recommendations

rancidity9480,

After years of just feeling like it was an overwhelming task to take on, I recently figured it was time to make some changes. I figure any change is good change, so started with things like moving to Firefox (and Kiwi on mobile) and adding some privacy focused add ons.

I spent a weekend moving from LastPass to Bitwarden and changing tons of passwords.

Then I spent a day setting up Nextcloud on a spare RPi I had around, so now syncing photos, contacts, and calendar there.

This week, I opened a Protonmail account and moved my personal address there instead of using Gmail.

The Privacy Guide link someone posted looks great. I'll definitely use it to keep me thinking about what I can change. One step at a time, you know?

shortwavesurfer,

Search Engines (duckduckgo is mentioned a lot, why?) Operating Systems Cloud Storage Email Providers Podcasts Video/Music Services (Youtube, Paid services, etc) Environment Specific advice for Android, iOS, and any others.

Duckduckgo is mentioned because it does not log what you search for so every time you return its like you are a first time visitor

  • Operating systems: pretty much any linux will do. I suggest Ubuntu
  • cloud storage: none. Cloud = someone else’s computer. Get an external SSD.
  • Email: ProtonMail or Tutanota
  • Podcasts: platform dependent, but AntennaPod for Android
  • video: Youtube via nvidius, piped, or Newpipe
furrowsofar,

Some useful links also:

This is in addition to the great Privacy Guides link another commenter mentioned.

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