lissy93/awesome-privacy

A curated list of privacy-respecting apps, software, and providers

🌐 awesome-privacy.xyz

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Large data-hungry corporations dominate the digital world but with little, or no respect for your privacy. Migrating to open-source applications with a strong emphasis on privacy and security will help stop corporations, governments, and hackers from logging, storing or selling your personal data.

📋 Contents

• Essentials
  • Password Managers (8)
  • 2-Factor Authentication (12)
  • File Encryption (3)
  • Browsers (5)
  • Search Engines (6)
• Communication
  • Encrypted Messaging (4)
  • P2P Messaging (4)
  • Encrypted Email (4)
  • Email Clients (6)
  • Mail Forwarding (4)
  • Email Security Tools (3)
  • VOIP Clients (2)
  • Virtual Phone Numbers (8)
  • Team Collaboration (5)
• Security Tools
  • Browser Extensions (21)
  • Mobile Apps (22)
  • Online Tools (17)
• Networking
  • Virtual Private Networks (7)
  • Self-Hosted Network Security (8)
  • Anonymity Networks (3)
  • Proxies (2)
  • DNS Providers (3)
  • DNS Clients (5)
  • Firewalls (14)
  • Ad Blockers (7)
  • Host Block Lists (5)
  • Router Firmware (2)
  • Network Analysis (3)
  • Intrusion Detection (5)
  • Cloud Hosting (4)
  • Domain Registrars (2)
  • DNS Hosting (1)
  • Mail Servers (3)
• Productivity
  • Digital Notes (9)
  • Calendar (4)
  • Scheduling (2)
  • Task Management (3)
  • Backup and Sync (4)
  • Cloud Productivity Suites (4)
  • Encrypted Cloud Storage (6)
  • Secret Sharing (3)
  • File Drop (2)
  • Browser Sync (4)
  • Habit Trackers (1)
  • Secure Conference Calls (2)
  • Maps & Navigation (1)
  • Accessibility (1)
• Utilities
  • Virtual Machines (3)
  • PGP Managers (8)
  • Metadata Removal (3)
  • Data Erasers (8)
• Operating Systems
  • Mobile Operating Systems (3)
  • Desktop Operating Systems (5)
  • Linux Defenses (7)
  • Windows Defences (17)
  • Mac OS Defences (2)
  • Anti-Malware (2)
• Development
  • Code Hosting (5)
  • IDEs (1)
  • Terminal Emulators (1)
  • Developer Tools (3)
• Smart Home & IoT
  • Smart Home (1)
  • Security Cameras (1)
  • Wearables & Health (1)
• Finance
  • Cryptocurrencies (2)
  • Crypto Wallets (6)
  • Crypto Exchanges (2)
  • Crypto Tools (1)
  • Virtual Credit Cards (2)
  • Other Payment Methods (3)
  • Secure Budgeting (7)
• Social
  • Social Networks (4)
  • Video Platforms (2)
  • Blogging Platforms (6)
  • News Readers (1)
  • Proxy Sites (4)
• Media
  • Gaming (1)
  • Media Servers (3)
  • Video Players (1)
  • Photo Management (2)
  • Podcast Players (1)
  • Torrent Downloaders (1)
  • File Converters (2)
• Creativity
  • Image Editors (8)
  • Video Editors (7)
  • Audio Editors & Recorders (1)
  • Casting & Streaming (1)
  • Screenshot Tools (1)
  • 3D Graphics (2)
  • Animation (1)

• Bitwarden - Fully-featured, open source password manager with cloud-sync. Bitwarden is easy-to-use with a clean UI and client apps for desktop, web and mobile. See also Vaultwarden, a self-hosted, Rust implementa…
• KeePass - Hardened, secure and offline password manager. Does not have cloud-sync baked in, deemed to be gold standard for secure password managers. KeePass clients: Strongbox (Mac & iOS), KeePassium (Mac & iOS)…
• LessPass - LessPass is a little different, since it generates your passwords using a hash of the website name, your username and a single main-passphrase that you reuse. It omits the need for you to ever need to…
• ProtonPass - From the creators of ProtonMail, ProtonPass is a new addition to their suite of services. They have a full collection of user-friendly native mobile and desktop apps. ProtonPass is one of the few "tru…
• Pass - The Standard Unix Password Manager
• AliasVault - End-to-end encrypted open source password and alias manager with built-in email server. AliasVault protects your privacy by creating alternative identities, passwords and email addresses for every web…
• PaperVault - Store secrets and passwords on encrypted paper with distributed keys. Designed to last generations. Open source, client-side only, works offline.
• 2of3 by Ente - Turn a recovery key, password, or other secret into 3 cards you can keep in different places. Open-source, client-side only, with an offline recovery page.

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• 2FAS - Free, secure and open source authenticator app for both iOS and Android. Supports creating encrypted backups and syncing between devices without the need for an account.
• Aegis - Free, secure and open source authenticator app for Android. Has a backup/ restore feature and a customisable UI with dark mode
• Stratum - Free and open-source two factor authentication app for Android. It features encrypted backups, icons, categories and a high level of customisation. It also has a Wear OS companion app
• Tofu - An easy-to-use, open-source two-factor authentication app designed specifically for iOS
• Authenticator - Simple, native, open source 2-FA Client for iOS, which never connects to the internet - built by @mattrubin.me
• Authenticator GNOME - Rust-based OTP authenticator. Has native With GNOME Shell integration. Also available through flathub.
• Authenticator CC - Authenticator Extension is an in-browser One-Time Password (OTP) client, supports both Time-Based One-Time Password (TOTP, specified in RFC 6238) and HMAC-Based One-Time Password (HOTP, specified in RFC 4226…
• Ente Auth - Free, open source TOTP authenticator for mobile, desktop and web. Works fully offline, or with an Ente account to sync codes across devices with end-to-end encrypted backups. Codes can be imported fro…
• Bitwarden Authenticator - Bitwarden Authenticator is a free and open-source app which stores and generates time-based codes for multi-factor authentication. It can be used with an online account to backup and sync your tokens…
• Proton Authenticator - Proton Authenticator is free, open source, and available for both iOS and Android. A Proton account is required to use Proton Authenticator. Existing 2FA codes can be imported from other popular apps…
• Chronos Authenticator - Chronos Authenticator is a free, open-source two-factor authentication app for iOS, designed to provide robust security and reliable backup options.
• Autheris - Open-source 2FA authenticator for iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch. Secrets stay in the device Keychain, with no account, no analytics and optional iCloud Sync

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• VeraCrypt - VeraCrypt is open source cross-platform disk encryption software. You can use it to either encrypt a specific file or directory, or an entire disk or partition. VeraCrypt is incredibly feature-rich, w…
• Cryptomator - Open source client-side encryption for cloud files - Cryptomator is geared towards using alongside cloud-backup solutions, and hence preserves individual file structure, so that they can be uploaded.…
• age - age is a simple, modern and secure CLI file encryption tool and Go library. It features small explicit keys, no config options, and UNIX-style composability

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• LibreWolf - An independent fork of Firefox hardened for privacy by default. No telemetry, uBlock Origin bundled, anti-fingerprinting, strict settings
• Brave Browser - Chromium-based browser with strong built-in ad, tracker and fingerprint blocking, and timely Chromium security updates. Note that Brave does bundle potentially unwanted features, like crypto, rewards…
• Firefox - The main independent browser, on Mozilla's own Gecko engine rather than Chromium. Reliable, long-standing, with frequent security updates, broad extension support and strong customization. However tel…
• Tor Browser - Tor provides an extra layer of anonymity, by encrypting each of your requests, then routing it through several nodes, making it near-impossible for you to be tracked by your ISP. While excellent for a…
• Mullvad Browser - A Firefox-based browser maintained in collaboration between the Tor Project and Mullvad. With strong anti-fingerprinting (so users look alike), no telemetry and uBlock Origin bundled

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• DuckDuckGo - DuckDuckGo is a user-friendly and fast secure search engine. While it doesn't use trackers or cookies, there are search-related ads. It's also highly customisable, with theming, languages, bangs and p…
• Startpage - Dutch search engine returning primarily Google results, proxied to strip IP and identifiers. Includes an "Anonymous View" proxy for previewing results privately. No third-party tracking or cookies, bu…
• Brave Search - Brave Search is a privacy-focused search engine that does not track users or their searches, does not use secret algorithms or user profiling, and is based on its own search index.
• Mojeek - British search engine providing independent and unbiased search results using its own crawler. Has a zero tracking policy (it is not open source)
• Uruky - Uruky is an ad-free, private search engine focused on personalization. It uses, among other providers, Mojeek and Marginalia. It is EU-based and does not keep or track any personal data (it is not 100…
• PriEco - PriEco is an independent web search engine with growing index. It is EU-based and 100% open source. It allows customization via Goggles.

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• Signal - Probably one of the most popular, secure private messaging apps that combines strong encryption (see Signal Protocol) with a simple UI and plenty of features. It's widely used across the world, and ea…
• SimpleX - Simplex is gaining popularity as a secure and private messaging app renowned for its robust encryption protocol without user IDs or phone numbers and this improves your privacy. Simplex offers instant…
• XMPP - XMPP, also known as Jabber, is an open standard for decentralized messaging that has been widely used for decades. It has actually been the basis upon which WhatsApp, Facebook's Chat and Google's Talk…
• Matrix - Matrix is a decentralized open network for secure communications, with E2E encryption with Olm and Megolm. Along with the Element client, it supports VOIP + video calling and IM + group chats. Note th…

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With Peer-to-Peer networks, there are no central server, so there is nothing that can be raided, shut-down or forced to turn over data. There are P2P networks available that are open source, E2E encrypted, routed through Tor services, totally anonymous and operate without the collection of metadata.

• Briar - Tor-based Android app for P2P encrypted messaging and forums. Where content is stored securely on your device (not in the cloud). It also allows you to connect directly with nearby contacts, without i…
• Ricochet Refresh - Desktop instant messenger, that uses the Tor network to rendezvous with your contacts without revealing your identity, location/ IP or meta data. There are no servers to monitor, censor, or hack so Ri…
• Jami - P2P encrypted chat network with cross-platform GNU client apps. Jami supports audio and video calls, screen sharing, conference hosting and instant messaging.
• Tox & qTox client - Open source, encrypted, distributed chat network, with clients for desktop and mobile - see supported clients. Clearly documented code and multiple language bindings make it easy for developers to int…

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Email is not secure - your messages can be easily intercepted and read. Corporations scan the content of your mail, to build up a profile of you, either to show you targeted ads or to sell onto third-parties. Through the Prism Program, the government also has full access to your emails (if not end-to-end encrypted) - this applies to Gmail, Outlook Mail, Yahoo Mail, GMX, ZoHo, iCloud, AOL and more.

For a more details comparison of email providers, see email-comparison.as93.net

• ProtonMail - An end-to-end encrypted anonymous email service. ProtonMail has a modern easy-to-use and customizable UI, as well as fast, secure native mobile apps. ProtonMail has all the features that you'd expect…
• Tuta - Free and open source email service based in Germany. It has a basic intuitive UI, secure native mobile apps and desktop email clients, anonymous signup, and an encrypted calendar. Tuta has a full-feat…
• Mailfence - Mailfence supports OpenPGP so that you can manually exchange encryption keys independently from the Mailfence servers, putting you in full control. Mailfence has a simple UI, similar to that of Outloo…
• MailBox.org - A Berlin-based, eco-friendly secure mail provider. There is no free plan, the standard service costs €12/year. You can use your own domain, with the option of a catch-all alias. They provide good acco…

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Email clients are the programs used to interact with the mail server. For hosted email, then the web and mobile clients provided by your email service are usually adequate, and may be the most secure option. For self-hosted email, you will need to install and configure mail clients for web, desktop or mobile. A benefit of using an IMAP client, is that you will always have an offline backup of all email messages (which can then be encrypted and archived), and many applications let you aggregate multiple mailboxes for convenience. Desktop mail clients are not vulnerable to the common browser attacks, that their web app counterparts are.

• Mozilla Thunderbird - Free and open source email application developed and backed by Mozilla -it's secure, private easy and customizable. As of V 78.2.1 encryption is built in, and the TorBirdy extension routes all traffic…
• eM Client - Productivity-based email client, for Windows and MacOS. eM Client has a clean user interface, snappy performance and good compatibility. There is a paid version, with some handy features, including sn…
• SnappyMail - Simple, modern, fast web-based mail client. This is an IMAP-only fork of RainLoop that mitigates a severe RainLoop vulnerability and adds several new features.…
• RoundCube - Browser-based multilingual IMAP client with an application-like user interface. It provides full functionality you expect from an email client, including MIME support, address book, folder manipulatio…
• FairEmail - Open source, fully-featured and easy mail client for Android. Supports unlimited accounts and email addresses with the option for a unified inbox. Clean user interface, with a dark mode option, it is…
• K-9 Mail - K-9 (or Thunderbird for Android) is open source, very well supported and trusted - k9 has been around for nearly as long as Android itself! It supports multiple accounts, search, IMAP push email, mult…

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Revealing your real email address online can put you at risk. Email aliasing allows messages to be sent to [anything]@my-domain.com and still land in your primary inbox. This protects your real email address from being revealed. Aliases are generated automatically, the first time they are used. This approach lets you identify which provider leaked your email address, and block an alias with 1-click.

• Addy - An open source anonymous email forwarding service, allowing you to create unlimited email aliases. Has a free plan.
• SimpleLogin - Fully open source (view on GitHub) alias service with many additional features. Can be self-hosted, or the managed version has a free plan, as well as hosted premium option ($2.99/ month) for using cu…
• Firefox Private Relay - Developed and managed by Mozilla, Relay is a Firefox addon, that lets you make an email alias with 1 click, and have all messages forwarded onto your personal email. Relay is totally free to use, and…
• Forward Email - Catch-all email forwarding service with unlimited aliases and custom domains, configured via DNS records. Self-hostable; the hosted version has a limited free plan, with paid plans (from $3/month) add…

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• Email Privacy Tester - Tests whether your mail client "reads" emails before you open them, and what analytics, read-receipts or other tracking data it leaks back to the sender. Developed by Mike Cardwell; use a spare addres…
• DKIM Verifier - Verifies DKIM signatures and shows the result in the e-mail header, in order to help spot spoofed emails (which do not come from the domain that they claim to).
• Paperweight - Paperweight scans your inbox to map your digital footprint, then helps you take back control and delete your data.

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• Mumble - Open source, low-latency, high quality voice chat software. You can host your own server, or use a hosted instance, there are client applications for Windows, MacOS and Linux as well as third-party ap…
• Linphone - Open source audio, video and IM groups with E2E encryption and built-in media server. SIP-based evolving to RCS. Native apps for Android, iOS, Windows, GNU/Linux and MacOS.…

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• SMSPool - Don't feel comfortable giving out your phone number? Protect your online identity by using our one-time-use non-VoIP phone numbers. We support over 50+ countries and support over 300+ services.
• Silent.link - Anonymous eSIM for sending / receiving SMS, incoming calls and 4G / 5G internet + world-wide roaming. No data is required at sign-up. Affordable pricing, with payments and top-ups accepted in BTC. Req…
• Crypton.sh - Physical SIM card in the cloud, for sending + receiving SMS messages. Messages are encrypted using your chosen private key. Includes a web interface, as well as an API for interacting with it from any…
• Jmp.chat - Phone number for incoming + outgoing calls and messages, provided by Soprani. Works with Jabber, Matrix, Snikket, XMPP or any SIP client. Pricing starts at $4.99 / month. Only available in the US and…
• MoneroSMS - Anonymous SMS service able to activate accounts. Accessible over web, CLI, or email. Pricing starts at $3.60 / month. The service is in beta as of 2022.
• PikaSim - Privacy-focused eSIM provider for 170+ countries, with instant eSIM delivery. No account, ID, email needed, and accepts crypto via a self-hosted BTCPay Server.
• nadanada - Disposable (20-min) and extendable rental (3-month) phone numbers for anonymous SMS verification, plus anonymous eSIM data plans for 200+ countries. No account, no email, no KYC. Pay with Bitcoin, Mon…
• Narayana - Anonymous physical SIMs, eSIMs, VoIP phone numbers, and other advanced features. Inbound/outbound calls, SMS and roaming internet. Very private, has a Tor mirror, accepts crypto, doesn't KYC and you c…

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Now more than ever we are relying on software to help with team collaboration. Unfortunately many popular options, such as Slack, Microsoft Teams, Google for Work and Discord all come with some serious privacy implications.
Typical features of team collaboration software includes: instant messaging, closed and open group messaging, voice and video conference calling, file sharing/ file drop, and some level or scheduling functionality.

• Rocket.Chat - Easy-to-deploy, self-hosted Slack alternative with polished cross-platform apps. End-to-end encryption is supported, but off by default - without it, workspace admins can read all messages. Usage stat…
• Element - Privacy-focused messenger using the Matrix protocol. The Element client allows for group chat rooms, media sharing, voice and video group calls. End-to-end encryption by default for message content, b…
• Mattermost - Self-hostable Slack alternative with native desktop, mobile and web apps, and many integrations. There's no end-to-end encryption, so the server can read all messages, and telemetry is on by default.…
• Zulip - Open source team chat organized around topic-based threading, which keeps busy conversations easier to follow than channel-only tools. Can be self-hosted, or used as a paid cloud service. The threadin…
• Xeres - A decentralized, encrypted P2P friend-to-friend app for chat, forums, channels, boards, voice calls and anonymous file sharing. Best for trusted contacts, as it isn't anonymous unless you route it thr…

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The following browser add-ons give you better control over what content is able to be loaded and executed while your browsing.
Before installing anything, you should read the Word of Warning section below.

• Privacy Badger - Blocks invisible trackers, in order to stop advertisers and other third-parties from secretly tracking where you go and what pages you look at. Less configurable but simpler than uBlock, and focuses o…
• uBlock Origin - Block ads, trackers and malware sites. Download: Chrome - Firefox…
• Firefox Multi-Account Containers - 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 wit…
• WebRTC-Leak-Prevent - Provides user control over WebRTC privacy settings in Chromium, in order to prevent WebRTC leaks. Download: Chrome. For Firefox users, you can do this through browser settings. Test for WebRTC leaks,…
• Canvas Fingerprint Blocker - Block fingerprint without removing access to HTML5 Canvas element. Canvas fingerprinting is commonly used for tracking, this extension helps to mitigate this through disallowing the browser to generat…
• ClearURLs - This extension will automatically remove tracking elements from the GET parameters of URLs to help protect some privacy Download: Chrome - Firefox / Source…
• Privacy-Oriented Origin Policy - Prevent Firefox from sending Origin headers when they are least likely to be necessary, to protect your privacy Download: Firefox - Source…
• LocalCDN - Emulates remote frameworks (e.g. jQuery, Bootstrap, Angular) and delivers them as local resource. Prevents unnecessary 3rd party requests to tracking CDNs Download: Firefox…
• Decentraleyes - Similar to LocalCDN, Serves up local versions of common scripts instead of calling to 3rd-party CDN. Improves privacy and load times. Works out-of-the-box and plays nicely with regular content blocker…
• Privacy Essentials - Simple extension by DuckDuckGo, which grades the security of each site. Download: Chrome \ Firefox…
• User Agent Switcher - Spoofs browser's User-Agent string, making it appear that you are on a different device, browser and version to what you are actually using. This alone does very little for privacy, but combined with…
• PrivacySpy - The companion extension for PrivacySpy.org - an open project that rates, annotates, and archives privacy policies. The extension shows a score for the privacy policy of the current website. Download:…
• Skip Redirect - 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 Download: Firefox…
• Web Archives - View archived and cached versions of web pages on 10+ search engines, such as the Wayback Machine, Archive.is, Google etc Useful for checking legitimacy of websites, and viewing change logs Download:…
• Flagfox - Displays a country flag depicting the location of the current website's server, which can be useful to know at a glance. Click icon for more tools such as site safety checks, whois, validation etc Download…
• AmIUnique Timeline - Enables you to better understand the evolution of browser fingerprints (which is what websites use to uniquely identify and track you). Download: Chrome - Firefox…
• Netcraft Extension - Notifies you when visiting a known or potential phishing site, and detects suspicious JavaScript (including skimmers and miners). Also provides a simple rating for a given site's legitimacy and securi…
• Linguist - Linguist is a privacy‑focused translation solution in-browser that has an embedded offline translator and lets users create custom translators to use any translation API, even if it's locally deployed…
• LibRedirect - A browser extension that redirects popular sites to alternative privacy friendly frontends Download: Firefox - Chrome…
• SponsorBlock - Crowdsourced browser extension that skips sponsored segments and other unwanted parts of YouTube videos using community-submitted timestamps. Download: Firefox - Chrome…
• DeArrow - Crowdsourced browser extension that replaces YouTube video titles and thumbnails using community-submitted versions to stop clickbait. Download: Firefox - Chrome…

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• Orbot - System-wide Tor proxy, which encrypts your connection through multiple nodes. You can also use it alongside Tor Browser to access .onion sites.
• NetGuard - A firewall app for Android, which does not require root. NetGuard provides simple and advanced ways to block access to the internet, where applications and addresses can individually be allowed or den…
• Island - A sandbox environment, allowing you to clone selected apps and run them in an isolated box, preventing it from accessing your personal data, or device information.
• Insular - An actively-maintained fork of the Island project with additional enhancements
• Exodus - Shows which trackers, each of your installed apps is using, so that you can better understand how your data is being collected. Uses data from the Exodus database of scanned APKs.
• Bouncer - Gives you the ability to grant permissions temporarily, so that you could for example use the camera to take a profile picture, but when you close the given app, those permissions will be revoked.
• SuperFreezZ - Makes it possible to entirely freeze all background activities on a per-app basis. Intended purpose is to speed up your phone, and prolong battery life, but this app is also a great utility to stop ce…
• Secure Task - Triggers actions, when certain security conditions are met, such as multiple failed login attempts or monitor settings changed. It does require Tasker, and needs to be set up with ADB, device does not…
• Cryptomator - Encrypts files and folders client-side, before uploading them to cloud storage (such as Google Drive, One Drive or Dropbox), meaning none of your personal documents leave your device in plain text.
• 1.1.1.1 - Lets you use CloudFlares fast and secure 1.1.1.1 DNS, with DNS over HTTPS, and also has the option to enable CloudFlares WARP+ VPN.
• Fing App - A network scanner to help you monitor and secure your WiFi network. The app is totally free, but to use the advanced controls, you will need a Fing Box.
• Blokada - This application blocks ads and trackers, doesn't require root and works for all the apps on your Android phone. Check out how it works here.
• TrackerControl - Monitor and control hidden data collection in mobile apps about user behavior/ tracking. Get from F-Droid
• Greentooth - Auto-disable Bluetooth, then it is not being used. Saves battery, and prevent some security risks. Get from F-Droid
• PrivateLock - Auto lock your phone based on movement force/ acceleration. Get from F-Droid See also PluckLock
• CamWings - Prevent background processes gaining unauthorized access to your devices camera. Better still, use a webcam sticker.
• ScreenWings - Prevent background processes taking unauthorized screenshots, which could expose sensitive data.
• AFWall+ - Android Firewall+ (AFWall+) is an advanced iptables editor (GUI) for rooted Android devices, which provides very fine-grained control over which Android apps are allowed to access the network. Get fro…
• Catch the Man-in-the-Middle - Simple tool, that compares SHA-1 fingerprints of the the SSL certificates seen from your device, and the certificate seen from an external network. If they do not match, this may indicate a man-in-the…
• RethinkDNS & Firewall - An open-source ad-blocker and firewall app for Android 6+ (does not require root).
• F-Droid - F-Droid is an installable catalogue of FOSS applications for Android. The client enables you to browse, install, and keep track of updates on your device.
• Spectre - A radio frequency scanner app for Android with recon and offensive capabilities.

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A selection of free online tools and utilities, to check, test and protect your security

• Have i been pwned - Checks if your credentials (Email address or Password) have been compromised in a data breach. See also Firefox Monitor.
• εxodus - Checks how many, and which trackers any Android app has. Useful to understand how data is being collected before you install a certain APK, it also shows which permissions the app asks for.
• Am I Unique? - Show how identifiable you are on the Internet by generating a fingerprint based on device information. This is how many websites track you (even without cookies enabled), so the aim is to not be uniqu…
• Panopticlick - Check if your browser safe against tracking. Analyzes how well your browser and add-ons protect you against online tracking techniques, and if your system is uniquely configured—and thus identifiable.
• Phish.ly - Analyzes emails, checking the URLs and creating a SHA256 and MD5 hash of attachments, with a link to VirusTotal. To use the service, just forward a potentially malicious or suspicious email to scan@ph…
• Browser Leak Test - Shows which of personal identity data is being leaked through your browser, so you can better protect yourself against fingerprinting.
• IP Leak Test - Shows your IP address, and other associated details (location, ISP, WebRTC check, DNS, and lots more).
• EXIF Remove - Displays, and removes Meta and EXIF data from an uploaded photo or document.
• Redirect Detective - Check where a suspicious URL redirects to (without having to click it). Lets you avoid being tracked by not being redirected via adware/tracking sites, or see if a shortened link actually resolves a l…
• Blocked.org - Checks if a given website is blocked by filters applied by your mobile and broadband Internet Service Providers (ISP).
• Virus Total - Analyses a potentially-suspicious web resources (by URL, IP, domain or file hash) to detect types of malware (note: files are scanned publicly).
• Hardenize - Scan websites and shows a security overview, relating to factors such as HTTPS, domain info, email data, www protocols and so on.
• Is Legit? - Checks if a website or business is a scam, before buying something from it.
• Should I Remove It? - Ever been uninstalling programs from your Windows PC and been unsure of what something is? Should I Remove It is a database of Windows software, detailing whether it is essential, harmless or dangerou…
• 10 Minute Mail - Generates temporary disposable email address, to avoid giving your real details.
• MXToolBox Mail Headers - Tool for analyzing email headers, useful for checking the authenticity of messages, as well as knowing what info you are revealing in your outbound messages.
• Site Report - A tool from Netcraft, for analysing what any given website is running, where it's located and information about its host, registrar, IP and SSL certificates.

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• Mullvad - Mullvad is one of the best for privacy, they have a totally anonymous sign up process, you don't need to provide any details at all, you can choose to pay anonymously too (with Monero, BTC or cash).
• Azire - Azire is a Swedish VPN provider, who owns their own hardware with physically removed storage and a no logging policy. Pricing starts at €3.25/mo, with crypto (including XMR) supported. Note that they'…
• IVPN - Independently Security Audited VPN with anonymous signup, no logs, no cloud or customer data stored, open-source apps and website. Strong ethics: no trackers, no false promises, no surveillance ads. A…
• ProtonVPN - From the creators of ProtonMail, ProtonVPN has a solid reputation. They have a full suite of user-friendly native mobile and desktop apps. ProtonVPN is one of the few "trustworthy" providers that also…
• OVPN - A court-proven VPN service with support for Wireguard and OpenVPN support, and optional ad-blocking. Running on dedicated hardware, with no hard drives.
• Party VPN - Crypto-native VPN with pay-as-you-go pricing. Accepts cryptocurrency only, including Monero. WireGuard and AmneziaWG protocols, no-logs policy, REST API for developers. No subscriptions or credit card…
• Windscribe - An audited and court-proven VPN with a free 10GB plan, in-RAM servers, browser extensions and open source WireGuard/IKEv2/OpenVPN clients. Supports split tunneling, customizable DNS blocking, MAC spoo…

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Fun little projects that you can run on a Raspberry Pi, or other low-powered computer. In order to help detect and prevent threats, monitor network and filter content

• Pi-Hole - Network-level advertisement and Internet tracker blocking application which acts as a DNS sinkhole. Pi-Hole can significantly speed up your internet, remove ads and block malware. It comes with a nice…
• Technitium - Another DNS server for blocking privacy-invasive content at its source. Technitium doesn't require much of a setup, and basically works straight out of the box, it supports a wide range of systems (an…
• IPFire - A hardened, versatile, state-of-the-art open source firewall based on Linux. Its ease of use, high performance and extensibility make it usable for everyone.
• PiVPN - A simple way to set up a home VPN on any Debian server. Supports OpenVPN and WireGuard with elliptic curve encryption keys up to 512 bit. Supports multiple DNS providers and custom DNS providers - wor…
• E2guardian - Powerful open source web content filter.
• PF Sense - Widely used, open source firewall/router.
• Zeek - Detect if you have a malware-infected computer on your network, and powerful network analysis framework and monitor.
• Firezone - Open-source self-hosted VPN and firewall built on WireGuard®.

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• Tor - Tor provides robust anonymity, allowing you to defend against surveillance, circumvent censorship and reduce tracking. It blocks trackers, resists fingerprinting and implements multi-layered encryptio…
• I2P - I2P offers great generic transports, it is well geared towards accessing hidden services, and has a couple of technical benefits over Tor: P2P friendly with unidirectional short-lived tunnels, it is p…
• Freenet - Freenet is easy to setup, provides excellent friend To Friend Sharing vs I2P, and is great for publishing content anonymously. It's quite large in size, and very slow so not the best choice for casual…

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A proxy acts as a gateway between you and the internet, it can be used to act as a firewall or web filter, improves privacy and can also be used to provide shared network connections and cache data to speed up common requests. Never use a free proxy.

• ShadowSocks - Secure socks5 proxy, designed to protect your Internet traffic. Open source, superfast, cross-platform and easy to deploy, see GitHub repo.
• Privoxy - Non-caching web proxy with advanced filtering capabilities for enhancing privacy, modifying web page data and HTTP headers, controlling access, and removing ads and other obnoxious Internet junk.

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Without using a secure, privacy-centric DNS all your web requests can be seen in the clear. You should configure your DNS queries to be managed by a service that respects privacy and supports DNS-over-TLS, DNS-over-HTTPS or DNSCrypt.

• CloudFlare - One of the most performant options, Cloudflare's DNS supports DoH and DoT, and has a Tor implementation, providing world-class protection. They have native cross-platform apps, for easy set-up.
• AdGuard - Open-source DNS provider, specialising in the blocking of ads, trackers and malicious domains. They have been independently audited and do not keep logs.
• NextDNS - An ad-blocking, privacy-protecting, censorship-bypassing DNS. Also comes with analytics, and the ability to shield kids from adult content.

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• DNScrypt-proxy 2 - A flexible DNS proxy, with support for modern encrypted DNS protocols including DNSCrypt V2, DNS-over-HTTPS and Anonymized DNSCrypt. Also allows for advanced monitoring, filtering, caching and client…
• Unbound - Validating, recursive, caching DNS resolve with support for DNS-over-TLS. Designed to be fast, lean, and secure Unbound incorporates modern features based on open standards. It's fully open source, an…
• Nebulo - Non-root, small-sized DNS changer utilizing DNS-over-HTTPS and DNS-over-TLS. (Note, since this uses Android's VPN API, it is not possible to run a VPN while using Nebulo.)
• RethinkDNS & Firewall - Free and open source DNS changer with support for DNS-over-HTTPS, DNS-over-Tor, and DNSCrypt v3 with Anonymized Relays. (Note, since this uses Android's VPN API, it is not possible to run a VPN while…
• Stubby - Acts as a local DNS Privacy stub resolver (using DNS-over-TLS). Stubby encrypts DNS queries sent from a client machine (desktop or laptop) to a DNS Privacy resolver increasing end user privacy. Stubby…

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A firewall is a program which monitors the incoming and outgoing traffic on your network, and blocks requests based on rules set during its configuration. Properly configured, a firewall can help protect against attempts to remotely access your computer, as well as control which applications can access which IPs.

• NetGuard - Provides simple and advanced ways to block access to the internet. Applications and addresses can individually be allowed or denied access to Wi-Fi and/or mobile connection.
• AFWall+ - Android Firewall+ (AFWall+) is an advanced iptables editor (GUI) for rooted Android devices, which provides very fine-grained control over which Android apps are allowed to access the network.
• RethinkDNS & Firewall - An open-source ad-blocker and firewall app for Android 6+ (does not require root).
• Lockdown - Firewall app for iPhone, allowing you to block any connection to any domain.
• SimpleWall - Tool to control Windows Filtering Platform (WFP), in order to configure detailed network activity on your PC. (Windows)
• LuLu - Free, open source macOS firewall. It aims to block unknown outgoing connections, unless explicitly approved by the user.
• Little Snitch - A very polished application firewall, allowing you to easily manage internet connections on a per-app basis. (Mac OS)
• OpenSnitch - Makes internet connections from all apps visible, allowing you to block or manage traffic on a per-app basis. GNU/Linux port of the Little Snitch application firewall.
• Gufw - Open source GUI firewall for Linux, allowing you to block internet access for certain applications. Supports both simple and advanced mode, GUI and CLI options, very easy to use, lightweight/ low-over…
• Uncomplicated Firewall - The ufw (Uncomplicated Firewall) is a GUI application and CLI, that allows you to configure a firewall using iptables much more easily.
• IPFire - IPFire is a hardened, versatile, state-of-the-art Open Source firewall based on Linux. Easy to install on a raspberry Pi, since it is lightweight and heavily customizable.
• Shorewall - An open source firewall tool for Linux that builds upon the Netfilter system built into the Linux kernel, making it easier to manage more complex configuration schemes with iptables.
• BunkerWeb - BunkerWeb is an open-source Next-Generation Web Application Firewall (WAF). It provides easy protection for your web services and is designed to remain secure by default. It integrates seamlessly with…
• OPNSense - Enterprise firewall and router for protecting networks, built on the FreeBSD system.

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There are a few different ways to block ads - browser-based ad-blockers, router-based / device blockers or VPN ad-blockers. Typically they work by taking a maintained list of hosts, and filtering each domain/ IP through it. Some also have other methods to detect certain content based on pattern matching

• Pi-Hole - Incredibly powerful, network-wide ad-blocker. Works out-of-the-box, light-weight with an intuitive web interface, but still allows for a lot of advanced configuration for power users. As well as block…
• Diversion - A shell script application to manage ad-blocking, Dnsmasq logging, Entware and pixelserv-tls installations and more on supported routers running Asuswrt-Merlin firmware, including its forks.
• hBlock - A POSIX-compliant shell script, designed for Unix-like systems, that gets a list of domains that serve ads, tracking scripts and malware from multiple sources and creates a hosts file (alternative for…
• Blokada - Open source mobile ad-blocker that acts like a firewall. Since it's device-wide, once connected all apps will have ads/ trackers blocked, and the blacklist can be edited. The app is free, but there is…
• RethinkDNS & Firewall - Free and open source ad-blocker and a firewall for Android 6+ (no root required).
• uBlock Origin - Light-weight, fast browser extension for Firefox and Chromium (Chrome, Edge, Brave Opera etc), that blocks tracking, ads and known malware. uBlock is easy-to-use out-of-the-box, but also has a highly…
• AdGuard Home - Self-hosted, network-wide DNS server that blocks ads and trackers for every device on your network, comparable to Pi-hole. Open source, with a web dashboard, encrypted DNS, and parental controls. Need…

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• SomeoneWhoCares/ Hosts - An up-to-date host list, maintained by Dan Pollock - to make the internet not suck (as much).
• Hosts by StevenBlack - Open source, community-maintained consolidated and extending hosts files from several well-curated sources. You can optionally pick extensions to block p0rn, Social Media, gambling, fake news and othe…
• No Google - Totally block all direct and indirect content from Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple and Microsoft (or just some).
• EasyList - Comprehensive list of domains for blocking tracking, social scripts, bad cookies and annoying stuff.
• iBlockList - Variety of lists (free and paid-for) for blocking content based on certain topics, inducing: spam, abuse, political, illegal, hijacked, bad peers and more.

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Installing a custom firmware on your Wi-Fi router gives you greater control over security, privacy and performance

• OpenWRT - Plenty of scope for customization and a ton of supported addons. Stateful firewall, NAT, and dynamically-configured port forwarding protocols (UPnP, NAT-PMP + upnpd, etc), Load balancing, IP tunneling…
• DD-WRT - Easy and powerful user interface. Great access control, bandwidth monitoring and quality of service. IPTables is built-in for firewall, and there's great VPN support as well as additional plug-and-pla…

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Whether you live in a country behind a firewall, or accessing the internet through a proxy - these tools will help you better understand the extent of blocking, deep packet inspection and what data is being analysed

• OONI - Open Observatory of Network Interference - A free tool and global observation network, for detecting censorship, surveillance and traffic manipulation on the internet. Developed by The Tor Project, an…
• Goodbye DPI - Passive Deep Packet Inspection blocker and Active DPI circumvention utility, for Windows.
• Proxy Checker - You can quickly check if a given IP is using a proxy, this can also be done through the command line.

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An IDS is an application that monitors a network or computer system for malicious activity or policy violations, and notifies you of any unusual or unexpected events. If you are running a server, then it's essential to know about an incident as soon as possible, in order to minimize damage.

• Zeek - Zeek (formally Bro) Passively monitors network traffic and looks for suspicious activity.
• OSSEC - OSSEC is an Open Source host-based intrusion detection system, that performs log analysis, integrity checking, monitoring, rootkit detection, real-time alerting and active response.
• Kismet - An 802.11 layer2 wireless network detector, sniffer, and intrusion detection system.
• Snare - SNARE (System iNtrusion Analysis and Reporting Environment) is a series of log collection agents that facilitate centralized analysis of audit log data. Logs from the OS are collected and audited. Ful…
• picosnitch - picosnitch helps protect your security and privacy by "snitching" on anything that connects to the internet, letting you know when, how much data was transferred, and to where. It uses BPF to monitor…

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Web, VPS, storage and managed app hosting, from privacy-conscious providers that own and run their own infrastructure

• Njalla - VPS, VPN and domain service run by njalla.srl in Costa Rica, on its own Swedish machines. Sign up with an email or XMPP address, and pay in crypto. Njalla is the legal registrant of domains you buy: y…
• Bunker - French sovereign cloud from France Nuage: managed open-source apps, PostgreSQL and S3-compatible storage in its own datacenters. Source is public but under SSPL-1.0, which is not OSI-approved. ISO 270…
• 1984 - Icelandic hosting, VPS and email, running on its own network (AS44925) and hardware since 2006. Bitcoin and Monero accepted, ISO 27001 certified, and powered by geothermal and hydro. Iceland sits outs…
• Infomaniak - Swiss web hosting, VPS and OpenStack cloud, from a company that builds and runs its own datacenters and network (AS29222). ISO 27001 certified since 2018, and Swiss law keeps it outside the 14 Eyes an…

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• Njal.la - Privacy-aware domain service with anonymous sign-up and accepts cryptocurrency.
• Orange Website - Anonymous domain registration, with low online censorship since they are based outside the 14-eyes jurisdiction (in Iceland). Crypto is accepted, but through third-party gateways which reserve the rig…

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• deSEC - Free DNS hosting provider designed with security in mind, and running on purely open source software. deSEC is backed and funded by SSE.

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• Mail-in-a-box - Easy-to-deploy fully-featured and pre-configured SMTP mail server. It includes everything from webmail, to spam filtering and backups.
• Docker Mailserver - A full-stack but simple mailserver (smtp, imap, antispam, antivirus, ssl...) using Docker. Very complete, with everything you will need, customizable and very easy to deploy with docker.
• mailcow - A mail server with everything you need (SMTP, IMAP, webmail, NextCloud support..) using Docker.

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• Standard Notes - S.Notes is a free, open-source, and completely encrypted private notes app. It has a simple UI, yet packs in a lot of features, thanks to the Extensions Store, allowing for: To-Do lists, Spreadsheets,…
• Turtle - A secure, collaborative notebook. Self-host it yourself, or use their hosted plan (free edition or $3/ month for premium).
• Notable - An offline markdown-based note editor for desktop, with a simple, yet feature-rich UI. All notes are saved individually as .md files, making them easy to manage. No mobile app, built-in cloud-sync, en…
• Joplin - Cross-platform desktop and mobile note-taking and todo app. Easy organisation into notebooks and sections, revision history and a simple UI. Allows for easy import and export of notes to or from other…
• Logseq - Privacy-first, open-source knowledge base that works on top of local plain-text Markdown and Org-mode files. Supports lots of different note modes, including task management, PDF annotation, flashcard…
• Obsidian - A powerful knowledge base that works on top of local plain-text Markdown files. It has a strong community, and a lot of plugins and themes. Generally privacy-respecting, but no encryption out of the b…
• Cryptee - Private & encrypted rich-text documents. Cryptee has encryption and anonymity at its core, it also has a beautiful and minimalistic UI. You can use Cryptee from the browser, or download native apps. C…
• VNote - A free, open-source note-taking application built with Qt, focused on providing a pleasant Markdown editing experience. It manages notes directly as plain text files on your local system.
• Poznote - Self-hosted notes and tasks app with rich-text, Markdown and drawing editors, tags, multi-user, OIDC login and a REST API. Docker-based (PHP + SQLite); the only outbound call is a daily update check.…

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• Proton Calendar - The calendar app from the Proton suite. End-to-end encrypted. Supports ICS (not encrypted), colours, recurring events, mail integration, notifications and multiple time zones.
• Nextcloud Calendar - Calendar app for the self-hosted Nextcloud platform. Uses CalDAV for sync across devices. No E2E encryption support.
• Fossify Calendar - Fossify Calendar from the family of forked FOSS apps from the discontinued SimpleMobileTools. Simple, customizable, includes widgets. Note that CalDAV support is currently limited (see #921…
• KashCal - Offline-first Android calendar that syncs with iCloud, CalDAV and device calendars. No account, no telemetry; credentials are stored in the Android Keystore. Events are not end-to-end encrypted, so sy…

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• Tymeslot - Open-source (AGPL-3.0), self-hostable scheduling and calendar platform. Guests book without creating an account; hosts get a full calendar with two-way sync to Google, Outlook and iCloud. A managed cl…
• Rallly - Open-source & self-hostable scheduling tool that helps you find the best date and time to meet. Create a poll with a few options, share the link, and let your participants vote on when they're availab…

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• Super Productivity - Privacy-respecting, open-source task manager and time tracker. All data is stored locally on your device - no account required, no cloud dependency, and zero telemetry. Supports Jira, GitLab, GitHub,…
• Mindwtr - A Getting Things Done + Pomodoro productivity system for desktop and mobile. Local-first, no account required, can sync via WebDAV/Dropbox/local file or self-hosted deployment. With a CLI, REST API an…
• Vikunja - Vikunja is an open-source to-do application. It is suitable for a wide variety of projects, supporting List, Gantt, Table and Kanban views to visualize all tasks in different contexts. For collaborati…

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• SeaFile - An open source cloud storage and sync solution. Files are grouped into Libraries, which can be individually encrypted, shared of synced. Docker image available for easy deployment, and native clients…
• Syncthing - Continuous file synchronization between 2 or more clients. It is simple, yet powerful, and fully-encrypted and private. Syncthing can be deployed with Docker, and there are native clients for Windows,…
• NextCloud - Feature-rich productivity platform, that can be used to backup and selectively sync encrypted files and folders between 1 or more clients. A key benefit the wide range of plug-ins in the NextCloud App…
• bewCloud - Modern and simpler alternative to Nextcloud/ownCloud crafted with TypeScript. Unifies file management, sync, sharing, notes, RSS, expenses, calendars, contacts, and photos, with MFA, WebDAV, CalDAV, C…

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• CryptPad - A zero knowledge cloud productivity suite. Provides Rich Text, Presentations, Spreadsheets, Kanban, Paint a code editor and file drive. All notes and user content, are encrypted by default, and can on…
• NextCloud - A complete self-hosted productivity platform, with a strong community and growing app store. NextCloud is similar to (but arguably more complete than) Google Drive, Office 365 and Dropbox. Clear UI an…
• Disroot - A platform providing online services based on principles of freedom, privacy, federation and decentralization. It is an implementation of NextCloud, with strong encryption configured - it is widely us…
• Sandstorm - An open source platform for self-hosting web apps. Once you've set it up, you can install items from the Sandstorm App Market with -click, similar to NextCloud in terms of flexibility.

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Backing up important files is essential, and keeping an off-site copy is recommended. But many free providers do not respect your privacy, and are not secure enough for sensitive documents. Avoid free mainstream providers, such as Google Drive, cloud, Microsoft Overdrive, Dropbox.

It is recommended to encrypt files on your client machine, before syncing to the cloud. Cryptomator is a cross-platform, open source encryption app, designed for just this.

• Tresorit - End-to-end encrypted zero knowledge file storage, syncing and sharing provider, based in Switzerland. The app is cross-platform, user-friendly client and with all expected features. £6.49/month for 50…
• IceDrive - Very affordable encrypted storage provider, with cross-platform apps. Starts as £1.50/month for 150 GB or £3.33/month for 1 TB.
• Peergos - A peer-to-peer end-to-end encrypted global filesystem with fine grained access control. Provides a secure and private space online where you can store, share and view your photos, videos, music and do…
• Internxt - Store your files in total privacy. Internxt Drive is a zero-knowledge cloud storage service based on best-in-class privacy and security. Made in Spain. Open-source mobile and desktop apps. 10GB FREE a…
• FileN - Zero knowledge end-to-end encrypted affordable cloud storage made in Germany. Open-source mobile and desktop apps. 10GB FREE with paid plans starting at €0.92/month for 100GB.
• Koofr - GDPR compliant storage (web/desktop/mobile/WebDAV/RClone) with a sensible privacy policy. Has optional open-source client-side encryption, compatible with RClone. Can connect to other cloud services a…

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• crypt.fyi - crypt.fyi is an ephemeral zero-knowledge sensitive data sharing platform with web, cli, and chrome-extension clients. It offers a suite of configurations beyond the standard for comparable private pas…
• 1time.io - 1time.io - Zero-knowledge one-time secret sharing with AES-256-GCM browser-side encryption, HKDF key derivation, CLI tool, and Docker self-hosting.
• SkySend - Share end-to-end encrypted Markdown notes, files, code and passwords/keys, or request secrets from others. Set a password, expiration time and/or maximum views. No account necessary. Self-hostable and…

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• FileSend - Simple, encrypted file sharing, with a 500mb limit and 5-day retention. Files are secured with client-side AES-256 encryption and no IP address or device info is logged. Files are permanently deleted…
• OnionShare - An open source tool that lets you securely and anonymously share a file of any size, via Tor servers. OnionShare does require installing, but the benefit is that your files are transferred directly to…

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• Floccus - Simple and efficient bookmark syncing using either NextCloud Bookmarks, a WebDAV server (local or remote) or just a local folder through LoFloccus. Browser extensions available for Chrome, Firefox, an…
• XBrowserSync - Secure, anonymous and free browser and bookmark syncing. Easy to setup, and no sign up is required, you can either use a community-run sync server, or host your own with their docker image. Extensions…
• Unmark - A web application which acts as a todo app for bookmarks. You can either self-host it, or use their managed service which has a free and paid-for tier.
• Shiori - Simple bookmark manager written in Go, intended to be a clone of Pocket, it has both a simple and clean web interface as well as a CLI. Shiori has easy import/ export, is portable and has webpage arch…

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• OpenHabitTracker - Free, open source habit tracker. Take notes, plan tasks, and track habits. All data stored locally or self-hosted via Docker. No accounts required.

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With the many, many security issues with Zoom, and other mainstream options, it becomes clear that a better, more private and secure alternative is required. As with other categories, the "best video calling app" will be different for each of us, depending on the ratio of performance + features to security + privacy required in your situation.

• Jami - A free and open source, distributed video, calling and screenshare platform with a focus on security. Jami is completely peer-to-peer, and has full end-to-end encryption with perfect forward secrecy f…
• Jitsi - Encrypted, free and open source video calling app, which does not require creating an account/ providing any personal details. Available as a web app, and native app for Windows, MacOS, Linux, Android…

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Mainstream mapping apps log your location history, search queries and routes, building a detailed picture of where you live, work and travel. A privacy-respecting maps app keeps navigation on your device, works offline, and collects nothing about you.

• CoMaps - Community-led, not-for-profit offline maps and navigation app built on OpenStreetMap data. No tracking, ads or data collection; all search and routing happen on-device. A community fork of Organic Map…

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Accessibility software like screen readers, dictation and voice input often runs in the cloud, sending everything you say or read to a remote server. Privacy-respecting alternatives keep this processing on your device, so your input never leaves it.

• Vocalinux - Offline system-wide voice dictation for Linux (X11 and Wayland). Uses local models (whisper.cpp, Whisper, or VOSK) so microphone audio never leaves the device. Tray app with hotkeys; GPLv3. Currently…

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A virtual machine (VM) is a sandboxed operating system, running within your current system. Useful for compartmentalisation and safely testing software, or handling potentially malicious files

• VirtualBox - Open source, powerful, feature-rich virtualization product, supporting x86 and AMD64/Intel64 architectures. Available for Windows, MacOS, Linux and BSD, and free for both personal and enterprise use.…
• Xen Project - Open source virtual machine monitor intended to serve as a type-1 hyperviser for multiple operating systems using the same hardware - very useful for servers, as it allows for fully independent virtua…
• UTM - Open source, feature rich, powerful type 2 hypervisor for Mac, can emulate x86-64 OSes on Apple Silicon Macs. There's also an iOS version (so you can run Windows on your iPhone!)…

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Tools for signing, verifying, encrypting and decrypting text and files using GnuPG standard

• SeaHorse - Application for managing encryption keys and passwords, integrated with the GNOME Keyring.
• Kleopatra - Certificate manager and a universal crypto GUI. It supports managing X.509 and OpenPGP certificates in the GpgSM keybox and retrieving certificates from LDAP servers.
• GPG4Win - Kleopatra ported to Windows.
• GPG Suite - Successor of MacGPG. Plays nice with MacOS apps, including Finder, Appple Mail, Keychain and Spotlight. Makes encrypting files, emails, and messages / data very easy. As well as GUI for generating key…
• OpenKeychain - Android app for managing keys, and encrypting messages. Works both stand-alone, and as integrated into other apps, including k9-Mail. Everything can be done through a simple yet powerful GUI. Open sou…
• PGP Everywhere - iOS app for encrypting/ decrypting text. Has native keyboard integration, keychain support and app integrations which makes it quick to use in any app.
• FlowCrypt - Browser extension for using PGP within Gmail, for Chrome and Firefox. Mobile version supported on Android and iOS.
• Mailvelope - Mailvelope is an addon for email applications, that makes using PGP very easy for beginners. You can use the hosted version for free, or opt to host your own instance. Works with Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook…

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Exif/ Metadata is "data about data", this additional information attached to files can lead us to share significantly more information than we intended to.

For example, if you upload an image of a sunset to the internet, but don't remove the metadata, it may reveal the location (GPS lat + long) of where it was taken, the device is was taken on, precise camera data, details about modifications and the picture source + author. Social networks that remove metadata from your photos, often collect and store it, for their own use. This could obviously pose a security risk, and that is why it is recommended to strip out this data from a file before sharing.

• ExifCleaner - Cross-platform, open source, performant EXIF meta data removal tool. This GUI tool makes cleaning media files really easy, and has great batch process support. Created by @szTheory, and uses ExifTool.
• ExifTool - Platform-independent open source Perl library & CLI app, for reading, writing and editing meta data. Built by Phill Harvey. Very good performance, and supports all common metadata formats. An official…
• ImageOptim - Native MacOS app, with drag 'n drop image optimization and meta data removal.

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Simply deleting data, does not remove it from the disk, and recovering deleted files is a simple task.

Therefore, to protect your privacy, you should erase/ overwrite data from the disk, before you destroy, sell or give away a hard drive.

• Eraser - Allows you to completely remove sensitive data from your hard drive by overwriting it several times with carefully selected patterns.
• SDelete - Microsoft Secure Delete is a CLI utility, uses DoD 5220.22-M.
• OW Shredder - File, folder and drive portable eraser for Windows. Bundled with other tools to scan, analyze, and wipe, and other traces that were left behind. Includes context menu item, recycle bin integration.
• DBAN - Darik's Boot and Nuke ("DBAN") is a self-contained boot disk that securely wipes the hard disks of most computers. DBAN will automatically and completely delete the contents of any hard disk that it c…
• nwipe - C-based secure light-weight disk eraser, operated through the easy-to-use CLI or a GUI interface.
• shred - A CLI utility that can be used to securely delete files and devices, to make them extremely difficult to recover.
• Secure Remove - CLI utility for securely removing files, directories and whole disks, works on Linux, BSD and MacOS.
• Mr. Phone - Proprietary, closed-source suite of forensic data tools for mobile. The data eraser allows for both Android and iOS to be fully wiped, through connecting them to a PC.

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If you are an Android user, your device has Google built-in at its core. Google tracks you, collecting a wealth of information, and logging your every move.

A custom ROM, is an open source, usually Google-free mobile OS that can be flashed to your device.

• GrapheneOS - GrapheneOS is an open source privacy and security focused mobile OS with Android app compatibility. Developed by Daniel Micay. GrapheneOS is a young project, and currently only supports Pixel devices,…
• LineageOS - A free and open-source operating system for various devices, based on the Android mobile platform - Lineage is light-weight, well maintained, supports a wide range of devices, and comes bundled with P…
• CalyxOS - An open source, de-Googled Android OS focused on privacy and security, with optional microG, a built-in firewall and encrypted backups. Runs on select Google Pixel, Fairphone and Motorola devices, and…

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Windows and MacOS have many features that violate your privacy. Microsoft and Apple are able to collect all your data (including, but not limited to: keystrokes, searches and mic input, calendar data, music, photos, credit card information and purchases, identity, passwords, contacts, conversations and location data). Microsoft Windows is also more susceptible to malware and viruses, than alternative systems.

Switching to Linux is a great choice in terms of security and privacy - you don't need necessarily need to use a security distro, any well-maintained stable distro is going to be considerably better than a proprietary OS

• Qubes OS - Open-source security-oriented operating system for single-user desktop computing. It uses virtualisation, to run each application in its own compartment to avoid data being leaked. It features Split G…
• Whonix - Whonix is an anonymous operating system, which can run in a VM, inside your current OS. It is the best way to use Tor, and provides very strong protection for your IP address. It comes bundled with ot…
• Tails - Tails is a live operating system (so you boot into it from a USB, instead of installing). It preserves your privacy and anonymity through having no persistent memory/ leaving no trace on the computer.…
• Parrot - Parrot Linux, is a full Debian-based operating system, that is geared towards security, privacy and development. It is fully-featured yet light-weight, very open. There are 3 editions: General Purpose…
• Alpine Linux - Alpine is a security-oriented, lightweight distro based on musl libc and busybox. It compiles all user-space binaries as position-independent executables with stack-smashing protection. Install and se…

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• Firejail - Firejail is a SUID sandbox program that reduces the risk of security breaches by restricting the running environment of untrusted applications using Linux namespaces and seccomp-bpf. Written in C, vir…
• Gufw - Open source GUI firewall for Linux, allowing you to block internet access for certain applications. Supports both simple and advanced mode, GUI and CLI options, very easy to use, lightweight/ low-over…
• ClamTk - ClamTk is basically a graphical front-end for ClamAV, making it an easy to use, light-weight, on-demand virus scanner for Linux systems.
• chkrootkit - Locally checks for signs of a rootkit.
• Snort - Open source intrusion prevention system capable of real-time traffic analysis and packet logging.
• BleachBit - Clears cache and deletes temporary files very effectively. This frees up disk space, improves performance, but most importantly helps to protect privacy.
• SysWarden - Open-source, host-local Linux security orchestrator combining nftables enforcement, system telemetry, threat-intelligence feeds, out-of-band WAAP log analysis and a terminal dashboard. It requires Lin…

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• Windows Spy Blocker - Capture and interprets network traffic based on a set of rules, and depending on the interactions certain assignments are blocked. Open source, written in Go and delivered as a single executable.
• HardenTools - A utility that disables a number of risky Windows features. These "features" are exposed by the OS and primary consumer applications, and very commonly abused by attackers, to execute malicious code o…
• ShutUp10 - A portable app that lets you disable core Windows features (such as Cortana, Edge) and control which data is passed to Microsoft. (Note: Free, but not open source).
• WPD - Portable app with a GUI, that makes it really easy to safely block key telemetry features, from sending data to Microsoft and other third parties (It uses the Windows API to interact with key features…
• GhostPress - Anti low-level keylogger: Provides full system-wide key press protection, and target window screenshot protection.
• KeyScrambler - Provides protection against software keyloggers. Encrypts keypresses at driver level, and decrypts at application level, to protect against common keyloggers.
• SafeKeys V3.0 - Portable virtual keyboard. Useful for protecting from keyloggers when using a public computer, as it can run of a USB with no administrative permissions.
• RKill - Useful utility, that attempts to terminate known malware processes, so that your normal security software can then run and clean your computer of infections.
• IIS Crypto - A utility for configuring encryption protocols, cyphers, hashing methods, and key exchanges for Windows components. Useful for sysadmins on Windows Server.
• NetLimiter - Internet traffic control and monitoring tool.
• SigCheck - A CLI utility that shows file version number, timestamp information, and digital signature details.
• BleachBit - Clears cache and deletes temporary files very effectively. This frees up disk space, improves performance, but most importantly helps to protect privacy.
• USBFix - Detects infected USB removable devices.
• GMER - Rootkit detection and removal utility.
• ScreenWings - Blocks malicious background applications from taking screenshots.
• CamWings - Blocks unauthorized webcam access.
• Win11Debloat - Open-source PowerShell script that removes bloatware, disables telemetry and pre-installed apps for Windows 10 and 11, with whitelists/blacklists reversion support. It heavily modifies the OS, so a re…

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• LuLu - Free, open source macOS firewall. It aims to block unknown outgoing connections, unless explicitly approved by the user.
• Stronghold - Easily configure macOS security settings from the terminal.

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Cross-platform, open source malware detection and virus prevention tools

• ClamAV - An open source cross-platform antivirus engine for detecting viruses, malware & other malicious threats. It is versatile, performant and very effective.
• VirusTotal - Web-based malware scanner, that inspects files and URLs with over 70 antivirus scanners, URL/domain services, and other tools to extract signals and determine the legitimacy.

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• SourceHut - Git and mercurial code hosting, task management, mailing lists, wiki hosting and Alpine-based build pipelines. Can be self-hosted, or used through the managed instance at sr.ht.
• Codeberg - A fully-managed instance of Forgejo.
• GitLab - Fully-featured git, CI and project management platform. Managed instance available, but can also be self-hosted.
• Gitea - Lightweight self-hosted git platform, written in Go.
• Gogs - Lightweight self-hosted git platform, written in Go.

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• VSCodium - Free and open source binaries of VS Code, built without Microsoft branding and with community-driven defaults. Extension compatibility can differ from Microsoft's official VS Code build.

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• Alacritty - Fast, GPU-accelerated terminal emulator focused on simplicity, performance, and extensive keyboard-driven workflows.

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• DevToys - Open-source offline toolbox for developers, with utilities for JSON, YAML, hashes, JWTs, Base64, text comparison and more. Useful alternative to pasting sensitive data into random online tools.
• Bruno - Open-source, local-first API client that stores collections as plain text files and works seamlessly with Git. A privacy-focused alternative to cloud-based API tools.
• gitGost - Push to GitHub anonymously: add gitGost as a git remote and it opens a pull request with your name, email and commit metadata stripped, optionally over Tor. Anonymity isn't perfect, and the hosted ser…

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Google Assistant, Alexa and Siri don't have the best reputation when it comes to protecting consumers privacy, there have been many recent breaches.

For that reason it is recommended not to have these devices in your house. The following are open source AI voice assistants, that aim to provide a human voice interface while also protecting your privacy and security

⚠️ This section is still a work in progress ⚠️
Check back soon, or help us complete it by submitting a pull request

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• Gladys Assistant - An open source privacy-respecting Home Assistant, compatible with a wide range of devices including Raspberry Pi, desktop computers, or NAS systems. Actively developed, with good french community and…

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• Secluso - An open source, end-to-end encrypted home security camera solution (Pi Zero 2W). Easy to setup with GUI deploy tool. Fully E2EE remote access (live streaming & smart motion alerts) via mobile app and…

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• Gadgetbridge - Open source Android app that connects smartwatches and fitness trackers to your phone without the vendor app or cloud account. Supports 30+ brands (Mi Band, Amazfit, Pebble, Huawei), though feature pa…

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• Monero - One of the most private cryptocurrencies, since no meta data is available (not even the transaction amount). It uses complex on-chain cryptographic methods such as Ring signatures, RingCT, Kovri, and…
• ZCash - Uses zero-knowledge proofs to protect privacy cryptographic technique, that allows two users to transact without ever revealing their true identity or address. The Zcash blockchain uses two types of a…

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• Wasabi Wallet - An open source, native desktop wallet for Windows, Linux, and MacOS. Wasabi implements trustless CoinJoins over the Tor network. Neither an observer nor the participants can determine which output bel…
• Trezor - Open source, cross-platform, offline, crypto wallet, compatible with 1000+ coins. Your private key is generated on the device, and never leaves it, all transactions are signed by the Trezor, which ens…
• Electrum - Long-standing Python-based Bitcoin wallet with good security features. Private keys are encrypted and do not touch the internet and balance is checked with a watch-only wallet. Compatible with other w…
• Sparrow Wallet - Sparrow is a Bitcoin wallet for those who value financial self-sovereignty. Sparrow’s emphasis is on security, privacy, and usability. Sparrow does not hide information from you - on the contrary, it…
• CryptoSteel - A steel plate, with engraved letters which can be permanently screwed - CryptoSteel is a good fire-proof, shock-proof, water-proof, and stainless cryptocurrency backup solution.
• BitBox02 - Open source hardware wallet, supporting secure multisig with the option for making encrypted backups on a MicroSD card.

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• Bisq - An open-source, peer-to-peer application that allows you to buy and sell cryptocurrencies in exchange for national currencies. Fully decentralized, and no registration required.
• RoboSats - RoboSats is an easy way to privately exchange Bitcoin for national currencies. It simplifies the peer-to-peer experience and makes use of lightning hold invoices to minimize custody and trust requirem…

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• Umbra - Umbra is a stealth address protocol on the EVM. It allows users to send payments to a one-time address controlled by a recipient without their interaction, promoting unlinkability (if proper hygiene i…

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Virtual cards generated provide an extra layer of security, improve privacy and help protect from fraud. Most providers have additional features, such as single-use cards (that cannot be charged more than once), card limits (so you can be sure you won't be charged more than you expected) and other security controls.

In most countries KYC is required. The bank will of course be able to see all your transactions. Be sure to read their privacy policy and terms of service beforehand. Not all services are available in all countries.

• Privacy.com - Privacy.com has a good reputation, and is the largest virtual card provider in the US. Unlike other providers, it is free for personal use (up to 12 cards per month) with no fees, apps and support is…
• MySudo - Much more than just virtual cards, MySudo is a platform for creating compartmentalised identities, each with their own virtual cards, virtual phone numbers, virtual email addresses, messaging, private…

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• Cash - Actual physical cash is still the most private option, with no chance of leaving any transactional records.
• Gift Cards - Gift cards can be purchased for cash in many convenience stores, and redeemed online for goods or services. Try to avoid CCTV as best as possible.
• Pre-paid Cards - Similarly to gift cards, buying a pre-paid card for cash can enable you to purchase goods and services in stores that only accept card payments.

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• Firefly III - A free and open source personal finance manager. Firefly III features a clean and clear UI, is easy to set up and use, and is backed by a strong community. Regular updates bring new features, improvem…
• GnuCash - A full-featured cross-platform accounting application suitable for personal and small business finance. Stable and reliable, GnuCash offers a comprehensive suite of financial management tools. Availab…
• Plain Text Accounting - Utilizes plain text files and scriptable, command-line-friendly software for bookkeeping/accounting, offering full control over data. Popular tools include Ledger, hledger, and Beancount among others,…
• ezBookkeeping - A lightweight, self-hosted personal finance app for recording daily transactions and analyzing spending patterns. Self-hosted, with all data staying on your own server. Supports 2FA and OICD.
• Actual - A local-first personal finance app
• BeeCount - Privacy-first cross-platform personal expense tracker (Android/iOS/Web) with offline-first design. Multi-cloud sync options — self-hosted BeeCount Cloud, iCloud, Supabase, WebDAV or S3 — keep data und…
• rotki - A self-hosted, opensource, privacy-first portfolio tracking and accounting tool for crypto and more. Support for all 3 major Operating systems and docker. The tool focus is on data self-sovereignty.

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Over the past decade, social networks have revolutionized the way we communicate and bought the world closer together - but it came at the cost of our privacy.

Social networks are built on the principle of sharing - but you, the user should be able to choose with whom you share what, and that is what the following sites aim to do.

• Discourse - A fully open-source, self-hostable discussion platform usable as a mailing list, discussion forum, or long-form chat room.
• Mastodon - An open-source, distributed social media platform functioning similarly to Twitter, without algorithmic timeline manipulations. It operates across independent servers.
• nostr - nostr stands for Notes and other stuff transmitted by relays. It is an open protocol, not merely a platform. This distinction enables truly censorship-resistant and global value-for-value publishing o…
• Lemmy - A federated, open-source link aggregator and discussion platform, similar to Reddit. Built on ActivityPub. Wide range of cross-platform client apps.

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• PeerTube - A federated video platform leveraging peer-to-peer technology to decrease server load during video streaming. Supports self-hosting or joining existing instances, enabling video viewing from any PeerT…
• DTube - A decentralized, ad-free video platform emphasizing minimal moderation. It rewards users with cryptocurrency, leveraging blockchain technology.

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• Write Freely - A minimalist, federated blogging platform offering a clean UI. It's free, open source, and caters to writers seeking simplicity and federation capabilities. For hosted options, visit Write.as.
• Telegraph - A quick, anonymous blogging platform by Telegram. It's designed for simplicity and speed, allowing for straightforward content publishing without registration.
• Mataroa - A minimalist blogging platform focused on privacy and simplicity. It's open source and eschews complex features for a straightforward writing and publishing experience.
• Bear Blog - A no-nonsense, super-fast blogging platform prioritizing privacy. It strips back unnecessary features to focus on straightforward blogging. The platform is open source.
• Movim - A web frontend for XMPP, offering decentralized blogging and chatrooms. Movim is open source, integrating social and communication tools in a unified platform.
• Pico - Web services over SSH, including blogging with Prose, microsites with Pages, and a pastebin with Pastes. The services use public-key cryptography by default with no browser-based tracking and minimal…

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• Tiny RSS - A web-based news feed reader and aggregator, supporting RSS/Atom feeds. It's free, open source, and offers a customizable and self-hostable platform for managing your news feeds.

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These are websites that enable you to access existing social media platforms, without using their primary website - with the aim of improving privacy & security and providing better user experience. The below options are open source (so can be self-hosted, if you wish), and they do not display ads or tracking (unless otherwise stated).

• Nitter - A privacy-centric alternative to Twitter's front-end, focusing on preventing user tracking. It's free, open source, lightweight, supports multiple themes, and offers customizable RSS feeds. All client…
• Invidious - An open source, privacy-focused YouTube frontend. It minimizes Google tracking, supports audio-only mode, integrates Reddit comments, and offers advanced playback options. Lightweight and can function…
• WebProxy - A free proxy service offering a Tor mode for evading censorship and accessing geo-restricted content. Claims to encrypt traffic, but caution is advised for personal information. Managed by DevroLabs.
• Redlib - An alternative private front-end to Reddit, with its origins in Libreddit. Has workarounds to access data without relying upon the restrictive Reddit API.

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• Heroic Games Launcher - Open source game launcher for the Epic Games Store, GOG and Amazon Prime Gaming on Linux, Windows and Mac. Replaces the official proprietary clients, though it still connects to your third-party store…

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• Jellyfin - Self-hosted server for streaming your own films, TV, music and live TV to apps on most devices. Volunteer-run, with no telemetry or paid tiers. Some media endpoints don't require login, so avoid expos…
• Navidrome - Self-hosted music streaming server with a web player, and support for the many Subsonic-compatible apps (there's no official mobile app)
• Koel - Music streaming solution that turns your personal collection into a sleek, web-based listening experience. With (smart) playlists, scrobbling, podcasts, radio, Last.fm/Spotify/MusicBrainz integrations…

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⚠️ This section is still a work in progress ⚠️
Check back soon, or help us complete it by submitting a pull request

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• VLC Media Player - Free, cross-platform media player from the non-profit VideoLAN project. Plays almost any audio or video format locally, with no ads, trackers or telemetry. VLC has many powerful features and settings,…

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• Immich - Self-hosted photo and video backup and management server, with automatic mobile upload, timeline view, albums, search and facial recognition. Needs to be self-hosted, but gives you full ownership + co…
• Ente Photos - Provides an open source, audited end-to-end encrypted platform to store photos in the cloud without needing to trust the service provider. With apps for desktop, web and mobile, album sharing, public…

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⚠️ This section is still a work in progress ⚠️
Check back soon, or help us complete it by submitting a pull request

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• AntennaPod - An open-source podcast manager for Android. Subscribe to any RSS feed, with offline downloads, variable playback speed, and optional gpodder.net or Nextcloud sync. Contains no ads or trackers, but is…

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• qBittorrent - A cross-platform BitTorrent client with built-in torrent search, RSS feeds, and an optional web interface. It contains no ads or bundled software. As with any BitTorrent client, your IP address is vis…

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• FFmpeg - A complete, cross-platform solution to record, convert, and stream audio and video. It's the industry standard multimedia framework, handling a vast range of formats. As a command-line tool, it guaran…
• VERT - Web-based file conversion utility, which runs locally on your device using WebAssembly. Supports 250+ formats across images, audio, documents, and video.

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• Gimp - A free, open source, cross-platform image editor. GIMP is a powerful tool for photo retouching, image composition, and image authoring. It is highly customizable, and supports a wide range of file for…
• InkScape - A free, open source, professional vector graphics editor. It is a powerful tool for creating illustrations, icons, logos, diagrams, maps, and web graphics.
• Paint.NET - A more advanced take on Microsoft Paint. Suitable for basic image editing, with support for basic layers, unlimited undo/redo, and extendable via plugins
• PixlrX - A free web-based image editor, with a modern UI. Also offers premium/paid features, such as AI-powered generation, touchup and editing
• RawTherapee - A powerful raw photo processing system and editor, for non-destructive editing of raw digital photos
• PhotoPea - A free online image editor, for both raster and vector graphics, with a very wide range of supported formats
• Krita - Digital painting application. Free and open source (backed by KDE), with cross-platform support, Krita is popular among both professional and amateur artists due to it's comprehensive feature set, and…
• DarkTable - A photography workflow application (similar to Adbobe Lightroom) Includes a non-destructive raw developer for raw images and managing digital negatives.

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• Shotcut - A free, open source, cross-platform video editor, using FFmpeg Shotcut supports a wide range of formats, and has a comprehensive feature set, including 4K & 8k resolution, webcam + audio capture, batc…
• OpenShot - A free, simple, cross-platform video editor. Great for trimming/slicing, video effects, adding titles, scene animations and more
• Kdenlive - KDE Non-Linear Video Editor, is an editor based on the MLT Framework, KDE and Qt, written using C++ and using FFmpeg
• FlowBlade - A multitrack non-linear video editor with a simple interface
• Cinelerra GG Infinity - Simple video editor, for applying transitions, effects and text as well as splicing video clips
• VitCutter - A simple Python-based cross-platform tool for cutting and splicing videos
• Natron - Free & open desktop node-graph based video compositing software. Similar in functionalities to Adobe After Effects. Features flexible rotoscoping, 2D & planner tracking, keying tools, curve & dope-shi…

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• Audacity - An easy-to-use, multi-track audio editor and recorder for desktops, great free alternative to Adobe Audition. Features recording from real and virtual devices, import/export to a wide range of formats…

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• OBS Studio - Powerful desktop software for live streaming and screen recording. Free and open source software for video recording and live streaming. Features real-time video/audio capturing, scene composition, en…

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• ShareX - Open-source screen-capture tool for Windows. Takes screenshots and short screen recordings, with annotation, OCR, a colour picker, and configurable save/upload destinations. Note that (if configured)…

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• Blender - Free desktop 3D creation suite, with a wide range of tools for modeling, sculpting, texturing, rigging, animation, rendering, compositing, motion tracking, and video editing. It's easily extendable vi…
• Wings3D - A simple and easy-to-use subdivision 3D modeler with AutoUV facility for unfolding a models surface for painting/texturing. Unlike Blender, it has no built-in animation capabilites, and it's feature s…

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• Aseprite - An animated sprite editor & pixel art tool for Windows, macOS and Linux.

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Many corporations put profit before people, collecting data and exploiting privacy. They claim to be secure but without being open source it can't be verified, until there's been a breach and it's too late. Switching to privacy-respecting open source software will drastically help improving your security, privacy and anonymity online.

However, that's not all you need to do. It is also important to: use strong and unique passwords, 2-factor authentication, adopt good networking practices and be mindful of data that are collected when browsing the web. You can see the full personal security checklist for more tips to stay safe.

Compartmentalise, Update and Be Ready
No piece of software is truly secure or private. Further to this, software can only as secure as the system it is running on. Vulnerabilities are being discovered and patched all the time, so you much keep your system up-to-date. Breaches occur regularly, so compartmentalise your data to minimise damage. It's not just about choosing secure software, you must also follow good security practices.

Attack Surface
It is a good idea to keep your trusted software base small, to reduce potential attack surface. At the same time trusting a single application for too many tasks or too much personal data could be a weakness in your system. So you will need to judge the situation according to your threat model, and carefully plan which software and applications you trust with each segment of your data.

Convenience Vs Security
There is often a trade-off between convenience and security. Construct a threat model, and choose a balance that is right for you. In a similar way in some situations there is privacy and security conflict (e.g. Find My Phone is great for security, but terrible for privacy, and anonymous payments may be good for privacy but less secure than insured fiat currency). Again it is about assessing your situation, understanding the risks and making an informed decision.

Hosted Vs Self-Hosted Considerations
When using a hosted or managed application that is open-source software - there is often no easy way to tell if the version running is the same as that of the published source code (even published signatures can be faked). There is always the possibility that additional backdoors may have been knowingly or unknowingly implemented in the running instance. One way round this is to self-host software yourself. When self-hosting you will then know for sure which code is running, however you will also be responsible for the managing security of the server, and so may not be recommended for beginners.

Open Source Software Considerations
Open source software has long had a reputation of being more secure than its closed source counterparts. Since bugs are raised transparently, fixed quickly, the code can be checked by experts in the community and there is usually little or no data collection or analytics. That being said, there is no piece of software that it totally bug free, and hence never truly secure or private. Being open source, is in no way a guarantee that something is safe. There is no shortage of poorly-written, obsolete or sometimes harmful open source projects on the internet. Some open source apps, or a dependency bundled within it are just plain malicious (such as, that time Colourama was found in the PyPI Repository)

Proprietary Software Considerations
When using a hosted or proprietary solution - always check the privacy policy, research the reputation of the organisation, and be weary about which data you trust them with. It may be best to choose open source software for security-critical situations, where possible.

Maintenance
When selecting a new application, ensure it is still being regularly maintained, as this will allow for recently discovered security issues to be addressed. Software in an alpha or beta phase, may be buggy and lacking in features, but more importantly - it could have critical vulnerabilities open to exploit. Similarly, applications that are no longer being actively maintained may pose a security risk, due to lack of patching. When using a forked application, or software that is based on an upstream code base, be aware that it may receive security-critical patches and updates at a slightly later date than the original application.

This List: Disclaimer
This list contains packages that range from entry-level to advanced, a lot of the software here will not be appropriate for all audiences. It is in no way a definitive list of secure applications, and aims only to be a guide, a collection of software and services that myself and other contributors have used, and would recommend. There will always be new vulnerabilities discovered or introduced, bugs and security-critical glitches, malicious actors and poorly configured systems. It is up to you to do your research, draw up a threat model, and decide where and how your data are managed.

If you find something on this list that should no longer be deemed secure or private/ or should have a warning note attached, please raise an issue. In the same way if you know of something that is missing, or would like to make an edit, then pull requests are welcome, and are much appreciated!

More Awesome Software Lists

This list was focused on privacy-respecting software. Below are other awesome lists, maintained by the community of open source software, categorised by operating system.

• Windows: awesome-windows-apps by 'many'
• MacOS: awesome-macOS-apps by @iCHAIT
• Linux: awesome-linux-software by @luong-komorebi
• iOS: open-source-ios-apps by @dkhamsing
• Android: open-source-android-apps by @pcqpcq
• Server: awesome-selfhosted by 'many'
• More GitHub Awesome Lists →

Security List

• Personal Security Checklist - A curated list of security and privacy advice, tools, and resources.

News & Updates
A custom Reddit feed covering news and updates for all the apps covered here can be found here

The easiest way to browse Awesome Privacy, is via our website, at awesome-privacy.xyz

The source for the website is in the web/ directory.

This is a statically generated site, built with Astro, Svelte, TypeScript an SCSS.
At build-time, it reads the data from awesome-privacy.yml and generates the pages.

You'll need Node.js (20.11.1 or later) and Git installed.
Then run the following commands to fetch the code, install dependencies and start the dev server.

git clone git@github.com:Lissy93/awesome-privacy.git
cd awesome-privacy/web
cp .env.sample .env
yarn install
yarn dev
# Then open 127.0.0.1:4321 in your browser

Follow the steps above, then run yarn build to generate the static files.
You can then upload the ./dist directory to any web server, static host or CDN.
Alternatively, you can fork the repo and import it into either Vercel or Netlify.

We welcome suggestions, additions, edits and removals to the list.
It's thanks to contributors like you that this project is possible 💜

All data is stored in awesome-privacy.yml. If you're adding, editing or removing a listing - this is the only file you need to edit.

Please familiarise yourself with the Contributing Guidelines before submiting your pull request, as we have some guidelines that must be followed to ensure your PR can be accepted.

If you're new to open source, you can find some resources to get you started at git-in.to, but feel free to reach out if you need any help 😊

We also have a free, no-auth, CORS-enabled RESR API, which you can use to access Awesome Privacy's data programmatically, or to build your own apps on top of it.

To get started, try our Swagger Explorer, which outlines all endpoints, usage and examples.

You can either use our public instance, at: https://api.awesome-privacy.xyz or self-host your own, with the source of the api/ directory.

Huge thanks to the following sponsors, for their ongoing support 💖

This project exists thanks to all the people who've helped build and maintain it 🌟

Lissy93/Awesome-Privacy/web is licensed under MIT
awesome-privacy.yml is licensed under CC0-1.0 license
Copyright © Alicia Sykes <aliciasykes.com> 2026.
^{For information, see TLDR Legal > MIT}

The MIT License (MIT)
Copyright (c) Alicia Sykes <alicia@omg.com>

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sub-license, and/or sell
copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished
to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included install
copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED,
INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANT ABILITY, FITNESS FOR A
PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON INFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT
HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION
OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE
SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

© Alicia Sykes 2026
Licensed under MIT & CC0-1.0

^{Thanks for visiting :)}