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11 Ways to Improve Your Privacy
It'sFOSS ^ | 30 April 2023 | Ankush Das

Posted on 05/05/2023 5:32:58 AM PDT by ShadowAce

Slowly, users are moving to privacy-focused solutions instead of convenient options.

Why? Simply because many have realized the worth of their personal data.

Of course, protecting your privacy does not mean staying anonymous. But, taking control of privacy means that you do not share essential information with unauthorized parties while keeping your sensitive data private from everyone.

You can improve privacy on all kinds of devices you use. Here, I shall provide some proven methods to enhance privacy easily.

๐Ÿ“‹
The tips mentioned can be followed for every type of device and OS, not just Linux. You don't necessarily need to follow each and every point. These are mere suggestions. See, what works for you.

1. Secure & Hide Your Email

Your email address is connected to everything online, whether banking or a cloud storage platform.

If your email remains private, you get less spam and fewer attempts to take over your account or trick you into downloading a malicious file from your email.

I think you get what I mean ๐Ÿ™ƒ

Butโ€ฆ you share your email address with every essential app/service you use.

So, how can you not share them but still use them?

You can use email aliases to keep your actual email address private. We have a list of tools to help protect your email address. Choose any options like SimpleLogin or use the email alias addresses your email provider allows creating.

Also, try using secure email services like Tutanota or ProtonMail for the best experience.

2. Secure Your Internet

With an exposed or insecure internet connection, an attacker can snoop on your web activity and potentially use it to gain vital information or affect your device data.

So, it is essential to keep your internet secure.

To achieve that, you can do a few things like:

ProtonVPN and Mullvad VPN would be two excellent options, offering open-source clients and Linux support.

3. Secure Your Search Activity

Everyone utilizes a search engine to find what they are looking for.

For most of them, it is Google. It is the most popular website on the planet as of now.

But, it collects some of your data to improve its searchability and may also personalize the search results per your likes and other factors.

However, if you want an entirely private search experience and non-personalized results, privacy-friendly search engines should be helpful.

4. Use a Privacy-Focused Browser

Just like you use search engines, the browser is a vital means of the interaction process.

A browser with solid privacy and security features should help you enhance your browsing experience.

Personally, I could point you to Vivaldi, Firefox, and Brave. If you are keen to explore more options, look at our list of the best browsers for Linux.

5. Do Not Install a Program You Don't Know

Whether you use Linux or any other operating system, you should not install anything you are unaware of. Not all programs are privacy-friendly.

Some do not collect any data at all, and some do.

Yes, there are certain green flags that you can look for before picking a new software to install. Some of them include:

Some other pointers that you can keep in mind:

6. Utilize All Privacy Tweaks and Options

Every app, every operating system, and every service that you use provides some amount of privacy control.

For instance, you can hide your Instagram account from the public and only accept followers you know/want.

Similarly, when possible, I recommend you head to โ€œPrivacy settingsโ€ on your mobile phone, Linux desktop, and everything else.

It can be anything, deleting your old files, disabling diagnostics information sharing, and so on. If it sounds feasible to you, use the available option to your advantage.

7. Use Secure Password Managers

Passwords and credentials are at the center of everything. If you need to ensure they are well-protected and organized, use a good password manager.

I usually suggest Bitwarden and KeePassXC for all kinds of users.

If you prefer keeping things offline, KeePassXC is available cross-platform. And, if you want a cloud-based solution, Bitwarden should not disappoint.

You can also explore some password managers for Linux users.

8. Keep Your Notes Secure

Taking notes can be a habit for some, and it can be a good/bad one.

Why do I say that? Well, notes often have sensitive information, sometimes passwords or PINs.

So, if you make sure that your notes are secure, it is one of the easiest ways to boost your privacy game.

Recommendations will include Standard Notes and CryptPad. You can explore other options with end-to-end encryption or a variety of features:

9. Store or Backup on a Private Cloud Platform

Not everyone has the time or patience to maintain/configure a RAID setup to store/backup data at home.

So, cloud storage services are the usual solution.

My personal recommendations include Mega (end-to-end encryption), and pCloud. But I suggest you check out our list of cloud storage services to explore better options.

Additionally, you can encrypt your files before uploading them to the cloud thanks to solutions like Cryptomator.

10. Use Private Messengers

You can always utilize open-source and encrypted messengers like Signal (cross-platform) to secure your communications.

There are multiple WhatsApp alternatives that you can explore for personal use.

If it is for your business, open source Slack alternatives should help.

Suggested Read ๐Ÿ“–

11. Specialized Distributions

If you are adventurous and want to try an entirely different operating system tailored to give you a private experience, you can pick Tails OS, Whonix, and similar options.

Some are built to erase your activity as soon as you finish it. And some of them feature special security features, which could be overwhelming for daily usage.

If you are curious, explore the best privacy-focused Linux distributions.


TOPICS: Computers/Internet
KEYWORDS: internet; privacy; security; surveillance
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To: Openurmind

Read...


61 posted on 05/06/2023 7:43:25 AM PDT by Openurmind (The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world it leaves to its children. ~ D. Bonhoeffer)
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To: Openurmind

I’ve tried it before- was pretty confusing to me. I even tried the “dd” backup method but I musta done something wrong as it didn’t work when I tried restoring. I do have the free macrium reflect but I’m not sure how it works on dual boot system.

I shoukd probably try an old cheap laptop to experiment with stuff like this on.


62 posted on 05/06/2023 8:32:37 AM PDT by Bob434 (question )
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To: ShadowAce

bump


63 posted on 05/06/2023 3:16:47 PM PDT by Albion Wilde (โ€œThere is no good government at all & none possible.โ€--Mark Twain)
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To: Bob434
#!/bin/bash

if [ "$EUID" -ne 0 ]
  then echo "Please run as root"
  exit
fi

cp /home/ShadowAce/ShadowAce-user /etc/sudoers.d/.
cat /home/ShadowAce/fstab >> /etc/fstab
hostnamectl set-hostname <hostname>
# The following four lines are to enable NordVPN to work properly
#sysctl -w net.ipv6.conf.all.disable_ipv6=1
#sysctl -w net.ipv6.conf.default.disable_ipv6=1
#echo "net.ipv6.conf.all.disable_ipv6=1" >> /etc/sysctl.conf
#echo "net.ipv6.conf.default.disable_ipv6=1" >> /etc/sysctl.conf

git clone https://github.com/pop-os/pop.git
mkdir /usr/share/backgrounds/images
mkdir /mnt/{TV,movies}
cp -r /home/ShadowAce/Downloads/wallpaper/*.jpg /usr/share/backgrounds/images/.
#add-apt-repository ppa:libreoffice/ppa
#add-apt-repository ppa:videolan/stable-daily
apt-add-repository ppa:lucioc/sayonara
apt -y install /home/ShadowAce/Downloads/nordvpn-release_1.0.0_all.deb
apt -y install xfsprogs xfsdump attr quota
apt update
apt -y full-upgrade --allow-downgrades
apt -y install nordvpn exa
apt -y install kde-standard
apt -y install tuned terminator vim transmission rdesktop flameshot
apt -y install pidgin pidgin-sipe python3-pip expect tcl ffmpeg mediainfo vlc xsane xsane-common
apt -y install sayonara nfs-kernel-server shellcheck shc
apt -y install xscreensave* hpli*
apt -y install freerdp2-x11
apt -y install /home/ShadowAce/Downloads/zoom_amd64.deb
apt -y install /home/ShadowAce/Downloads/icaclient_21.6.0.28_amd64.deb
systemctl set-default graphical.target
pip3 install bpytop
curl -L https://yt-dl.org/downloads/latest/youtube-dl -o /usr/local/bin/youtube-dl
chmod a+rx /usr/local/bin/youtube-dl
sudo curl -L https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp -o /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp
sudo chmod a+rx /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp
ln -s /usr/bin/python3.8 /usr/bin/python
systemctl enable nordvpnd
apt -y autoremove --purge
#reboot

If you have any questions about it, don't hesitate to ask.

I have (obviously) replaced my actual username with my FR name. Also, I replaced my actual hostname with the tag, so you'll have to edit it for those items.

64 posted on 05/06/2023 3:50:29 PM PDT by ShadowAce (Linux - The Ultimate Windows Service Pack )
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To: ShadowAce

thnak you very much for that- I will give it a go


65 posted on 05/06/2023 8:34:45 PM PDT by Bob434 (question )
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To: Albion Wilde

Another bump.


66 posted on 05/17/2023 5:25:34 PM PDT by Albion Wilde (โ€œThere is no good government at all & none possible.โ€--Mark Twain)
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