Overview of Privacy Options
There are many, many options you can use. It’s hard to keep the list below from being overwhelming, so I’ve only included a handful of the most relevant options in each section.
Section | Sub-section | Migration Effort | Cost (£) | Notes | |
Technical | Admin | ||||
1. Privacy 101 - Web Browsing | |||||
Browsers | Chrome | 0/5 | Easy | ✅ All browsers listed are free | ❗ Extensive data collection |
Brave | 🔍 Open source | ||||
Firefox | 🔍 Open source | ||||
Edge | ❗ Extensive data collection | ||||
Safari | Apple products only | ||||
Search Engines | 0/5 | Easy | ✅ Free | ❗ Privacy Concerns | |
Duck Duck Go | ✅ Free | 🔍 Open source search engine | |||
Bing | ✅ Free | ❗ Privacy Concerns | |||
Ecosia | ✅ Free | ❗ Privacy Concerns | |||
2. Ad-Blocking - Safeguarding Your Sanity | |||||
Ad-blocker Browser Extensions | uBlock | 1/5 | Easy | ✅ Free | 🔍 Open source |
Ghostery | ✅ Free | 🔍 Open source | |||
Privacy Badger | ✅ Free | 🔍 Open source | |||
Facebook Container | ✅ Free | Only on Firefox | |||
Ad-blocker Android Apps | Morphe YouTube | 2/5 | Easy | ✅ Free | Android Mobile |
Morphe Reddit | ✅ Free | Android Mobile | |||
Morphe YouTube Music | ✅ Free | Android Mobile | |||
TizenTube | ✅ Free | Android TVs | |||
Pi-Hole | Pi-Hole | 5/5 | Medium | ✅ Free | Raspberry Pi configured by you running on your home network |
3. Privacy 102 - Down the Rabbit Hole | |||||
ProtonMail | 1/5 | Hard | Depends | 🔍 Open source & independently audited | |
Gmail | ✅ Free | ❗ Privacy Concerns | |||
Outlook | ✅ Free | ❗ Privacy Concerns | |||
VPNs | ProtonVPN | 1/5 | Easy | Depends | 🔍 Open source & independently audited |
NordVPN | 💲 Paid | ||||
SurfShark | 💲 Paid | ||||
ExpressVPN | 💲 Paid | ||||
DNS | Quad9 | Device 2/5 Router 3/5 | Easy | ✅ Free | 🔍 Open source |
CloudFlare | ✅ Free | ❗ Privacy Concerns | |||
✅ Free | ❗ Privacy Concerns | ||||
4. Online Security | |||||
Password Managers | 1 Password | 1/5 | Sustained effort, becoming easier | 💲 Paid | |
ProtonPass | Depends | 🔍 Open source & independently audited | |||
Keepass | ✅ Free | ||||
MFA | |||||
Passkeys | |||||
5. Applications | |||||
Office Apps | Microsoft Office | 1/5 | 💲 Paid | ❗ Privacy Concerns | |
Only Office | 1/5 | ✅ Free | ⚠️ Developed in Russia | ||
Libre Office | 2/5 | ✅ Free | 🔍 Open source, not as slick as MS Office. | ||
Euro Office | TBD* | ✅ Free | Nascent software developed from Only Office | ||
Google Docs | 1/5 | Medium | Depends | ❗ Privacy Concerns | |
Proton Docs | 1/5 | Hard | Depends | Rel. early 2026 and being continuously developed. Somewhat immature. | |
Messaging Apps | Signal | 1/5 | The difficulty is influencing friends and family to join you | ✅ Free | 🔍 Open source, E2EE |
✅ Free | Unverifiable E2EE claim | ||||
Telegram | ✅ Free | ⚠️ Developed in Russia | |||
Facebook Messenger | ✅ Free | ⚠️ ❗ | |||
Instagram Messenger | ✅ Free | ❗ | |||
6. Cloud Storage | |||||
Cloud Storage Providers | iCloud | 1/5 | Depends | *Apple products only | |
One Drive | 1/5 | Depends | ❗ Privacy Concerns | ||
Google Drive | 1/5 | Depends | ❗ Privacy Concerns | ||
Proton Drive | 2/5 | Depends | 🔍 Open source & independently audited | ||
7. Desktop Operating Systems | |||||
Desktop | Windows 11 | 4/5 | 💲 Paid | ❗ | |
Windows 10 | 4/5 | 💲 Paid | ⚠️ | ||
Linux | 4/5* | ✅ Free | 🔍 | ||
AtlasOS | 4/5 | ✅ Free | ⚠️ | ||
MacOS | 3/5 | ✅ Free* | *Apple products only | ||
8. Mobile Operating Systems | |||||
Mobile Operating Systems | Google Android | 1/5 | ✅ Free | ❗ Privacy Concerns | |
iOS | 1/5 | ✅ Free | Apple products only | ||
GrapheneOS | 5/5 | ✅ Free | Android. Pixel phones only. Increased security can cause compatibility issues. | ||
/e/OS | 5/5 | ✅ Free | Android. See supported phones. De-Googling can cause compatibility issues. | ||
LineageOS | 4/5 | ✅ Free | Android. See supported phones. | ||
9. Social Media | |||||
X | |||||