I was asked to post this information to various places around the web for
the privacy and security aspects. I’m finally posting it to a blog that I
can easily keep up to date allowing everything else a place to link to.
My use of alternative software & services started when I stopped
using as many Google products & services as I could over ten years
ago.
Now between the actions of various governments, their officials, the EU,
Google, Twitter, & Facebook over the last two years we now know who
can’t be trusted. Especially leading up to the U.S. 2016 election.
FYI, just to be clear hosting data outside the US will not protect it
from the NSA. Like they’re foreign counterparts these groups go after
everything on a global scale.
So if you own your own router when was the last time you updated it? ISP
routers are nice & convenient but they have limited security. Buying
your own or better yet building your own network firewall are far more
secure options.
Facebook and Google track everything we do. The Facebook apps &
Chrome shouldn’t be running on your systems & devices. Many of
Chrome’s extensions also track you. If you must use Facebook then consider
having a browser installed just for Facebook use.
Use Revo’s free option to
uninstall Chrome and any other spying software. Firefox is barely any
better as the company is full of SJWs. Meanwhile, the Opera browser was
quietly bought out by the Chinese, so if you use Opera do not use their
built-in password manager.
At the time when I decided I didn’t want Google or my ISP’s email option
that left Hotmail as the only service with comparable features to Google.
So I used Microsoft/Hotmail for everything standard and Hushmail for stuff
I wanted to keep private. Now I still use Microsoft but I use Gpg4win to
encrypt emails on my system before sending them out and Telegram for
private communication.
At the time of writing this Microsoft has been agnostic, not interfering
with auto complete in their browser or their searches. So, for the time
being, I will have some of their services listed.
So here is my big list of alternatives. If anyone has more suggestions
hit me with a reply.
Email:
- Privacy-Conscious Email Services
List – exactly what its titled as.
- Scryptmail – Free, based in US,
end-to-end encryption.
- Protonmail – A fully encrypted
email service, hosted in Switzerland.
- msgsafe.io – Private, encrypted,
online communication for everyone.
- Tutanota – A fully encrypted email
service, hosted in Germany.
- Mailfence – Based in Belgium,
end-to-end encryption with Digital Signatures.
- VFEmail – Since 2001, providing
businesses and end-users a quick and convenient way to ensure their own
security when it comes to email.
- Unseen.is – Private and Secure.
Messaging, Calling, Email and Hosting from Iceland.
- Outlook – The only
full-service Gmail competitor.
- Virtru – Outlook encryption
plug-in, free for personal use.
- GPF4win – for file and email
encryption. Gpg4win (GNU Privacy Guard for Windows) is Free Software and
can be installed with just a few mouse clicks.
- TorBirdy
– an extension for Mozilla Thunderbird that configures it to make
connections over the Tor network.
Encrypted Messenger Software:
- Telegram (My pick) – Similar to
What’s App only independent, secure, & on all major platforms
including the desktop.
- Signal – Encrypted FOSS
messenger, only on iOS & Android. A Chrome web extension is
available.
- Threema – Designed to generate as
little data on servers as possible, end to end encryption.
- BlackBerry Messenger – Old
school with a big user base, fully encrypted, & has a feed/channel
system.
- wire – Simple, secure, private—always
end-to-end.
- Ricochet – Anonymous instant
messaging for privacy through the TOR network.
- Tox.chat – Tox is easy-to-use software
that connects you with friends and family without anyone else listening
in.
- Briar – Peer to peer
secure messaging & forums anywhere.
- Unseen.is – Private and Secure.
Messaging, Calling, Email, and Hosting from Iceland.
- Matrix – Matrix is an open standard
for decentralized communication.
Browsers:
- Brave (Blink) – by former Mozilla
CEO, privacy conscious, in beta, limited extensions. (My pick)
- Vivaldi (Blink) – by former Opera
CEO, direct access to Chrome web store, a full chrome replacement. (My
runner up.)
- Iron
(SRWare) – based on the free Source code “Chromium” – without any
problems at privacy and security.
- IceDragon
– Fast, secure and feature-rich Internet browser based on Firefox. Full
compatibility with original Firefox plug-ins.
- Waterfox – 64bit,
Firefox based.
- Pale Moon (Goanna) – Firefox
fork.
- Midori (WebKit) – Is blazing
fast, utilizing the latest web technologies and a small
but dexterous array of extensions provide all the essential features.
- Light – A
minimalist browser based on Mozilla source code.
Mobile Browsers:
Password Managers:
Two-Factor Authentication:
- Authy – Best Rated 2FA App
Alernate DNS:
First, do not use Google’s DNS, it just gives them another means to track
you. Second Open DNS is now owned by Cisco and they do censor.
Search Engines:
- Lycos – Yes they’re still around
and independent from Bing & Google.
- DuckDuckGo – privately uses
Yahoo (Bing). Has “bang”
options.
- StartPage – privately uses
Google.
- searX – a metasearch engine,
aggregating the results of other search engines while not storing
information about its users.
- Bing – A full array of features
and a rewards system you can sign up for.
- Ecosia – The search engine that
plants trees with its ad revenue. (Bing)
Youtube Alternatives:
Note: If you’re a serious content creator than I suggest
mirroring your channel on several of these:
- PewTube – PewTube is a video-sharing
alternative to mainstream sites like YouTube and Vimeo. Creators are
able to freely upload audio, video, and images without fear of
politically correct censorship.
- MINDS – “Your social network,”
Open Channel based social media network. A good site to mirror content.
- Live Leak – This is the place
to mirror your Youtube channel. They are anti-censorship.
- Vid.me <- Another good site to mirror
your content. They’re probably the most polished Youtube competitor.
- vimeo – A lot of original artistry
content.
- Break – Popular Youtube competitor
that’s been around awhile.
- metacafe – Have been around
awhile.
- Gvid – An experiment for a low cost,
content-neutral replacement for Youtube.
- BitChute – A peer to peer
content sharing platform. Our mission is to put people and free speech
first.
Mobile OS Alternatives:
- BlackBerry,
Powered by Android – BlackBerry services running on the Android
OS.
- Lineage OS – Formerly Cyanogen
Mod.
- Copperhead OS – “A
hardened open-source operating system based on Android.”
- Sailfish OS – “Open source and
developed by the Finnish mobile company Jolla Ltd. and the Sailfish OS
community.”
- silent circle – “Silent
Circle is a secure communications company offering mobile devices,
software applications, and communication management services to the
enterprise.”
- Windows 10
Mobile
OS Alternatives:
- Qubes OS – A reasonably secure
operating system, what Snowden uses.
- Tails – Privacy for anyone
anywhere.
- Haiku – Inspired by the BeOS,
Haiku is fast, simple to use, easy to learn and yet very powerful.
Social Media alternatives:
- Gab.ai – The Twitter alternative.
- WrongThink – an alternative
social networking web service made for the people, by the people that
emerged after “The Great Fall of Twitter 2017” due to their unrelenting
desire to curb free speech and censor their user base.
- MINDS – “Your social network,”
Open Channel based social media network.
- Mastodon – a free,
open-source social network. A decentralized alternative to commercial
platforms, it avoids the risks of a single company monopolizing your
communication.
- Diaspora.com
– Decentralized online social world where you are in control. Integrates
into other social networks.
- SteemIt – a blockchain-based social
media platform where anyone can earn rewards.
- BBM – Old school with a big
user base, fully encrypted, & a feed/channel system.
- seenlife – Privacy conscious Facebook
competitor.
- Movim – Simple, light and respectful.
- GNU social – A continuation of the
StatusNet project. It is social communication software for both public
and private communications. It is widely supported and has a large user
base.
- Grassfire – a fully featured
social environment that includes user profiles, chat, instant messaging,
user groups, user news feeds, media uploading/sharing, discussion forums
and much more!
- Friendica – A Decentralized Social
Network.
- Voat.co – Reddit alternative.
VPN/Tunneling Software:
- I2P – The invisible internet
project, similar to TOR.
- Retroshare – Retroshare was
founded by drbob in 2006, as a platform to provide “secure
communications and file sharing with friends”.
- Freenet – Browse websites,
post on forums, and publish files within Freenet with strong privacy
protections.
- Greycoder – best
vpn service reviews.
- Psiphon – “For 10 years,
Psiphon has provided open access to the Internet to citizens of
countries with information controls and limitations.”
- Lantern – “Better than
a VPN”
- Whonix – “Offers you the most
secure way to surf the web.”
Alternate/Developing web technology:
- libp2p – A modular network stack. Run
network applications free from runtime and address services,
independently of their location.
- IPFS – A peer-to-peer hypermedia
protocol.
- Hubzilla
– a powerful platform for creating interconnected websites featuring a
decentralized identity, communications, and permissions framework built
using common webserver technology.
- ZeroNet – Peer to Peer, Open, free
and un-censorable websites.
- Freenet – Browse websites,
post on forums, and publish files within Freenet with strong privacy
protections.
- Retroshare – Retroshare was
founded by drbob in 2006, as a platform to provide “secure
communications and file sharing with friends”.
- Dark Mail Technical Alliance –
developing a unique end-to-end encrypted protocol and architecture that
is the ‘next-generation’ of private and secure email.
- LEAP – a non-profit dedicated to giving
all internet users access to secure encrypted communication.
- JonDO – a proxy
client and will forward the traffic of your internet applications
encrypted to the mix cascades and so it will hide your ip address.
- I2P – The invisible internet
project, similar to TOR.
- Matrix – Matrix is an open standard
for decentralized communication.
Miscellaneous:
- We Are The New Media <-
List of alternative media & news sites.
- Infogalactic – A wikipedia
alternative
- Greycoder – Privacy information
& tech including VPNs.
- Prism Break – Privacy
information & software.
- Muckety – Shows relationships
between people, businesses, organizations, and governments.
- Zcubes – Z is the first
omni-functional platform for the next generation that brings the digital
experience closer to you in the real world.
- Privacytools.io – provides
knowledge and tools to protect your privacy against global mass
surveillance.
- http://someonewhocares.org/hosts/