Practical, personally tested fixes to take back your privacy — one simple step at a time. Every tool listed here meets our criteria: open source or source-available, no advertising business model, no data selling. We only recommend what we actually use.
Fix #1
Stop being tracked while you browse
Your browser is the front door to your online life. Most people leave it wide open. Brave, or Firefox with uBlock Origin, costs nothing and blocks thousands of trackers by default.
Fix #2
Search without being profiled
Every search you type builds a profile of you, sold to advertisers. Startpage gives you Google’s own results without Google watching, and DuckDuckGo works just as well with zero setup.
Fix #3
Private email that doesn’t read your inbox
Free email means your inbox pays the bills. Proton Mail encrypts everything automatically, and Mailbox.org is a solid, independent alternative — both interoperate over open PGP.
Fix #4
Text like nobody’s watching
Most messengers quietly harvest your contacts for advertising, and some don’t even encrypt by default. Signal encrypts everything, feels just like WhatsApp, and is the standard the industry itself relies on.
Fix #5
Hide your traffic, not just your address
Your ISP and every site you visit can see your IP address. Proton VPN encrypts your traffic and hides it — audited, streaming-friendly, and the only VPN we’ve personally tested.
Fix #6
Tips to use AI more privately
Every prompt you type can be stored, reviewed, or used to train future models. Run AI fully offline with LM Studio, pick a privacy-friendly provider like Venice or Duck.ai, or use commercial tools like ChatGPT carefully.
Fix #7
Store your files without handing over the keys
Most cloud storage isn’t private by default — the provider holds the keys. Cryptomator encrypts files before they leave your device, and a home NAS keeps everything off the cloud entirely.
More fixes coming soon — covering passwords and more.
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