the tools i use and why

general requirements

   - foss or morally funded service if at /all/ possible
   - privacyguides seal of approval is a huge plus
   - not tied to the right-wing or authoritarianism
     if you are aware of this for any of my choices, please let me know!

web browser

my choice 1/3: librewolf (my default)
additional requirements:
   - allows adblock
   - decently fingerprint resistant with minimal breakage
   - decently fingerprint resistant while allowing customization
positives: updates with package manager, foss (literally doesn’t even accept donations)
           breaks v few pages, ‘just works’ with good defaults, easy to install & update
           comes with adblock & many privacy tweaks vs vanilla firefox
general requirements met: morally funded, privacyguides approved kinda (is basically arkenfox)

my choice 2/3: mullvad (for more secure browsing - breaks more pages)
additional requirements:
   - v good fingerprint protection
   - allows adblock
positives: foss, when paired with mullvad vpn offers robust anti-fingerprint
negatives: more breakage than librewolf and v limited customization available
general requirements met: morally funded, privacyguides approved

my choice 3/3: chromium (only used for the v few pages which break on both others)
additional requirements:
   - breaks almost no pages
positives: breaks almost no pages (see negatives - these are related), foss*
negatives: sock-puppet for google, serving as a method of control over the future of the web general requirements met: morally funded, privacyguides approved, tied to authoritarianism

alternatives:
ladybird - v neat project: foss browser - foss and funded only by unrestricted donations            rip - project founder is right-wing
           not fully baked enough for me to use yet - i want more privacy features first
firefox - foss browser w/ too much tracking/telemetry/advertising for me (& has llm fever)
          grateful to it for being the ongoing upstream of mullvad & librewolf
firefox w/ arkenfox - harder to convert others to than librewolf (slightly harder to ‘install’)                       updates via script vs package manager (not great for non-technical users)

email provider

my choice: mailbox.org w/ thunderbird
additional requirements:
   - imap/smtp support (i use thunderbird for pgp encryption and offline email management)
positives: €1 per month, 2gb included, in theory 100% eco-friendly energy, non-us based
negatives: based in 14-eyes country, account is deleted 30 days after no-payment
general requirements met: morally funded, privacyguides approved

alternatives:
proton.me - ceo is tied to the right-wing or authoritarianism
tuta.com - does not support imap/smtp & no option for auto-forwarding

real-time communication

my choice 1/2: signal (for more secure private messaging)
additional requirements:
   - usable on both linux desktop and android phone
positives: foss, not overly difficult to convert people to
negatives: vulnerable to targeted attacks on android
general requirements met: morally funded, privacyguides approved

my choice 2/2: discord (for being social and having community)
additional requirements:
   - access to community and existing friend network
   - able to stream (with ok quality & fps) to friends
positives: free*, ’everyone’ is on it, allows for a fair bit of self expression (for $)
negatives: almost certainly headed for an ipo and is already experiencing enshittification
           hella not private, you do not control your data at nearly /all/
           /so/ many data breaches and exploits, i hate it - please give me a good alternative
general requirements met: morally funded, privacyguides approved

alternatives:
element - search sucks, can’t stream w/ audio, harder than signal to talk people into
          export chat function breaks if you have too much history
whatsapp - owned by meta, multiple privacy concerns
telegram - closed source, not audited, not secure by default; multiple privacy concerns

vpn provider

my choice: mullvad (i also use their free & private dns)
additional requirements:
   - diata (defense against ai-guided traffic analysis)
   - uses wireguard
   - protection against future quantum analysis
   - has a simple lan passthrough option/setting
   - has a way to block connections unless the vpn is active
   - has a simple way to allow passthrough for specific programs
   - has exit nodes outside of the 14-eyes
   - has an anonymous payment method (which preferably doesn’t involve using the mail)
   - no logging with no record of lying and independently audited
   - i require any vpn i use to be privacyguides approved; here’s why
positives: meets every requirement
negatives: run out of a 14-eyes country
general requirements met: morally funded, privacyguides approved

alternatives:
proton - ceo is tied to the right-wing or authoritarianism