Protecting Yourself
Without Being A Kook About it.
Technology is a wonderful thing that can drastically improve our lives and change the way we interact with the world. I love technology, but over the years I’ve become less happy with it. Bloated, borderline useless software has become surprisingly common. It's not just the web; entire operating systems rely on aggressive telemetry for the purposes of serving ads or "giving the user a better experience". You ever wonder why TV prices have dropped so much? It’s because your Smart TV is phoning home and telling Big Tech that you really, really love watching Dr. House.
The following is a list of things I've done to escape the surveillance capitalism inherent to modern life. It isn’t definitive, peer reviewed, or even inspirational. I’m not claiming that it’s perfect and everyone’s “threat model” is different. This stuff has worked well for me, and I’m happy with it.
Keep in mind that if you do follow this list to any degree, I take no responsibility for you screwing something up. Privacy and Security are not the same thing. This is more about privacy than it is security. However, some of the things that you’ll do to increase your privacy will increase your security as a nice side effect.
1) Use an Air Gapped Password Manager
If you’re unfamiliar, an air gapped device is anything you don’t hook up to the internet. Ideally, it’s a device that CAN’T connect to the internet. Good luck finding something like that these days. Still, you don’t HAVE to connect anything to the internet. If the device requires that, consider it completely worthless for this application.
Your passwords are the keys to your life in some ways. Cloud based password managers may be convenient because they’re simple, but the attack surface is too high for my taste. Anyone can do anything at any time, and hoping that some third party won’t make a mistake is foolish to me.
I’m not going to tell you about my current setup because I don't trust anyone. However, I will advise you to think outside the box. When choosing a device, consider how difficult it might be to repair or back up. Be sure not to back it up to anything that can connect to the internet. Furthermore, secure the backups. Have the device encrypt the backup if possible. Keep a second device that can have that backup installed if need be. If you can, use a portable device. Just don’t use an old phone.
A good start would be a Linux Mint machine with no access to your network and LUKS encryption enabled. With LUKS, someone could steal your device and they’ll never get into it so long as you have a complex password. Mint boots lightning fast and is easy to use. It also includes it’s own password manager. Type “Password” into the search bar, click “Passwords & Keys” and go wild. If you can, try to memorize your passwords and completely forgo using a password manager.
2) Install Some Form of Linux
I like Linux. You can install software with terminal, it’s way faster than Windows, and I feel far more in control of my device. Not only that, but there's far less telemetry in Linux as long as you do things properly. I keep my install incredibly basic and it’s still more useful than any Windows machine. In those rare moments where I need Windows, I use an air gapped Windows 7 laptop.
Linux itself is a Kernal, not an operating system. The numerous open source configurations out there are called distributions, or distros. Each one is configured for a specific usecase or audience. None of them are necessarily better than the other, just different.
Be careful! With Linux, you're more in control of your security than you would be in Windows. It’s easy to create a scenario where your Linux PC is even more insecure than a Windows device. Do not give root permission to anything until you know what you're doing. Linux Mint is great for beginners. After that, you can experiment with other distros. Be sure to research you new distro before you install it.
Without all of the telemetry, AI crap, and other bloat, Linux Mint will run on virtually anything made in the last decade. Install it on your laptop from 2017 and watch as it opens spreadsheets faster than your Windows 11 PC.
3) Buy a Used Google Pixel and Install Graphene OS
Android and iOS are Big Tech’s main mode of attack when it comes to invading your privacy. When I used stock Android, I was able to look up not just what apps I opened, but where I had been, and the route I had taken to get there. I had enabled Location History, but I had no idea what that actually meant. I’m tech savvy, so I can’t imagine what someone like my mom is doing. Another bothersome thing was that all of my texts and phone numbers would magically appear on any new phone I bought as soon as I signed in to my Google Account. I think that’s convenient, but I also find it creepy. Don’t even get me started on all of the “AdvertisingID” nonsense. Basically, Google assigns you a number and it associates that with any information it has on you. That’s genuinely horrific in my mind. Because of all of this, I use Graphene OS.
Ironically, Graphene OS only works on Google Pixel phones. However, that doesn’t make it any less secure and private. Unlike stock Android, Graphene OS doesn’t have any dependencies on Google Play Services. It isn’t even included with a fresh install of the OS. You can still install Google Play Services if you really want to, but it’s completely isolated as opposed to a foundational part of things.
You can also install Google Play if you’re into that. That’s also isolated unless you decide it shouldn’t be. It’s easy to install Graphene OS and then defeat the purpose of doing so. The smart thing is to utilize Graphene OS’ “Private Space”.
Private Space further isolates Google Play and Google Play Services. You can install all your proprietary apps there, lock it up, and it’ll shut them all down. This is what I do and it has the added benefit of keeping all the garbage out of sight until I need it.
As for backups, you are totally in control of how you back up your phone and where you store it. It’s a slight bit more work but that’s my information and I think it’s unwise to leave it in the hands of a third party. Even if it’s just me looking up No Man’s Sky recipes and listening to the same Dir En Grey album every single day.
4) Get off of Social Media
Social Media by definition is an affront to privacy. Furthermore, in the minds of the people running them, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram exist solely to steal data from you to sell to advertisers. The intended purpose of these platforms is constantly degraded in service of this fact. I would advise completely removing yourself from these ecosystems. There’s nothing of value to be gained from using any of them. They exploit algorithms that you personally train to piss you off. Save your privacy and mental health.
There are some decent social media sites out there. Bluesky doesn’t utilize an algorithm, but it’s no less toxic than something like Facebook or Twitter. More likely, you won’t see that toxicity if you’re not looking for it. YouTube is another useful tool despite being owned by Google. There’s a lot of informative content there and several methods exist to get past it’s aggressive advertising strategy. DuckDuckGo is your friend.
5) Ditch Google In General
Google Search has become far less useful since the word “Google” became a verb. Much like social media companies, Google has learned that making your product crappier means people will use it more; seeing more ads in the process. When a search didn't work, I’d just re-search the same term with slightly different wording or add qualifiers. I was wasting time, bloating Google’s search statistics, and if I wasn’t using an ad-blocker, I’d probably see more ads.
But also, this process helps Google learn about you. Every single search you ever make is logged. If you’re signed into your account, Google will add your search to an ever growing list of your personal interests. I’m not cool with that, so even if Google was useful, I wouldn’t use it. Instead, I use DuckDuckGo or Startpage.
Gmail is another formerly useful utility that has seen a reduction in quality over the years. The spam filter barely works now. Not to mention that Google has been accused of using your emails to train it’s LLM, Gemini. I don’t know if that’s true, but I wouldn’t put it past them. Instead, use Startmail or ProtonMail.
Google Docs is another one I used to use. It was okay, but again, I don’t trust it to maintain my privacy. Besides, it’s rather limited unless you want a multiplayer word processor. I don’t need that, so instead I use LibreOffice at home and Docs2Go on a Palm TX if I’m out and feel the need to write something. I don't write on my phone to conserve battery life. The Palm TX can be used with a keyboard that folds up and fits in my pocket.
This goes for Googles entire office suite, and could also apply to Microsoft’s. LibreOffice is a lot more private, it’s free to use, and it’s extremely usable. In fact, this article was written in LibreOffice Writer.
Oh, and don't use Google Chrome. There are tons of chromium based alternatives out there. I don't use them on desktop, but Vanadium comes with Graphene OS and it's excellent.
Conclusion (for now)
I didn't do all of this at once. If I had, I would have driven myself crazy. Take your time and discover what works for you. For example, I first started using Linux off and on in 2018. Only to fully embrace it with the rise of Co-Pilot. I Got rid of most social media in 2023, and just this year, I installed Graphene OS. Like I said in the introduction, nothing written here is definitive. I could add some things but I think you get the point.
If you can do it yourself, do it yourself. The air gapped password manager is genuinely less convenient. However, the rest of it has made my life easier, not harder. You don’t realize how much better things can be if you have no frame of reference. In the end, this is just as much about functionality as it is about privacy. If the thing sucks, stop using it and find an alternative. Windows and Google products kind of suck right now, and if giving them up and switching to open source alternatives make your experience less invasive, all the better.