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My privacy + software list

Anyone can edit this if they have link, so feel free to (idc).

Network

VPN (Most important)

(Please duckduckgo around as info updates. VPN subreddits usually have good info)

Basically, keep up-to-date with what VPN service you use, and the country you connect to.

I personally use Mullvad https://mullvad.net/en/ Why?

  • When you sign up, it generates a 16 numeric digit ID that is your only login info!
  • Multiple ways to pay including bitcoin and bitcoin cash. At one time, you could pay with subway cards, but I don't see it anymore haha.
  • I never use the subscription and always add months periodically. If you lose your login unique ID, you can never get it back! Just in case chance my place burns down and my secure note is gone while having an on-going subscription LOL.

pi-hole
Custom DNS router in your home. Works best with your own router so you can set a global DNS server to point to your pi-hole. In my case, I have Fios router and have to manually change DNS in all my devices.

I've been using cloudfared secure dns provider. Don't use Google's or your ISPs one.

https://pi-hole.net/ Installed on my CanaKit Raspberry Pi 3 B+ (B Plus) with Premium Clear Case and 2.5A Power Supply

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My fucking dumb TV

Own a smart TV, like my TCL with built in internet support and ads? Chances are you can make it dumb by googling around.

  1. Found out I could factory reset it, then skip the network setup dialog effectively making not connected to any network.
  2. Smart TVs tend to have their own DNS server IPs hardcoded, so pi-hole may not block their requests.
  3. Read somewhere smart tv could connect to any network it finds if public, but take that with a grain of salt. No idea it was true.

Since I never set up the network after factory reset, it never bugged me saying "network not found" or flashed every minute if connection went down. I use an Nvidia shield for streaming.

Data format and erase

For HDD (hard disk drives) I've been using https://eraser.heidi.ie/download/ with default settings. Let me know if you find something else.

SSDs are little different as the controller within it shuffles data writes around so it doesn't wear down individual data cells. Those cells are flash memory and unlike HDDs, do not contain previous shadows in magnetic disks that require intensive re-writes to fully purge. That means, you cannot securely erase individual files or directories. You need to fully "flash" the drive which will flip all 1s to 0s in flash memory.

https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/securely-erase-ssd-without-destroying/ explains it better than me.

Passwords

I don't know any of my passwords except my password's manager – password, and PC login.

Do not use Lasspass! It was bought by logmein and became shit, and I don't trust it anymore (as with others). Also, they increased the price with no extra features.

Burner Emails

https://burnermail.io/ I love it!

Network, Firewalls, and Anti-virus

If you use adblock extensions and pi-hole and research sketchy sites you should be safe for the most part. I haven't used any anti-virus for a long time and keep windows defender on with its firewall. I do use MalwareBytes (free) as one-time scanners. In the past, Malawarebytes caught viruses that my previous AV didn't.

If you're looking for AV, read up on recent https://www.av-comparatives.org/testmethod/summary-reports/ reports.

  • Before moving away from AV, I used https://www.bitdefender.com/ and found it to be non-intrusive and had great reports in AV-comparatives_org.

Firewalls

I have recently looked into WFP (Windows filtering platform) software such as Simplewall and Portmaster.

I'm trying out Portmaster which is still in Alpha, but it does a great job with UX and showing which applications have connections open. So far I'm liking it.

Gotchas with Portmaster

  1. If you're using pi-hole, you'll need to go into Settings -> Secure DNS -> Servcers and put
    tcp://<local-pi-holeaddr>:53. Portmaster does have a dns-filter, but I prefer pi-hole.
  2. See their compatibility with VPNs like Mullard: https://docs.safing.io/portmaster/install/status/vpn-compatibility.
    Right now, I'm shutting down Portmaster when I use my VPN.

Emails

I still use my main google account, but I also have a free Proton Email account if I need to switch. I would definitely pay for this in the future if I need to ditch gmail.

  • +1 It's in Switzerland!

General / MISC

When I find something, I first check if it's open source on github. You can easily do that by searching the software on github or search terms.

  1. See if it's still active
  2. Look at the issues:
    • Most of the time, someone will call out if software doesn't work anymore or it's doing something shady.

Torrent client: https://www.qbittorrent.org/

  • ISP can monitor torrents, so you can use a VPN.
  • There is an option to encrypt torrents (never done it before)
  • I use it to send very large files (ex. game footage) to friends and skip the middleman. Not only is it impossible to upload 100GB to Google drive, it will take forever too on both sides.

Screenshots: https://getgreenshot.org/

  • Been using it for a month and love it!

Screen and video game recording: https://obsproject.com/

  • It's the King for streaming and recording. Lot's of advanced options compared to Nvidia or AMD's built in software.
  • PM for more questions or details

Photo & Video:

  1. Affinity Photo + Designer
  2. Davinci Resolve: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3dQU2o_EyA sums up why Free is actually Free without the BS.
  3. https://github.com/mifi/lossless-cut - Independent program to cut long videos into segments without re-encoding and lossing data (lossless!). I'll use this to break up very long videos before bringing into Davinci Resolve. Afterwards, I can work with smaller clips.
    • Download the .exe. The store versions are donate versions. It's not paid.

Cleaning your system:
Avoid CCleaner and their products. They were bought by Avast and a lot of people including me (just google CCleaner lol) don't trust it anymore. Bleachbit is the alternative.

Monitoring hardware and info:

Firefox extensions

Pre-req:

  1. I use "strict" privacy settings in options.
  2. Blocked all Virtual Reality requests. Not sure why, but sites ask if you have VR. Not sure if it's because I do have VR or if they are building a digital footprint.
  3. HTTPS-only-mode!
  4. Look up "browser footprint"

Extensions
I also have the Brave browser installed in case all these extensions ruin a website or it won't work.

Chrome (and probably Edge) are blocking ad-blocking addons in their store. Figures.. Not that you should use them anyways lol.

Do you watch Twitch and hate ads? https://github.com/pixeltris/TwitchAdSolutions
On-going development to get around ads with multiple solutions. Some of them are "userscripts" that use "Tampermonkey".

  • I've used notify-strip and mute-black, but they tend not to work now
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PSN

I use https://www.cdkeys.com/ to buy Playstation Plus cards. Just recently, I got the 12-month for $37! Never pay full $60 for it again lol. Compared to other resellers, cdkeys is more popular and I've never had an issue with them.

Steam

Tips and sites related to Steam (https://store.steampowered.com/)

  • https://augmentedsteam.com/ and isthereanydeal extensions. This is a must, if you want to wait and find better deals.
    • Tons of quality of experience features in the store. See website for full details.
    • Gives you the option to automatically sync your wishlist with isthereanydeal.
  • https://steamdb.info/sales/history/ Don't know when there's a steam sale? They probably know.

Is there any deal!
I use this constantly and the sites listed are vetted. So, if you find a site and it's not used in "isthereanydeal", use your discretion.

  • Can give you daily/weekly/your choice email digests of current deals you are watching.
  • Shows lowest price and history.
  • Do watch out for deal sites that only give you the "mac" version, or steam game codes that do not activate in your country!
  • I've never had any issues using the listed deal sites.

Shady deals

The sites listed here and otherso online are like the "grey" market. They are 3rd party sellers and you don't ask where they got the game code from :) That said, I do occasionally
use them, but with following precautions:

  1. I do not use debit or credit cards
  2. Does the site accept Paypal? No? That's a red flag.
    • Side note: I've used Paypal since it does the transaction for you, compared to you giving credit card details.
  3. Crypto!
    • Yes, this is what Crypto is for! I could write a section on crypto, but this is the gist:
      1. Create a wallet if you have not. https://www.exodus.com/ is one I'm currently using for multiple coins.
      2. Convert fiat money to coin of choice. Bitcoin and Etherum are good (as of writing this.). I use https://www.coinbase.com/ for exchange dollars to <coin>
      3. I'd recommend moving the money out of the exchange (coinbase) to your wallet of choice.
      4. Use your public wallet address to pay for the game!
    • Important:
      1. Crypto like Bitcoin is secure, but it's not private. Your public wallet address tells you have much you have and what transactions you have made!
      2. Research coin payment sites that the game sites use. Some are fees.

If you are still reading, I've used these sites in the past.

  1. https://www.cdkeys.com/
  2. https://cheapdigitaldownload.com/ - Aggregator of deals sorted by best and ratings. Do be careful of notes above when going on the sites.

Streaming (Youtube, Twitch)

If you have Android:

For Web:

SponsorBlock is a crowdsource extension that allows users to mark parts of the video as intermissions, in-video ads, and other segments that you can automatically skip! Make sure you have ublock origin.

The Vanced app is a customized version of the official Youtube app. It gives you premium features such as playing videos without the app open, removes ads, and sponsorblock integration. It's a must have if you hate Youtube app on android and its constant ads.

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