1. TAILS
Website: [Tens de ter uma conta e sessão iniciada para poderes visualizar este link]
Best OS for TOR
TAILS stands for The Amnesic Incognito Live System. It’s literally the best privacy tool out there, especially when it comes to an operating system which is anonymous, and not only respects your privacy, but “encourages” it.
It can be used directly from a USB stick or a CD, without formal “installation”, and hence leaves no trace on the system it’s used on.
It’s a project partially funded by Tor itself, so obviously it promotes uncensored internet and hence all and any traffic from the system is routed via Tor.
In fact a number of security tools which we will discuss in this Privacy tools guide are pre-included with TAILS, such as HTTPS Everywhere, Pidgin and Thunderbird etc to make it as digitally secure as possible.
It also includes quite a few advanced encryption protocols for encrypting every inch of your system, activities and storage devices.
Bottomline, in case you need an anonymous and private environment complete with uncensored E-mail clients, messaging platforms, browsers and everything else TAILS is the answer.
2. Whonix
Website: [Tens de ter uma conta e sessão iniciada para poderes visualizar este link]
Whonix is another one of the best Privacy tools and anonymous operating systems that deserves our attention.
It’s a project based on Tor, and all traffic like TAILS is routed via Tor. In addition to that, it boasts a custom tailored Debian base which is run inside multiple virtual machines to make IP leaks or malware attacks impossible.
It’s a LIVE OS, so it can be run directly from a USB or CD disk and no trace is left on the system again alike Tails.
As far as tools go, it has stocked its arsenal up with a number of decentralized and anonymous tools for E-mail, messaging, in addition to pre-installed Tor and hidden IRC servers.
So yes, as an operating system it’s pretty good at keeping your identity and activities off the grid, exactly what we’re looking for isn’t it?
3. Qubes
Website: [Tens de ter uma conta e sessão iniciada para poderes visualizar este link]
Qubes is one of the most trusted anonymous OS on the planet, which has been vouched for by “The Edward Snowden” himself.
It has this exclusive and unique feature of “compartmentalization” of each individual app and program run on your system hence creating an impregnable wall between each of them.
Meaning, each app you run is run as if it’s on a “different” system, so in case any one of them is compromised, neither the whole system, nor any other app will be compromised hence making it one of the most secure privacy tools and best privacy software out there.
Additionally, what makes Qubes special is that it can be used to run not only “Windows apps”, but those of Linux, Fedora or even Whonix.
I believe we’ve talked quite a bit about operating systems, although you can get more options from this detailed list on 7 best anonymous OS for Tor.
Let’s move on to the next aspect of this Privacy tools guide- Online privacy tools; which will keep you “Internet activities” anonymous.
Network Security
Network security is here used to denote “Internet connection security”, meaning ways, methods and privacy tools which will help you keep your “Internet connection” secure and anonymous.
In case you’re totally new to this, let me just get the basics straight. When you connect your offline computer to the Internet, it’s done so via your ISP (Internet service provider).
Now the ISP has quite a bit of control over your connection, they can trace your location, activities, block certain websites if they wish to, and things like that.
Even if the ISP doesn’t do anything, the general, unsecure internet connection isn’t secure enough, and any kid with 5 minutes on Youtube can learn how to intercept your traffic, hack into it, install a backdoor on your system, or get access to your physical location in the least.
More advanced threats include hackers being able to modify your search history, force redirects you to certain websites, or even hack into your Webcam in some cases.
Bottomline? Plain, unsecure internet isn’t how the internet should be accessed. Now that’s what we will solve in this section.
In order to protect your internet connection from third-parties, and even from your ISP, you need a VPN, and optionally a router.
A VPN is an abbreviation for “Virtual Private Network”, in the simplest possible words I can explain a VPN as being one of the best, simplest privacy protection software in existence.
What a VPN does is, it primarily encrypts your internet traffic and changes your IP address. Now this IP address is what connects your computer, to the internet. When you change your IP address, neither your ISP nor anyone else gets to know your new IP address.
These new, masked IP addresses assigned to you can’t be traced back to you in any way (if the VPN is good enough), and hence you appear to be from a different country (which you get to choose).
And because the IP addresses lead to a “server” (of the VPN company, and not your actual computer), and because the connection is encrypted, it can’t be used to hack into your system, trace or track your activities or block any websites either.
So here are the best privacy VPN and the router I personally trust and use to get myself the best online security that there is.
1. NordVPN
Website: [Tens de ter uma conta e sessão iniciada para poderes visualizar este link]
NordVPN is my most favorite VPN, and it has been so for at least 2 years now, not without reasons though.
The primary reason why it gets my high vote of confidence is because of its vast availability of countries and servers, along with its unbreakable encryption algorithms.
It gets us a list of 60+ countries to choose from, and has a total of 1300+ servers, which is a big deal in today’s VPN industry.
Its servers are further categorized into a number of different categories based on their purposes and specialty, such as Anti-DDoS, Double VPN, Onion over VPN, Dedicated IP servers etc.
And when it comes to encryption, it supports the 4 most secure connection protocols available, namely – OpenVPN, L2TP/ IPSec, PPTP and IKeV2.
The best part however is its “No logs policy”, meaning it doesn’t “log” your IP address, or any other activities! That’s what makes it one of the best anonymity tools because not a lot of VPNs truly offer this feature!
You can read a complete, detailed NordVPN Review here, but for now let’s just say it’s one of the best VPNs you can employ to save yourself from the censorship wrath out there.
2. IpVanish
Website: [Tens de ter uma conta e sessão iniciada para poderes visualizar este link]
IPVanish is the second VPN you could get in case you aren’t going with NordVPN. The features are more or less the same so you won’t be missing anything significant with this one either and it still is one of the best privacy tools.
It too offers us 60+ countries to choose from, although when it comes to servers it only has around 900 functional servers (not that it makes a big difference for us as users).
As far as IP addresses go, it has a massive 40,000+ shared IP address database! It employs 256-bit military grade encryptions to encrypt its connections, along with 3 other connection protocols (OpenVPN / PPTP / L2TP/IPSec).
It too has a “Zero logs policy” in place hence no activity logs are kept, and supports as many as 5 devices to be used simultaneously for the same account as well.
So bottom line, it totally is one of the best privacy tools and pretty light on the pocket as well. You can read a complete IPVanish VPN Review here.
3. Asus RT-AC5300 Router
Website: [Tens de ter uma conta e sessão iniciada para poderes visualizar este link]
We’ve talked of VPNs, as a final nail to the coffin of network breaches, let’s briefly discuss routers as well.
The Asus RT-AC5300 is just another internet router, but with the capability of letting you install and use a VPN on it.
Because the VPN is installed on the router, the VPN connection protects all the devices connected to the router in your office, or home.
Apart from the VPN support, it boasts quite a few core-features of its own such as Link aggression which allows you to double your wired internet speed by joining two LAN cables.
In addition to its support for 802.11ac standards along with Beamforming giving the router magical powers to auto-locate exactly where your devices are and serve you better speed and stability.
It supports MU-MIMO technology as well, and finally as it’s a flash router, it’s pre-flashed with DD-WRT, probably the best custom firmware out there for a lot more security, stability and features than the naked router.
So in a nutshell, if you connect a lot of devices to the internet, the router is a nice addition to your VPN for a completely secure network!
Read the complete Asus RT- AC5300 review here.
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Browser Based Security
We’ve covered a secure operating system, and network security by now. But aren’t we missing a core component of today’s computer systems?
Web browsers! Yes! Those are what we use to actually connect to the internet, and browse websites, so naturally they too can be compromised and hacked into.
Browser security basically includes privacy tools which make sure your activities on the web, your history, cache, location information, browsing habits or saved passwords aren’t leaked out to third parties.
These security measures are either implemented by the browsers themselves, or at times, by third party add-ons and extensions, all of which we will cover in this section.
1. Tor Browser
Website: [Tens de ter uma conta e sessão iniciada para poderes visualizar este link]
Tor is the most famed name that pops up in any discussion even remotely related to the best internet privacy software, doesn’t it?
Tor stands for The Onion Router, and it routes all its traffic via the Onion network. The Onion network is the part of the web, which is uncensored, and independent, unlike the clearnet where every single site and its users are subject to a thousand laws and regulations.
It routes all your traffic via a number of “relays” which are next to impossible to connect to each other hence making it hard to trace you on the web.
In a nutshell Tor browser doesn’t let anyone spy on your activities, location, or any other information related to you. Neither does it collect any such information itself. It disables javascript and doesn’t log your cache or cookies either.
It’s a free, open-source project run by volunteers, lets you browse .onion (deep web) links, and is the perfect solution for you if you wish to keep your identity private and anonymous, or go stroll around the deep web.
2. EPIC Browser
Website: [Tens de ter uma conta e sessão iniciada para poderes visualizar este link]
The Epic browser is the second name that should be your guardian angel on the web in case for some reasons you aren’t going with Tor.
One of its unique features making it one of the best privacy tools is its “isolation”, meaning every single outgoing connection is an independent process, so breaching any one single connection won’t lead to your whole connection being breached.
In addition to that, it has this capability of blocking every single element on a website which can be used to trace and track you, your activities, or your preferences. These elements include HTML 5 Storage, cookies, ever cookies, flash cookies etc.
There’s also an inbuilt **Proibido o assunto no forum** to help you mask your IP address in case you aren’t using a VPN from your end manually, although you can use EPIC’s **Proibido o assunto no forum** with an additional VPN of your own as well.
It even protects us against fingerprinting and image canvas. It doesn’t log our history, passwords, spell-checks, DNS cache, Web-cache or anything else which can in any fickle way lead to our privacy being compromised.
It doesn’t even send “Referrer head data” to websites when you hop from a search engine link to a site.
Finally, EPIC has this awesome feature which lets you spy on your spies by showing you who or which sites exactly are tracking you.
3. Adblock Plus
Website: [Tens de ter uma conta e sessão iniciada para poderes visualizar este link]
AdBlock plus is obviously one of the best privacy tools, but isn’t exactly a browser, rather it’s an extension which can be embedded with Chrome, Mozilla, Internet Explorer, Safari or every other major as well as minor web browser out there.
As the name suggests, it primarily “blocks ads”. That means better browsing experience and less distractions.
It blocks not just “banners ads”, but Facebook Ads, popups, flashy ads, pop unders and everything else!
Although not all ads are blocked, and some “acceptable” ads are shown in order to support the websites showing them. In my personal opinion and experience, these acceptable ads actually are almost always acceptable and non-intrusive.
Although this feature can be disabled and you can have a 100% ad-free browsing experience should you wish so.
Adblock Plus doesn’t limit itself to just blocking ads, but also “trackers and malware” as well, so your anonymity and privacy remain safe, your data isn’t leaked, and neither is your system at risk from malware floating around the web.
The malware protection feature was enabled by default, but I recently found out that it can be extended to block “all” suspicious domains as well which is a nice addition.
And finally, it also has the capability to block social share buttons, which otherwise can lead to your browsing habits and preferences being shared with the social media and a number of other third-parties.
4. Privacy Badger
Website: [Tens de ter uma conta e sessão iniciada para poderes visualizar este link]
Privacy Badger isn’t an “adblocker” rather a privacy tool is what they claim even though it’s based on Adblocker’s code; it does have its own differences.
The primary difference is that, while Adblock Plus needs the user to play around with its settings and customizations to achieve satisfactory results, Privacy Badger doesn’t!
It’s based on the model that it should be able to function and work for the user without any interference by the user, based on an advanced algorithm.
What it primarily does is, it follows you around on the web as any extension would do, and verifies the third-party elements which load up on the pages you visit, if any single or suspicious third-party seems to track you across various pages, it blocks the third-parties scripts from loading in the future.
Although it does make exceptions in case there are crucial codes to be loaded, such as for Maps or images, but even in those cases it’ll filter out the elements which can be used to track you.
The reason Privacy Badger has termed itself as one of the privacy tools and not an adblocker is because as they say, their prime endeavour isn’t to “block ads” but to block “intrusive, objectionable” ads.
It also “freezes” social media buttons so that they can’t “track your habits or pages”, which otherwise they do; unless you explicitly “click” on them.
5. Ghostery
Website: [Tens de ter uma conta e sessão iniciada para poderes visualizar este link]
Ghostery again is a browser extension, which helps you browse faster and safer on the web. The one feature which distinctly is better in Ghostery than the other two options above is its user-interface and dashboard!
Its anti-blocking technology too is slightly different than the usual adblockers. It doesn’t just block all third-party elements, instead analyzes and verifies the requests being sent, and simply strips them off “identifiable” information.
It also functions on a “Filter list”, meaning automatically vets which ads are to be blocked and which to be allowed based on the list, totally without user-interference.
In addition to that, it also automatically calculates the threat or problem a tracker may cause you, hence blocking extremely slow or non-secure trackers, while in other cases allowing others.
And like EPIC it too has this feature which lets you spy on your spies, by showing you who is tracking you, and what information exactly is being collected.
And lastly, it’s free, and doesn’t require you to must-have an account in order to use Ghostery making it one of the best privacy tools or extensions out there.
6. Netalyzer
Website: [Tens de ter uma conta e sessão iniciada para poderes visualizar este link]
Netalyzer isn’t a browser, or even a browser extension, rather it’s a more hardcore solution to solving your internet problems in the form of a web-based results tool.
In simple words, it “Analyzes your Internet connection” (Net + Analyzer) for privacy concerns, important requests being or not being blocked and things like that.
In most cases, for most general users it won’t make sense unless you’re well versed in error codes, ports and such stuff.
But if you are, it can prove to be one of the most detailed, useful and comprehensive result of all and everything related to your internet connection.
It includes HTTPS tests, DNS tests, IPV6 Tests, Network link properties and much more.
For every single issue, there are detailed explanations of what’s causing it, although note that there aren’t any “recommended solutions” so you’ll have to understand and fix the problem yourselves.
How about we lean towards a different section of this Privacy tools guide now, something simpler to understand? Password Security? Yeah let’s get it done!
Password Security
This section of this Privacy tools guide is dedicated towards password security because hey, passwords are your keys for various sites, aren’t they?
So obviously, remembering them, keeping them safe, and better organized is extremely important, isn’t it?
Unfortunately, typing all your passwords on a notepad file and saving it on your computer is the worst way to keep your passwords safe. Anyone with physical access can have a glance over them.
Even remotely, anyone can install a keylogger and compromise your security to the core, or a more advanced threat is someone extracting saved passwords off your browsers (yeah it’s possible).
Bottomline, you need a secret “vault” of sorts to keep your passwords safe and organized and that’s what the following tools provide.
1. LastPass
Website: [Tens de ter uma conta e sessão iniciada para poderes visualizar este link]
LastPass is a Fremium tool, meaning it has both a free as well as a premium version, and in my personal experience, even the free version has more than enough features for most of us.
Now it’s a “secure vault” which saves all your passwords automatically for various sites whenever you login to those sites, or you can also add passwords manually.
Because it’s all on the cloud, you won’t ever forget a password no matter how many decades later you need it.
In addition to acting as a vault, it also acts as a “master key”, meaning you don’t need to remember hundreds of passwords for all your different sites. Rather, simply remember the one master password you set for LastPass, and this password will auto-fill any site’s password on their login pages.
Also, one LastPass can be used on any number of devices and accounts, so you can simply install LastPass on all your devices, and forget about remembering or typing passwords ever again on any of those devices.
There are some advanced features as well such as Saving WiFi passwords, creating Credit Card profiles for easy auto-fills, and even “emergency contacts”, obviously 2 Factor Authentication is available as well.
Are these passwords safe? Totally! LastPass uses AES 256 military grade encryption along with PBKDF2 SHA-256 PBKDF2 SHA-256 salt hashto encrypt whatever we save on the platform.
Also, whatever we save on LastPass is always a secret, even from LastPass. The encryption and decryption private keys are “device based” so even LastPass can’t access the saved passwords, along with the MasterPassword.
Bottomline, it’s literally one of the best privacy tools when it comes to passwords, and both its Premium as well as free versions are worth it.
2. 1Password
Website: [Tens de ter uma conta e sessão iniciada para poderes visualizar este link]
1Password is a premium tool, with a 30-day free trial period. It has three different plans, for single users, families, or large businesses.
Like most other password vaults, it too uses a master password which isn’t saved on the 1Password server or anywhere else, but only on your own device and this single password can be used to login to any number of sites (whose details are saved on 1Password).
It allows for unlimited passwords to be saved and easy auto-fills like LastPass, although it doesn’t seem to offer 2-Factor authentication yet.
It also lets you create separate vaults, and share only selected parts of it with upto 20 members (in the pro plan).
So in a nutshell, it’s another one of those privacy tools which save your passwords, and auto-fill them, keep them organized, let you share it with your team members or families and make life easier for you.
There’s a “Travel mode” as well, which temporarily removes any vaults which you feel need to be hidden so as to escape a hostile situation, or some kind of investigations, inspections such as on airports.
As for encryption, it uses the same 256-bit encryption as LastPass, although one of its advanced features is its 34 characters long secret key, which they claim eliminates the need of 2-FA and makes it virtually impossible to hack into your 1Password account.
I believe those privacy tools are enough to keep your passwords safe, aren’t they? Let’s move on to Search Engine Privacy for now, cause hey that’s important too.
Search Engine Privacy
This is an aspect of online privacy that’s ignored more often than we’d like to admit. Search Engines used by us track a large part of our online, primarily our search queries to begin with.
Then, the sites we visit, the time we spend on those sites, our locations, shopping preferences, and a lot more.
And it’s not just collection, they also share the information over either their own various products and networks, or with third-parties, primarily advertisers.
They even decide which results we “may” or may not like, generally it’s all well and good, but if you’re a privacy freak, you really wouldn’t want anyone intruding into your privacy, would you?
If you’re still not convinced it’s dangerous, here’s a live DATA LEAK from AOL that happened back in 2006, simply search for a keyword, and you’ll get “user numbers” of everyone else who searched for it, along with everything else that user searched for!
So, here are some of the best privacy search engine which do not track or monitor you and give you the privacy you’re entitled to.
1. DuckDuckGo
Website: [Tens de ter uma conta e sessão iniciada para poderes visualizar este link]
Deep Web Search Engine
Duck Duck Go isn’t a new face to the game, and almost everyone has heard of it. It’s a Search Engine which prides itself on the fact that it doesn’t track any aspect of your online searches.
It doesn’t collect or monitor your search history, and because there’s no data collected, they also can’t sell anything to advertisers, and for the same reason DuckDuckGo also doesn’t show any ad on its Search Page, or anywhere else.
It without doubt is one of the best privacy tools and has been so for over a decade now, the reason being there are no ad-trackers, no “personalized suggestions” or anything else that’s “personal or private” to you.
2. Start Page
Website: [Tens de ter uma conta e sessão iniciada para poderes visualizar este link]
StartPage’s tagline itself says why it’s one of the best privacy tools because it gives us “Google” but without Google’s intrusive nature.
Obviously, Google is probably the best Search Engine out there, so what StartPage does is, when you enter a search query on StartPage, it submits it to Google, and then displays you the results, hence acting as an intermediary.
Because of this, Google never knows you searched for something, and hence could collect nothing.
It doesn’t store any IP addresses, search history, or anything else which can be used to identity or even personalize your preferences, so again it too is totally ad-free!
And just as with DuckDuckGo, as there’s no personalization, you get access to the exact same search results as everyone else, there’s no “filter bubble”, equality right?
3. Torch
Website: [Tens de ter uma conta e sessão iniciada para poderes visualizar este link]
torch deep web search engine
Torch too is another search engine which doesn’t collect information about you, but it’s different from the above two in the sense that Torch also displays .onion links!
Yeah, you can search for Deep Web links on Torch and it won’t mind, and because it doesn’t track or monitor you, it’s completely safe as well.
Although, it does show ads but those ads aren’t “personalized”, rather just general, universal ads which are the same for everyone, and I personally understand the need to do so, it’s not easy to sustain a search engine specially with other giants like Google being around.
Another feature which differentiates it from the other two search engines we talked about is its “Media Grabber”, which is a downloader of sorts, letting you download any kind of media you come across.
In a nutshell, yeah it’s private, anonymous, and let’s you search for deep web links as well.
Anyway, Here’s a full list of Anonymous, decentralized search engines! Now let’s move on to the next section of this privacy tools guide.
Hard Disk Security
So, by now we’ve talked a lot, but mostly about online privacy tools, it’s time we shift our attention to “offline security” as well.
Primarily Hard disk, file and folders security. Because that’s where all our private files and data resides isn’t it?
Now because most of your files or disks aren’t encrypted, there always is the risk of someone gaining physical access to your system and stealing them.
Or, if your system as a whole gets stolen or you send it for repair as well there’s no saying that the data won’t land in the wrong hands.
And if you’ve more advanced adversaries, the risk of them inflicting your computer with a Trojan Horse, or any other kind of virus and copying files remotely exists as well.
And that’s exactly why you need to encrypt your data, because when encrypted, even if someone does gain access to your system, or installs a virus, the data they’d get won’t be of any use to them (because it’s encrypted) and you’ll stay safe.
So that’s what the following privacy tools do for you, encrypt and secure your data, for free!
1. VeraCrypt
Website: [Tens de ter uma conta e sessão iniciada para poderes visualizar este link]
VeraCrypt
We recently did a complete, detailed VeraCrypt review, VeraCrypt is probably one of the simplest and most secure disk and file encryption solutions out there.
The prime attraction is its “encryption on the fly” feature, meaning it doesn’t decrypt the files beforehand, but exactly in the moment when you need the file to read/ write or transfer.
The decryption is done on the RAM (when the file is being used), so the decrypted files never reside on your hard-disk, hence not showing any moment of weakness for hackers to steal it.
Other advanced features like a “Hidden Volume” inside a standard encrypted volume, and a completely hidden operating system as a whole are available as well.
The best part is it doesn’t “slow” your disks down, or encrypted files which is rare with most other encryption software out there.
It’s also open-source as well as free so it already has been vetted by anyone educated enough to do so hence making it one of the best privacy tools out there.
2. AxCrypt
Website: [Tens de ter uma conta e sessão iniciada para poderes visualizar este link]
AxCrypt is a similar encryption software to Veracrypt, although it has both a free, as well as a paid version.
Some of its key features include its ability to let you interact and work with encrypted files and folders just as easily as with unencrypted files, a simple double-click is all they need to be opened.
Then there’s its mobile support, letting you access your encrypted files on mobiles phones as well.
It has an inbuilt system which deletes all temporary cache and plaintext files which in one or the other way can compromise your security.
With 128-bit encryption and Iterative key-wrapping, brute force or any other kind of attacks are kept at bay and guarantee you the security it claims to provide.
Here’s a more detailed list of best Encryption software you can refer to.
Email, Communication, File Sharing Security
So now we’re finally down to the last section of this privacy tools guide. Let me just discuss in brief why they play an extremely important role in privacy.
E-mails aren’t just “E-mails” anymore, they’ve turned into our online storage spaces, we send confidential files, confidential communications, unpatented projects, research work and what not over E-mails, don’t we?
And even for the most basic users, sharing their personal preferences and choices over E-mails is common.
In the least, E-mails can be used to determine our routines, when exactly an E-mail is opened, which links are clicked, which days or weeks we open most of our E-mails and all of that can be used to put together a timeline for our real lives, can’t it?
Even E-mail providers such as Gmail and Yahoo collect and share your information!
Another point that brings in the need for these use of privacy tools is that even if the general E-mail providers were safe and privacy respecting, the files we send over the E-mails or our communications can be intercepted by third parties and agencies which again is a massive privacy nightmare.
And even if you leave E-mails out, most other file-sharing services out there such as DropBox are products of centralized companies such as Google, Microsoft other companies which isn’t exactly privacy-conscious.
In fact, Edward Snowden clearly said “Get Rid of Dropbox” in one of his statements.
These companies not just hold ultimate hold over your data, but also won’t hesitate to cooperate with govt. or other third party agencies if and when the situation presents itself.
Bottomline, E-mail, file-transfer or communications privacy is of utmost importance and that’s what the next shipment of privacy tools hold for you.
1. ProtonMail (E-mail Client)
Website: [Tens de ter uma conta e sessão iniciada para poderes visualizar este link]
Anonymous Email ServicesProtonMail is literally the best Anonymous E-mail service out there. With its servers located in Switzerland there isn’t much any govt. or third party agency can do to force it to share anything with them.
In addition to that, the site doesn’t keep any IP or E-mail logs by itself anyway so nothing exists that can be shared in the first place.
ProtonMail is also open-source, so the code, and its no logs policy can be obviously verified.
Not to mention its peer to peer encryption which guarantees iron clad security to any and all E-mails send via Protonmail.
2. ParanoidPI (E-mail Client)
Website: [Tens de ter uma conta e sessão iniciada para poderes visualizar este link]
ParanoidPI is exactly what the name signifies, it’s paranoid! Especially when it comes to encryption and security.
First of all, it uses the “Paranoid Infrastructure” to route any and everything send via the platform which means even your unsecure IP address becomes “secure”.
Then, it uses the NAT cloak to encrypt and decrypt the mails, in simplest possible words it’s like a curtain which hides the process, keys and everything from prying eyes.
Its guaranteed encryption double-checks and makes sure the Emails are encrypted, they aren’t always. And when that happens, they encrypt the E-mail from their end.
So yeah, it’s as secure and anonymous as it gets!
3. OnionMail (File Sharing)
Website: [Tens de ter uma conta e sessão iniciada para poderes visualizar este link]
OnionMail is a mail service which uses the Tor network, it provides 100% encryption to all E-mails by “not” using the traditional SMTP servers to send/receive mails and instead by routing the mails via the Tor network.
It also makes use of “Asymmetric keys” for dual protection, in addition to advanced level spam detection and filtration in the mailboxes.
What’s best is it also lets you select your server entry and exit nodes if you understand them.
Considering it uses the onion network, there’s no doubt of it being off-the-grid, and secure, especially from the govt. censorship and regulations.
Here’s a Detailed list of Anonymous and Private E-mail service providers!
4. Riochet (Instant Messaging)
Website: [Tens de ter uma conta e sessão iniciada para poderes visualizar este link]
Riochet’s is a messaging service that “doesn’t trust anyone”. It has really implemented some hardcore features which make it one of the best privacy tools in existence.
For instance, it doesn’t use a “messaging server” so it can’t be hacked, rather it uses the Tor network.
There are no “usernames” or E-mails, rather random numbers that can be used to contact people.
All your messages, contact list and everything else lives on “your computer” and not on any server or on the cloud, so again, can’t be hacked remotely.
Then there’s end to end encryption so intercepting these mid-way is useless as the messages can’t be decoded by anyone else except the intended senders and receivers.
So yes, it’s one of the most secure instant messaging services available out there.
5. OnionShare (File-sharing)
Website: [Tens de ter uma conta e sessão iniciada para poderes visualizar este link]
Onionshare is a file-sharing platform, available for Windows, Linux, MacOS, Ubuntu, Fedora and every other Linux distro.
The working infrastructure is what makes it unique, anonymous and highly trust worthy.
When a file is shared, it creates a temporary web server, on the Tor network, and gives you a random, long URL which is like a “download link” for your file.
Note that your computer acts as the “host” for the download link so you don’t have to trust any third-party service to host your files and the files are never actually “uploaded” online.
Also, you don’t have to share your name, email or anything else with the receiver hence keeping your identity a secret.
It even has a “stealth mode” which protects the URL against hidden Tor nodes which may try to gain access to the file. Not to mention that the files are encrypted end to end so yes they can’t be intercepted no matter what.
6. MailVelope (Mail Encryption)
Website: [Tens de ter uma conta e sessão iniciada para poderes visualizar este link]
MailVelope is what turns general, “not so secure” E-mail clients such as Gmail and Yahoomail into highly secure mail clients.
It’s simply a browser extension which uses the OpenPGP encryption algorithms to encrypt your emails directly from your mailbox to the mailbox of the other person.
Both you and your partner(s) need to use Mailvelope, and then the program lets you create private and public keys which can then be used to communicate securely.
The features remain the same as any other PGP encryption, such as verification of each other’s identity and secure encryption. As an additional feature, it also lets you sign your emails with a “digital signature” for verification of its authentication
It does not extremely feature rich but is clearly of the simplest and worth using online privacy tools.
7. CryptoCat (Instant Messaging)
Website: [Tens de ter uma conta e sessão iniciada para poderes visualizar este link]
CryptoCat is again an instant messaging solution which lets you talk to your friends without compromising your security.
And it also uses a lot more hardcore encryption protocol than those commonly used messengers, such as using the double rachet based encryption which basically is a combination of forward secure rachet with zero round trip authenticated key exchange.
In simple words, it’s extremely secure. It also is open-source and open for audit by anyone.
As for privacy, it doesn’t need any of your personal information, and you can use a new username everytime you use it so no one knows who you actually are.
That been said, you can actually chat with your real-life friends where only you two know each other and no one else knows the two of you by using “Secret questions”.
In a nutshell, it’s fun, secure and private. And I can best explain it as a burner phone, those temporary cell phones you can just pickup at any store without any documentation, call, and ditch.
8. Tribler (BitTorrent client)
Website: [Tens de ter uma conta e sessão iniciada para poderes visualizar este link]
Tribler is a BitTorrent client which lets you search, stream and download content off the internet, without the need of any website.
Although what makes it one of the best privacy tools is the fact that it’s open-source, decentralized, and totally impregnable to govt. Censorship.
It’s like an anonymous “search engine” for files which lets you find and download files without sharing your personal information anywhere.
It also has some features of a social media, as it lets you add other users as your friends, and after a few downloads can “guess” your preferred types of content.
Also the users whom you add as friends can help you speed up your downloads by letting you use their upload capacities.
The downloads are encrypted, routed through the onion network and are seeded in a hidden mode. And it’s free as well as open-source!
So in a nutshell, if you download content off the Internet, something that you shouldn’t download normally, or is hard to find, Tribler is your solution.
You’re exhausted, I get it, so am I. Too much to take in? Bookmark us, read us couple hours later again maybe? Anyway let me sum it all up.
Final Words on the Privacy Tools
Hence ends this massive guide on Privacy tools. Trust me, I’ve tried to cover as many topics and tools as humanly possible without repeating myself or boring you to death.
And if you glance over this piece, I’ll say you’ll find I’ve included just about every one of those best anonymity tools that exist in here.
I’ve covered online, offline, communications, file-sharing and every other kind of security that most of you should be aware of.
And let me just assure you, there aren’t many tools which I’ve included here but don’t use myself, so yes most of these are vetted personally by me so feel free to use them.
Anyway I’m burned out, so I’ll stop typing, just let me know what you think of this piece and the privacy tools shared here our Facebook page, along with your questions, tips and feedback.
Website: [Tens de ter uma conta e sessão iniciada para poderes visualizar este link]
Best OS for TOR
TAILS stands for The Amnesic Incognito Live System. It’s literally the best privacy tool out there, especially when it comes to an operating system which is anonymous, and not only respects your privacy, but “encourages” it.
It can be used directly from a USB stick or a CD, without formal “installation”, and hence leaves no trace on the system it’s used on.
It’s a project partially funded by Tor itself, so obviously it promotes uncensored internet and hence all and any traffic from the system is routed via Tor.
In fact a number of security tools which we will discuss in this Privacy tools guide are pre-included with TAILS, such as HTTPS Everywhere, Pidgin and Thunderbird etc to make it as digitally secure as possible.
It also includes quite a few advanced encryption protocols for encrypting every inch of your system, activities and storage devices.
Bottomline, in case you need an anonymous and private environment complete with uncensored E-mail clients, messaging platforms, browsers and everything else TAILS is the answer.
2. Whonix
Website: [Tens de ter uma conta e sessão iniciada para poderes visualizar este link]
Whonix is another one of the best Privacy tools and anonymous operating systems that deserves our attention.
It’s a project based on Tor, and all traffic like TAILS is routed via Tor. In addition to that, it boasts a custom tailored Debian base which is run inside multiple virtual machines to make IP leaks or malware attacks impossible.
It’s a LIVE OS, so it can be run directly from a USB or CD disk and no trace is left on the system again alike Tails.
As far as tools go, it has stocked its arsenal up with a number of decentralized and anonymous tools for E-mail, messaging, in addition to pre-installed Tor and hidden IRC servers.
So yes, as an operating system it’s pretty good at keeping your identity and activities off the grid, exactly what we’re looking for isn’t it?
3. Qubes
Website: [Tens de ter uma conta e sessão iniciada para poderes visualizar este link]
Qubes is one of the most trusted anonymous OS on the planet, which has been vouched for by “The Edward Snowden” himself.
It has this exclusive and unique feature of “compartmentalization” of each individual app and program run on your system hence creating an impregnable wall between each of them.
Meaning, each app you run is run as if it’s on a “different” system, so in case any one of them is compromised, neither the whole system, nor any other app will be compromised hence making it one of the most secure privacy tools and best privacy software out there.
Additionally, what makes Qubes special is that it can be used to run not only “Windows apps”, but those of Linux, Fedora or even Whonix.
I believe we’ve talked quite a bit about operating systems, although you can get more options from this detailed list on 7 best anonymous OS for Tor.
Let’s move on to the next aspect of this Privacy tools guide- Online privacy tools; which will keep you “Internet activities” anonymous.
Network Security
Network security is here used to denote “Internet connection security”, meaning ways, methods and privacy tools which will help you keep your “Internet connection” secure and anonymous.
In case you’re totally new to this, let me just get the basics straight. When you connect your offline computer to the Internet, it’s done so via your ISP (Internet service provider).
Now the ISP has quite a bit of control over your connection, they can trace your location, activities, block certain websites if they wish to, and things like that.
Even if the ISP doesn’t do anything, the general, unsecure internet connection isn’t secure enough, and any kid with 5 minutes on Youtube can learn how to intercept your traffic, hack into it, install a backdoor on your system, or get access to your physical location in the least.
More advanced threats include hackers being able to modify your search history, force redirects you to certain websites, or even hack into your Webcam in some cases.
Bottomline? Plain, unsecure internet isn’t how the internet should be accessed. Now that’s what we will solve in this section.
In order to protect your internet connection from third-parties, and even from your ISP, you need a VPN, and optionally a router.
A VPN is an abbreviation for “Virtual Private Network”, in the simplest possible words I can explain a VPN as being one of the best, simplest privacy protection software in existence.
What a VPN does is, it primarily encrypts your internet traffic and changes your IP address. Now this IP address is what connects your computer, to the internet. When you change your IP address, neither your ISP nor anyone else gets to know your new IP address.
These new, masked IP addresses assigned to you can’t be traced back to you in any way (if the VPN is good enough), and hence you appear to be from a different country (which you get to choose).
And because the IP addresses lead to a “server” (of the VPN company, and not your actual computer), and because the connection is encrypted, it can’t be used to hack into your system, trace or track your activities or block any websites either.
So here are the best privacy VPN and the router I personally trust and use to get myself the best online security that there is.
1. NordVPN
Website: [Tens de ter uma conta e sessão iniciada para poderes visualizar este link]
NordVPN is my most favorite VPN, and it has been so for at least 2 years now, not without reasons though.
The primary reason why it gets my high vote of confidence is because of its vast availability of countries and servers, along with its unbreakable encryption algorithms.
It gets us a list of 60+ countries to choose from, and has a total of 1300+ servers, which is a big deal in today’s VPN industry.
Its servers are further categorized into a number of different categories based on their purposes and specialty, such as Anti-DDoS, Double VPN, Onion over VPN, Dedicated IP servers etc.
And when it comes to encryption, it supports the 4 most secure connection protocols available, namely – OpenVPN, L2TP/ IPSec, PPTP and IKeV2.
The best part however is its “No logs policy”, meaning it doesn’t “log” your IP address, or any other activities! That’s what makes it one of the best anonymity tools because not a lot of VPNs truly offer this feature!
You can read a complete, detailed NordVPN Review here, but for now let’s just say it’s one of the best VPNs you can employ to save yourself from the censorship wrath out there.
2. IpVanish
Website: [Tens de ter uma conta e sessão iniciada para poderes visualizar este link]
IPVanish is the second VPN you could get in case you aren’t going with NordVPN. The features are more or less the same so you won’t be missing anything significant with this one either and it still is one of the best privacy tools.
It too offers us 60+ countries to choose from, although when it comes to servers it only has around 900 functional servers (not that it makes a big difference for us as users).
As far as IP addresses go, it has a massive 40,000+ shared IP address database! It employs 256-bit military grade encryptions to encrypt its connections, along with 3 other connection protocols (OpenVPN / PPTP / L2TP/IPSec).
It too has a “Zero logs policy” in place hence no activity logs are kept, and supports as many as 5 devices to be used simultaneously for the same account as well.
So bottom line, it totally is one of the best privacy tools and pretty light on the pocket as well. You can read a complete IPVanish VPN Review here.
3. Asus RT-AC5300 Router
Website: [Tens de ter uma conta e sessão iniciada para poderes visualizar este link]
We’ve talked of VPNs, as a final nail to the coffin of network breaches, let’s briefly discuss routers as well.
The Asus RT-AC5300 is just another internet router, but with the capability of letting you install and use a VPN on it.
Because the VPN is installed on the router, the VPN connection protects all the devices connected to the router in your office, or home.
Apart from the VPN support, it boasts quite a few core-features of its own such as Link aggression which allows you to double your wired internet speed by joining two LAN cables.
In addition to its support for 802.11ac standards along with Beamforming giving the router magical powers to auto-locate exactly where your devices are and serve you better speed and stability.
It supports MU-MIMO technology as well, and finally as it’s a flash router, it’s pre-flashed with DD-WRT, probably the best custom firmware out there for a lot more security, stability and features than the naked router.
So in a nutshell, if you connect a lot of devices to the internet, the router is a nice addition to your VPN for a completely secure network!
Read the complete Asus RT- AC5300 review here.
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Browser Based Security
We’ve covered a secure operating system, and network security by now. But aren’t we missing a core component of today’s computer systems?
Web browsers! Yes! Those are what we use to actually connect to the internet, and browse websites, so naturally they too can be compromised and hacked into.
Browser security basically includes privacy tools which make sure your activities on the web, your history, cache, location information, browsing habits or saved passwords aren’t leaked out to third parties.
These security measures are either implemented by the browsers themselves, or at times, by third party add-ons and extensions, all of which we will cover in this section.
1. Tor Browser
Website: [Tens de ter uma conta e sessão iniciada para poderes visualizar este link]
Tor is the most famed name that pops up in any discussion even remotely related to the best internet privacy software, doesn’t it?
Tor stands for The Onion Router, and it routes all its traffic via the Onion network. The Onion network is the part of the web, which is uncensored, and independent, unlike the clearnet where every single site and its users are subject to a thousand laws and regulations.
It routes all your traffic via a number of “relays” which are next to impossible to connect to each other hence making it hard to trace you on the web.
In a nutshell Tor browser doesn’t let anyone spy on your activities, location, or any other information related to you. Neither does it collect any such information itself. It disables javascript and doesn’t log your cache or cookies either.
It’s a free, open-source project run by volunteers, lets you browse .onion (deep web) links, and is the perfect solution for you if you wish to keep your identity private and anonymous, or go stroll around the deep web.
2. EPIC Browser
Website: [Tens de ter uma conta e sessão iniciada para poderes visualizar este link]
The Epic browser is the second name that should be your guardian angel on the web in case for some reasons you aren’t going with Tor.
One of its unique features making it one of the best privacy tools is its “isolation”, meaning every single outgoing connection is an independent process, so breaching any one single connection won’t lead to your whole connection being breached.
In addition to that, it has this capability of blocking every single element on a website which can be used to trace and track you, your activities, or your preferences. These elements include HTML 5 Storage, cookies, ever cookies, flash cookies etc.
There’s also an inbuilt **Proibido o assunto no forum** to help you mask your IP address in case you aren’t using a VPN from your end manually, although you can use EPIC’s **Proibido o assunto no forum** with an additional VPN of your own as well.
It even protects us against fingerprinting and image canvas. It doesn’t log our history, passwords, spell-checks, DNS cache, Web-cache or anything else which can in any fickle way lead to our privacy being compromised.
It doesn’t even send “Referrer head data” to websites when you hop from a search engine link to a site.
Finally, EPIC has this awesome feature which lets you spy on your spies by showing you who or which sites exactly are tracking you.
3. Adblock Plus
Website: [Tens de ter uma conta e sessão iniciada para poderes visualizar este link]
AdBlock plus is obviously one of the best privacy tools, but isn’t exactly a browser, rather it’s an extension which can be embedded with Chrome, Mozilla, Internet Explorer, Safari or every other major as well as minor web browser out there.
As the name suggests, it primarily “blocks ads”. That means better browsing experience and less distractions.
It blocks not just “banners ads”, but Facebook Ads, popups, flashy ads, pop unders and everything else!
Although not all ads are blocked, and some “acceptable” ads are shown in order to support the websites showing them. In my personal opinion and experience, these acceptable ads actually are almost always acceptable and non-intrusive.
Although this feature can be disabled and you can have a 100% ad-free browsing experience should you wish so.
Adblock Plus doesn’t limit itself to just blocking ads, but also “trackers and malware” as well, so your anonymity and privacy remain safe, your data isn’t leaked, and neither is your system at risk from malware floating around the web.
The malware protection feature was enabled by default, but I recently found out that it can be extended to block “all” suspicious domains as well which is a nice addition.
And finally, it also has the capability to block social share buttons, which otherwise can lead to your browsing habits and preferences being shared with the social media and a number of other third-parties.
4. Privacy Badger
Website: [Tens de ter uma conta e sessão iniciada para poderes visualizar este link]
Privacy Badger isn’t an “adblocker” rather a privacy tool is what they claim even though it’s based on Adblocker’s code; it does have its own differences.
The primary difference is that, while Adblock Plus needs the user to play around with its settings and customizations to achieve satisfactory results, Privacy Badger doesn’t!
It’s based on the model that it should be able to function and work for the user without any interference by the user, based on an advanced algorithm.
What it primarily does is, it follows you around on the web as any extension would do, and verifies the third-party elements which load up on the pages you visit, if any single or suspicious third-party seems to track you across various pages, it blocks the third-parties scripts from loading in the future.
Although it does make exceptions in case there are crucial codes to be loaded, such as for Maps or images, but even in those cases it’ll filter out the elements which can be used to track you.
The reason Privacy Badger has termed itself as one of the privacy tools and not an adblocker is because as they say, their prime endeavour isn’t to “block ads” but to block “intrusive, objectionable” ads.
It also “freezes” social media buttons so that they can’t “track your habits or pages”, which otherwise they do; unless you explicitly “click” on them.
5. Ghostery
Website: [Tens de ter uma conta e sessão iniciada para poderes visualizar este link]
Ghostery again is a browser extension, which helps you browse faster and safer on the web. The one feature which distinctly is better in Ghostery than the other two options above is its user-interface and dashboard!
Its anti-blocking technology too is slightly different than the usual adblockers. It doesn’t just block all third-party elements, instead analyzes and verifies the requests being sent, and simply strips them off “identifiable” information.
It also functions on a “Filter list”, meaning automatically vets which ads are to be blocked and which to be allowed based on the list, totally without user-interference.
In addition to that, it also automatically calculates the threat or problem a tracker may cause you, hence blocking extremely slow or non-secure trackers, while in other cases allowing others.
And like EPIC it too has this feature which lets you spy on your spies, by showing you who is tracking you, and what information exactly is being collected.
And lastly, it’s free, and doesn’t require you to must-have an account in order to use Ghostery making it one of the best privacy tools or extensions out there.
6. Netalyzer
Website: [Tens de ter uma conta e sessão iniciada para poderes visualizar este link]
Netalyzer isn’t a browser, or even a browser extension, rather it’s a more hardcore solution to solving your internet problems in the form of a web-based results tool.
In simple words, it “Analyzes your Internet connection” (Net + Analyzer) for privacy concerns, important requests being or not being blocked and things like that.
In most cases, for most general users it won’t make sense unless you’re well versed in error codes, ports and such stuff.
But if you are, it can prove to be one of the most detailed, useful and comprehensive result of all and everything related to your internet connection.
It includes HTTPS tests, DNS tests, IPV6 Tests, Network link properties and much more.
For every single issue, there are detailed explanations of what’s causing it, although note that there aren’t any “recommended solutions” so you’ll have to understand and fix the problem yourselves.
How about we lean towards a different section of this Privacy tools guide now, something simpler to understand? Password Security? Yeah let’s get it done!
Password Security
This section of this Privacy tools guide is dedicated towards password security because hey, passwords are your keys for various sites, aren’t they?
So obviously, remembering them, keeping them safe, and better organized is extremely important, isn’t it?
Unfortunately, typing all your passwords on a notepad file and saving it on your computer is the worst way to keep your passwords safe. Anyone with physical access can have a glance over them.
Even remotely, anyone can install a keylogger and compromise your security to the core, or a more advanced threat is someone extracting saved passwords off your browsers (yeah it’s possible).
Bottomline, you need a secret “vault” of sorts to keep your passwords safe and organized and that’s what the following tools provide.
1. LastPass
Website: [Tens de ter uma conta e sessão iniciada para poderes visualizar este link]
LastPass is a Fremium tool, meaning it has both a free as well as a premium version, and in my personal experience, even the free version has more than enough features for most of us.
Now it’s a “secure vault” which saves all your passwords automatically for various sites whenever you login to those sites, or you can also add passwords manually.
Because it’s all on the cloud, you won’t ever forget a password no matter how many decades later you need it.
In addition to acting as a vault, it also acts as a “master key”, meaning you don’t need to remember hundreds of passwords for all your different sites. Rather, simply remember the one master password you set for LastPass, and this password will auto-fill any site’s password on their login pages.
Also, one LastPass can be used on any number of devices and accounts, so you can simply install LastPass on all your devices, and forget about remembering or typing passwords ever again on any of those devices.
There are some advanced features as well such as Saving WiFi passwords, creating Credit Card profiles for easy auto-fills, and even “emergency contacts”, obviously 2 Factor Authentication is available as well.
Are these passwords safe? Totally! LastPass uses AES 256 military grade encryption along with PBKDF2 SHA-256 PBKDF2 SHA-256 salt hashto encrypt whatever we save on the platform.
Also, whatever we save on LastPass is always a secret, even from LastPass. The encryption and decryption private keys are “device based” so even LastPass can’t access the saved passwords, along with the MasterPassword.
Bottomline, it’s literally one of the best privacy tools when it comes to passwords, and both its Premium as well as free versions are worth it.
2. 1Password
Website: [Tens de ter uma conta e sessão iniciada para poderes visualizar este link]
1Password is a premium tool, with a 30-day free trial period. It has three different plans, for single users, families, or large businesses.
Like most other password vaults, it too uses a master password which isn’t saved on the 1Password server or anywhere else, but only on your own device and this single password can be used to login to any number of sites (whose details are saved on 1Password).
It allows for unlimited passwords to be saved and easy auto-fills like LastPass, although it doesn’t seem to offer 2-Factor authentication yet.
It also lets you create separate vaults, and share only selected parts of it with upto 20 members (in the pro plan).
So in a nutshell, it’s another one of those privacy tools which save your passwords, and auto-fill them, keep them organized, let you share it with your team members or families and make life easier for you.
There’s a “Travel mode” as well, which temporarily removes any vaults which you feel need to be hidden so as to escape a hostile situation, or some kind of investigations, inspections such as on airports.
As for encryption, it uses the same 256-bit encryption as LastPass, although one of its advanced features is its 34 characters long secret key, which they claim eliminates the need of 2-FA and makes it virtually impossible to hack into your 1Password account.
I believe those privacy tools are enough to keep your passwords safe, aren’t they? Let’s move on to Search Engine Privacy for now, cause hey that’s important too.
Search Engine Privacy
This is an aspect of online privacy that’s ignored more often than we’d like to admit. Search Engines used by us track a large part of our online, primarily our search queries to begin with.
Then, the sites we visit, the time we spend on those sites, our locations, shopping preferences, and a lot more.
And it’s not just collection, they also share the information over either their own various products and networks, or with third-parties, primarily advertisers.
They even decide which results we “may” or may not like, generally it’s all well and good, but if you’re a privacy freak, you really wouldn’t want anyone intruding into your privacy, would you?
If you’re still not convinced it’s dangerous, here’s a live DATA LEAK from AOL that happened back in 2006, simply search for a keyword, and you’ll get “user numbers” of everyone else who searched for it, along with everything else that user searched for!
So, here are some of the best privacy search engine which do not track or monitor you and give you the privacy you’re entitled to.
1. DuckDuckGo
Website: [Tens de ter uma conta e sessão iniciada para poderes visualizar este link]
Deep Web Search Engine
Duck Duck Go isn’t a new face to the game, and almost everyone has heard of it. It’s a Search Engine which prides itself on the fact that it doesn’t track any aspect of your online searches.
It doesn’t collect or monitor your search history, and because there’s no data collected, they also can’t sell anything to advertisers, and for the same reason DuckDuckGo also doesn’t show any ad on its Search Page, or anywhere else.
It without doubt is one of the best privacy tools and has been so for over a decade now, the reason being there are no ad-trackers, no “personalized suggestions” or anything else that’s “personal or private” to you.
2. Start Page
Website: [Tens de ter uma conta e sessão iniciada para poderes visualizar este link]
StartPage’s tagline itself says why it’s one of the best privacy tools because it gives us “Google” but without Google’s intrusive nature.
Obviously, Google is probably the best Search Engine out there, so what StartPage does is, when you enter a search query on StartPage, it submits it to Google, and then displays you the results, hence acting as an intermediary.
Because of this, Google never knows you searched for something, and hence could collect nothing.
It doesn’t store any IP addresses, search history, or anything else which can be used to identity or even personalize your preferences, so again it too is totally ad-free!
And just as with DuckDuckGo, as there’s no personalization, you get access to the exact same search results as everyone else, there’s no “filter bubble”, equality right?
3. Torch
Website: [Tens de ter uma conta e sessão iniciada para poderes visualizar este link]
torch deep web search engine
Torch too is another search engine which doesn’t collect information about you, but it’s different from the above two in the sense that Torch also displays .onion links!
Yeah, you can search for Deep Web links on Torch and it won’t mind, and because it doesn’t track or monitor you, it’s completely safe as well.
Although, it does show ads but those ads aren’t “personalized”, rather just general, universal ads which are the same for everyone, and I personally understand the need to do so, it’s not easy to sustain a search engine specially with other giants like Google being around.
Another feature which differentiates it from the other two search engines we talked about is its “Media Grabber”, which is a downloader of sorts, letting you download any kind of media you come across.
In a nutshell, yeah it’s private, anonymous, and let’s you search for deep web links as well.
Anyway, Here’s a full list of Anonymous, decentralized search engines! Now let’s move on to the next section of this privacy tools guide.
Hard Disk Security
So, by now we’ve talked a lot, but mostly about online privacy tools, it’s time we shift our attention to “offline security” as well.
Primarily Hard disk, file and folders security. Because that’s where all our private files and data resides isn’t it?
Now because most of your files or disks aren’t encrypted, there always is the risk of someone gaining physical access to your system and stealing them.
Or, if your system as a whole gets stolen or you send it for repair as well there’s no saying that the data won’t land in the wrong hands.
And if you’ve more advanced adversaries, the risk of them inflicting your computer with a Trojan Horse, or any other kind of virus and copying files remotely exists as well.
And that’s exactly why you need to encrypt your data, because when encrypted, even if someone does gain access to your system, or installs a virus, the data they’d get won’t be of any use to them (because it’s encrypted) and you’ll stay safe.
So that’s what the following privacy tools do for you, encrypt and secure your data, for free!
1. VeraCrypt
Website: [Tens de ter uma conta e sessão iniciada para poderes visualizar este link]
VeraCrypt
We recently did a complete, detailed VeraCrypt review, VeraCrypt is probably one of the simplest and most secure disk and file encryption solutions out there.
The prime attraction is its “encryption on the fly” feature, meaning it doesn’t decrypt the files beforehand, but exactly in the moment when you need the file to read/ write or transfer.
The decryption is done on the RAM (when the file is being used), so the decrypted files never reside on your hard-disk, hence not showing any moment of weakness for hackers to steal it.
Other advanced features like a “Hidden Volume” inside a standard encrypted volume, and a completely hidden operating system as a whole are available as well.
The best part is it doesn’t “slow” your disks down, or encrypted files which is rare with most other encryption software out there.
It’s also open-source as well as free so it already has been vetted by anyone educated enough to do so hence making it one of the best privacy tools out there.
2. AxCrypt
Website: [Tens de ter uma conta e sessão iniciada para poderes visualizar este link]
AxCrypt is a similar encryption software to Veracrypt, although it has both a free, as well as a paid version.
Some of its key features include its ability to let you interact and work with encrypted files and folders just as easily as with unencrypted files, a simple double-click is all they need to be opened.
Then there’s its mobile support, letting you access your encrypted files on mobiles phones as well.
It has an inbuilt system which deletes all temporary cache and plaintext files which in one or the other way can compromise your security.
With 128-bit encryption and Iterative key-wrapping, brute force or any other kind of attacks are kept at bay and guarantee you the security it claims to provide.
Here’s a more detailed list of best Encryption software you can refer to.
Email, Communication, File Sharing Security
So now we’re finally down to the last section of this privacy tools guide. Let me just discuss in brief why they play an extremely important role in privacy.
E-mails aren’t just “E-mails” anymore, they’ve turned into our online storage spaces, we send confidential files, confidential communications, unpatented projects, research work and what not over E-mails, don’t we?
And even for the most basic users, sharing their personal preferences and choices over E-mails is common.
In the least, E-mails can be used to determine our routines, when exactly an E-mail is opened, which links are clicked, which days or weeks we open most of our E-mails and all of that can be used to put together a timeline for our real lives, can’t it?
Even E-mail providers such as Gmail and Yahoo collect and share your information!
Another point that brings in the need for these use of privacy tools is that even if the general E-mail providers were safe and privacy respecting, the files we send over the E-mails or our communications can be intercepted by third parties and agencies which again is a massive privacy nightmare.
And even if you leave E-mails out, most other file-sharing services out there such as DropBox are products of centralized companies such as Google, Microsoft other companies which isn’t exactly privacy-conscious.
In fact, Edward Snowden clearly said “Get Rid of Dropbox” in one of his statements.
These companies not just hold ultimate hold over your data, but also won’t hesitate to cooperate with govt. or other third party agencies if and when the situation presents itself.
Bottomline, E-mail, file-transfer or communications privacy is of utmost importance and that’s what the next shipment of privacy tools hold for you.
1. ProtonMail (E-mail Client)
Website: [Tens de ter uma conta e sessão iniciada para poderes visualizar este link]
Anonymous Email ServicesProtonMail is literally the best Anonymous E-mail service out there. With its servers located in Switzerland there isn’t much any govt. or third party agency can do to force it to share anything with them.
In addition to that, the site doesn’t keep any IP or E-mail logs by itself anyway so nothing exists that can be shared in the first place.
ProtonMail is also open-source, so the code, and its no logs policy can be obviously verified.
Not to mention its peer to peer encryption which guarantees iron clad security to any and all E-mails send via Protonmail.
2. ParanoidPI (E-mail Client)
Website: [Tens de ter uma conta e sessão iniciada para poderes visualizar este link]
ParanoidPI is exactly what the name signifies, it’s paranoid! Especially when it comes to encryption and security.
First of all, it uses the “Paranoid Infrastructure” to route any and everything send via the platform which means even your unsecure IP address becomes “secure”.
Then, it uses the NAT cloak to encrypt and decrypt the mails, in simplest possible words it’s like a curtain which hides the process, keys and everything from prying eyes.
Its guaranteed encryption double-checks and makes sure the Emails are encrypted, they aren’t always. And when that happens, they encrypt the E-mail from their end.
So yeah, it’s as secure and anonymous as it gets!
3. OnionMail (File Sharing)
Website: [Tens de ter uma conta e sessão iniciada para poderes visualizar este link]
OnionMail is a mail service which uses the Tor network, it provides 100% encryption to all E-mails by “not” using the traditional SMTP servers to send/receive mails and instead by routing the mails via the Tor network.
It also makes use of “Asymmetric keys” for dual protection, in addition to advanced level spam detection and filtration in the mailboxes.
What’s best is it also lets you select your server entry and exit nodes if you understand them.
Considering it uses the onion network, there’s no doubt of it being off-the-grid, and secure, especially from the govt. censorship and regulations.
Here’s a Detailed list of Anonymous and Private E-mail service providers!
4. Riochet (Instant Messaging)
Website: [Tens de ter uma conta e sessão iniciada para poderes visualizar este link]
Riochet’s is a messaging service that “doesn’t trust anyone”. It has really implemented some hardcore features which make it one of the best privacy tools in existence.
For instance, it doesn’t use a “messaging server” so it can’t be hacked, rather it uses the Tor network.
There are no “usernames” or E-mails, rather random numbers that can be used to contact people.
All your messages, contact list and everything else lives on “your computer” and not on any server or on the cloud, so again, can’t be hacked remotely.
Then there’s end to end encryption so intercepting these mid-way is useless as the messages can’t be decoded by anyone else except the intended senders and receivers.
So yes, it’s one of the most secure instant messaging services available out there.
5. OnionShare (File-sharing)
Website: [Tens de ter uma conta e sessão iniciada para poderes visualizar este link]
Onionshare is a file-sharing platform, available for Windows, Linux, MacOS, Ubuntu, Fedora and every other Linux distro.
The working infrastructure is what makes it unique, anonymous and highly trust worthy.
When a file is shared, it creates a temporary web server, on the Tor network, and gives you a random, long URL which is like a “download link” for your file.
Note that your computer acts as the “host” for the download link so you don’t have to trust any third-party service to host your files and the files are never actually “uploaded” online.
Also, you don’t have to share your name, email or anything else with the receiver hence keeping your identity a secret.
It even has a “stealth mode” which protects the URL against hidden Tor nodes which may try to gain access to the file. Not to mention that the files are encrypted end to end so yes they can’t be intercepted no matter what.
6. MailVelope (Mail Encryption)
Website: [Tens de ter uma conta e sessão iniciada para poderes visualizar este link]
MailVelope is what turns general, “not so secure” E-mail clients such as Gmail and Yahoomail into highly secure mail clients.
It’s simply a browser extension which uses the OpenPGP encryption algorithms to encrypt your emails directly from your mailbox to the mailbox of the other person.
Both you and your partner(s) need to use Mailvelope, and then the program lets you create private and public keys which can then be used to communicate securely.
The features remain the same as any other PGP encryption, such as verification of each other’s identity and secure encryption. As an additional feature, it also lets you sign your emails with a “digital signature” for verification of its authentication
It does not extremely feature rich but is clearly of the simplest and worth using online privacy tools.
7. CryptoCat (Instant Messaging)
Website: [Tens de ter uma conta e sessão iniciada para poderes visualizar este link]
CryptoCat is again an instant messaging solution which lets you talk to your friends without compromising your security.
And it also uses a lot more hardcore encryption protocol than those commonly used messengers, such as using the double rachet based encryption which basically is a combination of forward secure rachet with zero round trip authenticated key exchange.
In simple words, it’s extremely secure. It also is open-source and open for audit by anyone.
As for privacy, it doesn’t need any of your personal information, and you can use a new username everytime you use it so no one knows who you actually are.
That been said, you can actually chat with your real-life friends where only you two know each other and no one else knows the two of you by using “Secret questions”.
In a nutshell, it’s fun, secure and private. And I can best explain it as a burner phone, those temporary cell phones you can just pickup at any store without any documentation, call, and ditch.
8. Tribler (BitTorrent client)
Website: [Tens de ter uma conta e sessão iniciada para poderes visualizar este link]
Tribler is a BitTorrent client which lets you search, stream and download content off the internet, without the need of any website.
Although what makes it one of the best privacy tools is the fact that it’s open-source, decentralized, and totally impregnable to govt. Censorship.
It’s like an anonymous “search engine” for files which lets you find and download files without sharing your personal information anywhere.
It also has some features of a social media, as it lets you add other users as your friends, and after a few downloads can “guess” your preferred types of content.
Also the users whom you add as friends can help you speed up your downloads by letting you use their upload capacities.
The downloads are encrypted, routed through the onion network and are seeded in a hidden mode. And it’s free as well as open-source!
So in a nutshell, if you download content off the Internet, something that you shouldn’t download normally, or is hard to find, Tribler is your solution.
You’re exhausted, I get it, so am I. Too much to take in? Bookmark us, read us couple hours later again maybe? Anyway let me sum it all up.
Final Words on the Privacy Tools
Hence ends this massive guide on Privacy tools. Trust me, I’ve tried to cover as many topics and tools as humanly possible without repeating myself or boring you to death.
And if you glance over this piece, I’ll say you’ll find I’ve included just about every one of those best anonymity tools that exist in here.
I’ve covered online, offline, communications, file-sharing and every other kind of security that most of you should be aware of.
And let me just assure you, there aren’t many tools which I’ve included here but don’t use myself, so yes most of these are vetted personally by me so feel free to use them.
Anyway I’m burned out, so I’ll stop typing, just let me know what you think of this piece and the privacy tools shared here our Facebook page, along with your questions, tips and feedback.