You are being watched. Private and state-sponsored organizations are monitoring and recording your online activities. Privacy Guides by PrivacyTools.io provides services, tools and knowledge to protect your privacy against global mass surveillance.
Privacy Guides by PrivacyTools.io
You've decided to start your own website or blog and don't know where to start? Read more
Always check your laptop BIOS/UEFI for native utilities first. Read more
If we were to place security, privacy, and anonymity onto a sliding scale from 1-100, nobody is going to be able to achieve all 100s. Read more
Pretty much the only thing left to do is to make sure that our data is not being changed or altered without our prior knowledge or consent. Read more
You might never think of physical security coming into play too much if you have a very high level of Internet/Device security. Read more
I know, I have already discussed different areas of encryption in varying levels of detail. But I think an aspect that needs to be highlighted even further is a point I made shortly above. Read more
In the beginning sections of this paper, I talked a bit about creating strong passwords and how to store them securely. Read more
The issue once you get to need such a level of security that you find yourself categorized in a paper like this is you are really the only person who knows what you need to keep yourself safe. Read more
Once you get down to this level, you almost need to reevaluate everything about your threat model and what you are doing to protect yourself. Read more
Before we dive to heavily into the tactics that are going to keep an individual at this level secure from a big name adversary, we have to consider the operating systems that we are doing our work on, communicating through, and using to send people information. Read more
After you have put all of the above pages to good use, you are going to be left with a lot of unneeded data. Read more
The issue with anonymity is that it is fairly easy to acquire online until you have to pay for something. Read more
Metadata is data that describes other data. Read more
It isn’t so obvious why after we discussed earlier about the strong encryption on a newer iPhone, they might not be considered a tool for anonymity but it is true. Cell phones are not devices that aid in you being anonymous. Read more
If you are reading this but have no need for anonymity and really can’t see where it would fit into your Internet life, I at least hope you can imagine a situation where someone else might need it. Read more
My first step in looking at anonymity is making use of the TBB and the Tor network. Tor was released in 2002 and has since evolved into a tool that is used by millions of people worldwide. Read more
One of the other things you will have likely noticed me touching on is companies who are willing to share their PGP Key for customers so they can use email + PGP for communication to support. Read more
Getting back to the good stuff, I have talked in the above pages about a term called FOSS or open source, or the long form Free, Open Source Software. Read more
By now, the hope is that you have really begun to look at the services you are using on a day-to-day basis. Read more
The “5 Eyes” countries refer to 5 countries (United States, Canada, The United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand) that have an intelligence agreement known as the UKUSA Agreement to share information with one another. Read more
One of the other ways one can secure their connection to the Internet is to make sure that all incoming and outgoing connections are being passed through a Firewall. Read more
There are very few locations where I actually trust connecting directly to the Internet. Read more
One of your strongest counters to surveillance, attack, and theft of your devices is making sure the data on them is secure. Read more
Hopefully by now you have registered for a ProtonMail or Tutanota account and are ready to start transferring some accounts over. Read more
Right alongside messaging people in a secure manner, we have to think about how and where we are storing files in the cloud, and how those files are being shared with others. Read more
Apple has provided a messaging service since the dawn of the iPhone many years ago and expanded on it to be a very privacy conscious and secure way of communicating. Read more
Signal is marketed on the Open Whisper Systems website as “Privacy that fits in your pocket”. Read more
The one thing missing from Version 2 of the paper was the XMPP/Jabber Protocol and OTR (off-the-record) for messaging privately and securely. Read more
Warning: This section of The Crypto Paper is outdated. Wire went through some severe Privacy policy changes: Read more
Before coming across the ProtonMail crowdfunding campaign, I was an avid user of email services like Yahoo and Gmail. Read more
Currently, technology allows us to communicate in so many different ways with each other that even 30 years ago we were unable to do. Read more
I often times see people whom are clearly business people doing business related things with customers, clients, and the like in very public places in very insecure manors. Read more
So once you have the basics of how the Internet can work with you to keep you safe, it is vital that you determine what information you are putting out there, where it is going, and who is able to view it. Read more
It is important when we learn about encryption and using it alongside strong passwords, to also take a look at how these passwords are stored on the website’s server. Read more
Now, there is a difference between some terminologies here that seems to be used interchangeably when they aren’t really the same. Read more
Often times when you connect to a website, you will notice that the URL just displays the website name. But as we move into a more digital world, it is highly recommended that sites use SSL Certificates and Transport Layer Security to encrypt your connection to them. Read more
Diving right into the specifics, I want to start off with the most common mode of accessing the World Wide Web, your Internet browser. Read more
I am a pretty big believer in encryption online because encryption can be seen as the primary tool that keeps our information/data secure. Read more
For starters, a threat-model could be defined as how an individual needs to be protected based on things like:
What is Privacy? Wikipedia describes privacy as “the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves, or information about themselves, and thereby express themselves selectively” and I would largely agree that the definition provided fits the mold. Read more
You got it; your smartphone is an advanced spying/tracking device that: Read more
Whether it is Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, or even Ubuntu. Most popular Operating Systems now collect telemetry information by default even if you never opt-in or opted-out from the start. Read more
All modern CPUs are now integrating hidden management platforms such as the now infamous Intel Management Engine and the AMD Platform Security Processor. Read more
Your Bluetooth MAC is like the earlier MAC address except it is for Bluetooth. Read more
The MAC address is a unique identifier tied to your physical Network Interface (Wired Ethernet or Wi-Fi) and could of course be used to track you if it is not randomized. Read more
The IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) and the IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Identity) are unique numbers created by cell phone manufacturers and cell phone operators. Read more
You have seen this in action/spy/Sci-Fi movies and shows, the protagonists always remove the battery of their phones to make sure it cannot be used. Read more
Stylometry is our personal and unique writing style. No matter who you are, you have a unique finger printable, and traceable writing style. Read more
This is the part where you should watch the documentary “The Social Dilemma” on Netflix. Read more
Tor and VPNs are not silver bullets. Many advanced techniques have been developed and studied to de-anonymize encrypted Tor traffic over the years. Read more
These have been used at least since 2008 using an attack called “Jasager” and can be done by anyone using self-built tools or using commercially available devices such as Wi-Fi Pineapple. Read more
Geolocation is not only done by using mobile antennas triangulation. It is also done using the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth devices around you. Read more
When conducting sensitive activities, remember that: Read more
RFID stands for Radio-frequency identification, it is the technology used for instance for contactless payments and various identification systems. Read more
Basically, it is like the Inception movie with computers. You have emulated software computers called Virtual Machines running on a physical computer. Read more
DNS stands for “Domain Name System” and is a service used by your browser (and other apps) to find the IP addresses of a service. Read more
Your IP address is the most known and obvious way you can be tracked. That IP is the IP you are using at the source. This is where you connect to the internet. Read more
You need to find safe places where you will be able to do your sensitive activities using some publicly accessible Wi-Fi (without any account/ID registration, avoid CCTVs). Read more
It is possible to access/connect to remote distant Public Wi-Fis from a distance using a cheap directional Antenna that looks like this.
There might be worst-case situations where using Tor and VPNs are not possible due to extensive active censorship or blocking.
In some environments, your ISPs might be trying to prevent you from accessing Tor. Or accessing Tor openly might be a safety risk. Read more
This is valid for Windows, Linux, and macOS.
- Download and install Tor Browser
- Open Tor Browser