the-weird-aquarian / privacy-settings

Contents

• Privacy Settings
• Recommended Extensions
  • Extension Settings
• Changelog
• FAQs
• Privacy Best Practices
• Additional Resources
  • Recommendations, alternatives & reviews
  • Privacy news, blogs, guides & other stuff
• Contributing
• License

Privacy Settings

Privacy settings for:

Recommended Extensions

• Decentraleyes: Google Chrome/Chromium based browsers, Microsoft Edge, Not required for Firefox
• uBlock Origin: Google Chrome/Chromium based browsers, Firefox, Microsoft Edge

NOTE: Above extensions are also available for Firefox Mobile and Fennec in the Add-ons.

Extension Settings

Setting up the above mentioned extensions:

• Decentraleyes
• uBlock Origin

Changelog

Any notable changes will be accounted in the changelog.

FAQs

Would following the settings mentioned here make me completely private?

If you are on the internet, you're never really private or secure. By following these settings, the amount of data collection and tracking performed by these services/softwares are significantly minimized but not completely eliminated. You should look for better privacy respecting alternatives and use them whenever possible.

Why are privacy invading services like Facebook, Zoom, Google etc. mentioned here? Isn't this supposed to be a privacy focused repo?

I’m all for privacy respecting services and I do recommend them, however, you might need to use Zoom for work meetings, a social media platform for business, Windows for some specific program/purpose or something similar. The only goal here is to minimize data collection and boost your digital privacy as much as possible even when using a privacy invading service/software. Do note that this does not mean you should keep using such services/softwares if you don't need them and I highly encourage you to look for better privacy respecting alternatives if available.

The settings for a particular software/service was updated months ago, when will it be updated according to latest version?

Settings don't change much with every new version of any software or service. If there aren't any changes necessary, it won't be updated. This is the reason versions are included along with last updated date above. If latest version is mentioned, then the settings already apply to that even if it was last updated months ago.

Privacy Best Practices

The TL;DR version of best practices for digital privacy:

• Use strong passwords (preferably at least 10 characters containing alphabets, numbers and special characters).
• Don't reuse passwords.
• Use a password manager to generate and store strong, unique passwords.
• Follow the privacy settings mentioned here.
• Use better privacy respecting alternatives for search engines, emails, browsers etc.
• Use multifactor authentication.
• Keep apps and operating system updated.
• Use open-source softwares and apps whenever possible (NOTE: open-source doesn't always necessarily mean secure).
• Review permissions for softwares and apps and revoke unnecessary permissions.
• Only provide information as much as necessary.
• Provide false information when possible (Never knowingly give false information on a legal document, to a law enforcement officer, federal agency, medical personnel, banks etc).
• Use E2EE (End-to-End Encrypted) messaging services.
• Keep devices encrypted.
• Make regular backups.
• Spread the good information and make people aware around you.

Additional Resources

For better privacy respecting alternatives, unbiased reviews and more information, check out:

Recommendations, alternatives & reviews

• Privacy Guides
• Techlore Resources
• RestorePrivacy
• PRISM Break
• Awesome Privacy
• Privacy Respecting
• ThinkPrivacy

Privacy news, blogs, guides & other stuff

• EFF
• Mozilla Blog
• Spread Privacy
• ProtonMail Blog
• Techlore: Main Site, GitHub, YouTube
• The New Oil: Main Site ,YouTube
• The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Online Anonymity
• The Data Detox Kit
• Personal security checklist
• Security in a Box
• CR Security Planner
• National Cybersecurity Alliance - Stay Safe Online
• Zebra Crossing: An easy-to-use digital safety checklist
• Privacy Not Included
• IVPN Privacy Guides
• r/privacy
• Access Now Blog
• Fossbytes - Security
• Bitwarden Blog
• Bleeping Computer
• The Hacker News

Contributing

If you want to help out with the project, here are some ideas:

• iOS/macOS privacy settings: I don't have an iOS/macOS device to guide privacy settings for. I would highly appreciate any help with this.
• Clean up/improve the Markdown.
• Suggest new services/softwares or help improve the existing ones.
• Translate it to your own language.
• Anything else related to privacy or security.

Pull requests can be submitted here. Any contribution to the project would be much appreciated.

License

This project is licensed under the terms of MIT License