Loops is a federated alternative to TikTok created by Pixelfed. Once it first came out, users were able to sign up for early access. Confirmation emails weren't sent right away, but today they announced that emails were being sent out, and registration is now closed.

I got a confirmation email today, attached in the image. I will be loosely documenting my experience, and may (no promises) make a writeup about it.

Wiz Khalifa would be proud

My threat model is against mass surveillance. This is one of the hardest threat models to defend against and to justify, because (at least here in the US), mass surveillance has become normalized. I've heard people directly tell me that "privacy is weird." I'm not here to shoot down the Nothing to hide argument literally labelled on Wikipedia as "a logical fallacy," instead, I want to take my own approach to show just how unnatural mass surveillance is.

Picture this: Your best friend tells you that he heard rumors that someone put cameras in your house and was actively spying on you. That is super creepy, but you brush it off and say that nobody would do that, because who would care that much about you? However, when you get home, you look around and find multiple dozen hidden cameras everywhere. Think about how you're feeling right now, knowing that you're being watched. Even though you know that you're being watched, but have no idea who has been watching you, what they have seen, or how long they've been watching you, it's disillusioning and creepy to find out that what your friend said was true.

Then, you do some digging online and find out that everyone in your neighborhood is also being watched. Oh, it's fine then, right? Suddenly it's much better that you're not alone. No! More surveillance is not a good thing. People fall into the false belief that as long as it's not targeted surveillance or a personal attack that it's suddenly fine, that you will just blend in with the noise. Your data is valuable, and spying in any capacity is NOT normal. Remember: The situation never changed, you are still being watched, you just found out that not only you, but everyone around you is also being spied on.

You still have no idea who is watching you, and it's even worse to find out that it might not just be one person, that anyone can buy this data for cheap. Data like this can be used to stalk you, drain your bank account, read intimate personal texts, rig elections, manipulate you into buying things you never intended to buy, and so much more. This is the state of mass surveillance and it needs to stop. It's not a conspiracy, the dystopia is today.

Mass surveillance is not normal. Privacy also isn't normal: it's a right, instead.

Hi everyone! For... I guess over a year now? I've been observing and trying out lots of software recommended by the privacy community and internet as a whole. With that time, I've been able to slowly put together a list of all the software I personally believe to be the best for their own various reasons. I finally have enough to be able to share it with all of you!

I'm also looking for feedback. I haven't tried all the software on that list, and I'm sure there's software I've never heard of that needs added. I'm looking for your feedback on what you think should be added, removed, or changed. That includes the list itself, if you think there are any design improvements.

Do note: Any software marked with a ⭐️ I am not looking for feedback on. This is software that I firmly believe is the best of the best in its category, and likely will not be changed. However, if there is a major issue with the software that you can provide direct proof of, then there is a chance it will be changed in the next release. There are no grantees.

The sections marked with ℹ️ are lacking, and can use your help! Some software there may not be the best one, or may have many software or sections missing. I am absolutely looking for help and feedback here, and would love your help!

My goal with this project is to help people find the best software from many standpoints, and to prove that there really are good open source alternatives for almost anything! I hope this helps someone, and I look forward to your feedback!

Thank you all for reading and taking the time to look through my list!

Edit: This project has moved to GitLab!

Edit: Before you read, I made some mistakes here that I mention in my part 2

My mobile operating system of choice is GrapheneOS. I run it on a used Google Pixel 8, as I didn't have enough money for any of the phones in the Google Pixel 9 lineup, which offer a more secure ultrasonic fingerprint scanner. I used to use iOS, but I finally managed to switch. I wanted to share my thoughts on GrapheneOS, problems I had, and the apps that I use.

To install apps, I first check if it is available on GrapheneOS's built in app store. If not, it is installed via Accrescent. Because Accrescent is still very small in support, most of my apps are installed via Obtainium. One app however, ProtonVPN, is installed via Aurora Store, because that is the only installation medium that allows me to sign in as a guest.

I do have a Proton account, so signing in isn't an issue, but since I plan to use ProtonVPN until I can pay for Mullvad VPN, I might as well get as much anonymity as I can. I don't use the actual Google Play Store, despite claims of it being more secure, mainly due to me required to create a Google account. I only use Aurora Store for ProtonVPN. For apps that are not available for Obtainium but are available on F-Droid, I simply use the F-Droid repo inside of Obtainium. All apps are verified with AppVerifier.

For games I have a very small selection. Simon Tatham's Portable Puzzle Collection is a game collection I have been using since before I even knew it was open source. Antimine is a Mines client, which is a classic. I also play a game called Zoysii, which is only available on F-Droid. It passes the time. Code Word is a nicely made Wordle app, with some extra features. Open Sudoku is a nice Sudoku app, however I found that almost all of the available puzzles to install are very easily solvable. 2048 by SecUSo is a decent app to play 2048 that is still maintained, however it currently does not have a dark mode theme. blichess is a fork of lichess that simply adds the option to play over Bluetooth, which I really like.

My mobile 2FA app is Aegis, which is really everything you would expect. Audire is an open source frontend for Shazam, which I use for music recognition. I'm sure there are some better apps with different APIs, but Shazam works really really well, and that is what I am looking for in the app. Aves is my photo manager, as it allows for proper photo hiding. It is available through Accrescent, which is nice. It is one of few apps that required me to sign terms and conditions, but it doesn't matter since it doesn't have internet access anyways. It allows me to view extensive details about photos, and even remove metadata in the app.

I use AndBible for Bible study, but the project seems to be abandoned and needs lots of improvements. I sincerely hope a good alternative is developed eventually. I would be willing to help out any way I can.

For messaging I use SimpleX Chat for my most personal chats, but for mostly everyone I contact them via Molly, which is a hardened version of Signal available on Accrescent. When I am offline, I contact nearby people through Briar over Bluetooth, which is awesome while camping. I don't have any cellular provider, so I occasionally have to make sacrifices in terms of contact.

The default GrapheneOS calculator has no dark mode, so I opt for OpenCalc as my default calculator. I tried both Etar and Fossify Calendar as a calendar, and have been much happier with Fossify Calendar. A lot of Fossify projects have been abandoned, sadly, so I may have to switch.

I use the default GrapheneOS camera for most of my pictures, but when I need high quality shots I will use Open Camera. It supports HDR and some post processing. The GrapheneOS camera has incredible support for code scanning, such as QR codes and bar codes. I don't plan to use the Pixel Camera, since those apps work just fine for me. To edit photos I use the GrapheneOS gallery, but it is somewhat lacking. I plan to stick with it as they add new features.

I have a ClearClipboard app that, simply, clears the clipboard when you open it. It's a small tool but I get very paranoid about clipboard access. I've found that my password manager doesn't reliably autoclear, which I will discuss later.

The default GrapheneOS clock app is fine. I wish there was an OLED theme, but it's worked for what I need. DeepL is what I use for translations, because I cannot seem to find an offline translator app. It's very upsetting. For my keyboard I use HeliBoard with the proprietary swipe to type module, and it's great. There are a few weird autocorrect suggestions, such as not recognizing the word "A", but it's honestly not been a huge issue.

I use Joplin to take notes. I had issues with Standard Notes when I was on iOS, and had switched to Joplin there. I now can't even imagine why anyone would even try to use Standard Notes, Joplin makes Standard Notes look like a joke. It has all (or at least all I care about) of the paid features of Standard Notes, for completely free.

My password manager is KeePassDX, which is honestly exactly what I would want from a password manager. The only issue I've had is that it sometimes disables biometric unlock and makes you unlock it yourself, which is super weird. Besides that, I will be using it until either it dies or I do.

For eBook reading I use Librera, but the UI is honestly atrocious. The best eBook reader I have ever used is Apple's stock Books app, and I honestly wish something of that polish existed on Android. Librera will work but it's not nice to use.

I have LibreTorrent in case I ever need to torrent something on the go. It's fine, I wish torrent software would include a hard toggle to disable seeding, but it's worked as intended. In a similar category I use LocalSend to transfer between any of my devices. I haven't tried KDE Connect because LocalSend has never caused me problems. The only issues I have encountered were because of strict VPN settings.

I eventually plan to use Mullvad VPN, but until I can afford it I am using ProtonVPN as I mentioned. I have no real comments because I have only used ProtonVPN. IVPN is on my radar, but Mullvad VPN is still at the top of my list. IVPN is available via Accrescent. I also have Orbot in case Proton or Mullvad are blocked.

Music players have been a struggle for me. All of them have their own various issues. All I really need is a nice way to play mp3 files offline and sort them into playlists. A night timer is nice. Vinyl Music Player is what I use for now, since Fossify Music Player seems to be abandoned. I'm open to some open source alternatives here, since the ones I have tried all have issues. Ideally these should be available by Obtainium.

I use Organic Maps for navigation. Support is alright in my city. OsmAnd has a pretty bad UI but it's gotten better. Organic Maps I've heard has a few issues, and OsmAnd has a premium tier, but I don't really care. I am just sticking with Organic Maps. I'm happy with it, so it's fine.

I have RadioDroid installed to try it out. It lets you listen to radio stations over WiFi. I'm jealous of Motorola users for their built in AM/FM radio receiver antenna. I might not keep this app, since it's fairly useless when you think about it. Either way, maybe a GrapheneOS phone will come along with a built in antenna.

I have Tor Browser installed just in case I ever need to visit an Onion site or use a Gecko based browser. My main browser is Vanadium, and I did try Mull but it doesn't block advertising redirects even with uBlock Origin. Vanadium is fine for now.

I have Trail Sense as a compass and emergency survival app. I hope I never have to use it for survival, but at the same time, I hope this app saves my life. It's cool to see how many sensors it utilizes to help you out.

Tubular is a fork of NewPipe that has SponsorBlock support. I like it, it's not as polished as I would want but it's plenty usable. I wish it had DeArrow as well, but I'm sure it won't be long until it's added.

I use the Fossify Voice Recorder for voice recordings. It's what you would expect, not much to say here. For weather, I use Breezy Weather. For some reason some features were unavailable on the F-Droid version, but after installing with Obtainium I now have plenty of features at my disposal. It's almost as good as the iOS weather app, and has plenty more features. The accuracy where I am is slightly iffy, but it's good enough that I can rely on it.

I use a passphrase to lock my phone, and use biometric unlocking to ensure no one can shouldersurf passcodes. GrapheneOS only lets you add up to 4 fingerprints, which is a good enough limit, but I do wish it was higher. If I wanted only 4 fingerprints, I would choose that myself. I backup GrapheneOS using my own USB stick and the built in backup option. Some apps such as SimpleX refuse to be backed up automatically, but I can simply manually export the database and backup that file.

Even without any Google frameworks installed, GrapheneOS has been a really seamless and polished experience. The issues I would raise are actually with Android itself, such as weird management of app signing, but overall GrapheneOS has been incredible. GrapheneOS is honestly the minimum every person should expect in terms of privacy and security on their phones, because nothing else even comes close to GrapheneOS in those categories. The gap between iOS and GrapheneOS is absolutely massive, given that so many of the apps I use are Android specific.

The codenames for every major Debian release are named after characters from Pixar's Toy Story franchise. Debian's unstable release is fittingly named after Sid, an unstable character from the Toy Story movies.

I was bored, so I compiled a list of 77 of my favorite open-source privacy-focused software. This ranges from Android apps to desktop apps to websites to operating systems. I scraped the programming languages used for each one from their respective repositories, and created a simple scoring system to score each programming language.

Obviously there is some bias, since Kotlin is very popular for Android apps and not much else, and it's not an exhaustive list, so some data might be off, but it was still fun to make! Just wanted to share it with all of you, in case anyone else finds it interesting.

The full ranking

Scores for each programming language

The original data

(NOTE: I am NOT looking for criticism on any choices made here)

It is truly upsetting to see how few people use password managers. I have witnessed people who always use the same password (and even tell me what it is), people who try to login to accounts but constantly can't remember which credentials they used, people who store all of their passwords on a text file on their desktop, people who use a password manager but store the master password on Discord, entire tech sectors in companies locked to LastPass, and so much more. One person even told me they were upset that websites wouldn't tell you password requirements after you create your account, and so they screenshot the requirements every time so they could remember which characters to add to their reused password.

Use a password manager. Whatever solution you think you can come up with is most likely not secure. Computers store a lot of temporary files in places you might not even know how to check, so don't just stick it in a text file. Use a properly made password manager, such as Bitwarden or KeePassXC. They're not going to steal your passwords. Store your master password in a safe place or use a passphrase that you can remember. Even using your browser's password storage is better than nothing. Don't reuse passwords, use long randomly generated ones.

It's free, it's convenient, it takes a few minutes to set up, and its a massive boost in security. No needing to remember passwords. No needing to come up with new passwords. No manually typing passwords. I know I'm preaching to the choir, but if even one of you decides to use a password manager after this then it's an easy win.

Please, don't wait. If you aren't using a password manager right now, take a few minutes. You'll thank yourself later.

Hello, Lemmy!

It may be difficult to spend time actively improving some of the services you use to have a more privacy conscious presence, and so this thread is dedicated to help people learn and grow in their privacy journeys! Start by stating which services you currently use, and which ones you may be looking for/want to improve. This thread is entirely optional to participate in, because a lot of people understandably feel uncomfortable listing which services they use. Writing those out can be a lot of work, but the payoff is huge!

Remember these rules:

• Be respectful! Some people are early on in their privacy journey, or have a lax threat model. Just because it doesn't align with yours, or uses some anti-privacy software, doesn't mean you can downvote them! Help them improve by giving suggestions on alternatives.

• Don't promote proprietary software! Proprietary software, no matter how good it may seem, is against the community rules, and generally frowned upon. If you aren't sure, you can always ask! This is a place to learn. Don't downvote people just because they don't know!

• Don't focus solely on me! Since this happened in another one of my posts, I want to mention that this thread is not designed to pick apart only my setup. The point is to contribute your own and help others. That doesn't mean you can't still give suggestions for mine, but don't prioritize mine over another.

• Be polite! This falls under "Be respectful", but be kind to everyone! Say please, thank you, and sorry. Lemmy is really good about this, but there will always be someone.

Here is my setup:

Web browsing

• I use Tor for using online accounts (such as Lemmy, etc.)

• I use Mullvad Browser for general browsing

• I use Librewolf for functionality that Mullvad Browser doesn't have (security keys, etc.)

• I use Firefox + uBlock Origin for streaming videos that break on Librewolf and Mullvad Browser.

• I always use a SearXNG instance for web searches. I always use ProtonVPN (free tier). I use a private DNS resolver.

Desktop

• I use Secureblue (yes, I'm that guy from a post a couple weeks ago)

• I sit behind a firewall.

• I only use FOSS Flatpaks with Flatseal.

• My BIOS is password locked but proprietary (due to compatibility issues).

• I occasionally use Tails because I think it's fun.

• I use full disk encryption, multiple disks, and a second layer of encryption for specific important files (NSA style)

Mobile

• I currently use hardened iOS until I can scrape together some money for a Pixel to use GrapheneOS

• Again, I constantly use ProtonVPN (free tier)

• I use a private DNS when ProtonVPN is turned off

• I use AdGuard, but I browse the internet with the DuckDuckGo app (I can't sideload)

• I use a very strong passcode

• Airplane mode is constantly enabled, I don't have a SIM

• I use a Faraday bag to store my device when I'm in public

• I use a privacy screen protector

Messenger

• I mainly use Signal with a borrowed phone number, because SimpleX is still buggy on iOS, and Signal is the easiest to switch friends to. I rarely use iMessage, but there are times when I have to.

Online accounts

• Passwords are stored in Bitwarden for mobile accounts, and KeePassXC for desktop accounts.

• Yubikey is placed on any account I can, otherwise 2FAS is used

• I keep public accounts (Lemmy, etc.) as locked down as I can.

Video streaming

• I use the native YouTube app on iOS, simply because any of the others I've tried either don't actually work or require a Mac to install. I don't have a Mac, obviously.

• I use FreeTube on desktop, but as I was writing this I was informed that FreeTube has a few issues I may want to look into (Electron).

AI

• I would love to know if there are any Flatpaks that run local LLMs well, but I currently use GPT4All (since that's what I used a year ago).

• On mobile, I use an app made by a friend that gives access to GPT-4 and Gemini. Because it's running off of his own money, I'm not going to share the project until he has a stable source of income.

Social Media

• I don't use any social media besides Lemmy.

Email

• I use ProtonMail

• I have addy.io as an alias service

Shopping/Finance

• I currently either proxy my online purchases through someone else (have them buy it for me and I pay them back), or use a gift card

• For physical purchases I use cash

• I only use my bank account for subscriptions (Spotify, etc.)

• I am working on using Monero and privacy.com

Music streaming

• I use Spotify on my phone

• I use Spotube or locally downloaded files on my computer

• I have multiple AM/FM receivers with some yard long antennas and direct metal connectors

TV shows

• I stream from ethical services for some movies

• I go to a theater or buy a DVD for other movies. I am the proud owner of a USB DVD player.

• I also have an antenna hooked up to my TV

• There are certain IPTV services I have used in the past

• I do not use a smart TV.

Gaming

• I download local games, plain and simple. Or I code my own game.

Programming

• I code in Python using PyCharm. I'm looking for alternatives.

• I will use GitLab when I decide to publish some of my work.

Productivity

• LibreOffice, although the UI is iffy

Misc

• I don't use any location services

• All my clocks are set to UTC

• I don't have a smart watch

• I don't have a smart car

• I use Bluetooth earbuds

• I cover my webcams with paper and tape. Reason: It's worth taking a couple seconds to peel tape off when you use the webcam than to risk a massive breach.

Thanks for reading!

Note here: I found out the other day that a Google Streetview car passed by my house, and my blinds being shut were the only thing keeping my room away from prying eyes. Is there an easy way to blur/censor my house without giving up my soul?

Special thanks

Lots of people kindly contributed their personal setups in the comments, and some even made their own posts! I'm really glad I could spark inspiration and start a way for people to learn and grow in their privacy journeys. To think, just this morning, I was stressing on if people would even enjoy the post at all! Thank you all again, and please go forward to inspire others. I am not the person who made this happen, all of you are!