I no longer trust Proton due to various reasons, so I would like some suggestions for each Proton suite app, Mozilla & Thunderbird, et cetera:
ProtonVPN - I want something reasonably priced, with great Linux support, competent developers, trustworthy, and with common features. I checked the recommendations out, and I cannot decide between Mullvad or IVPN.
ProtonMail - I am well aware that email is inherently insecure; that being said, I would appreciate a service that is still secure, as ‘private’ as possible, functional, reasonably priced, and unlikely to capitulate to mass surveillance.
ProtonDrive - If I understand correctly, there really isn’t a decent option for cloud storage, correct? If there is, I would appreciate any trustworthy recommendations.
Email Aliasing - Self explanatory, looking for a non-Proton alias service that is trustworthy and “private.”
Firefox - Looking for a privacy respecting browser that is okay for daily use, mitigates fingerprinting without making one stand out (if that is possible,) has plenty of support, and has trustworthy and honest developers.
Thunderbird - Looking for an alternative since it is associated with Mozilla (I believe,) and not as modern as it should be (as far as I know.)
For a Linux distribution, I am not too particular. I just want one which is very stable, unlikely to break one day, adaptable, supports most hardware, is actively developed, has competent developers, and has thorough at-rest and active security. Now, I might be asking for a unicorn, but from this website’s recommendations, this limits me to either Fedora Silverblue or Qubes OS, no? Input would be appreciated.
Silverblue is good, unless you need to support non-standard hardware. Most hardware is natively supported by the Linux kernel, but Nvidia GPUs in particular come to mind as ones that need third-party drivers. Third-party drivers are relatively rare in the Linux world, but if you know you need them Silverblue might not be the best choice at the moment.
I am aware I come off as someone who did not browse the guide, but I am asking in this forum because I do not know which of the couple options for each category is better, especially for cloud storage and email. Additionally, I saw some forum members discussing some not listed services (Disroot) and I am not sure if they are trustworthy or not.
For VPN - I recommend Mullvad. It has more location options than IVPN and I like their DAITA feature. Albeit, IVPN may also have something you may want more. This comes down to personal preference.
For Email - I recommend Tuta instead or even Posteo or Mailbox.
For Drive - I recommend using Cryptomator with any cloud storage of your choice that’s affordable to you. I use Koofr with Cryptomator.
For Email Aliasing - you can use AliasVault or Addy.io.
For Browser - you can use FF fork like Mullvad Browser or Floorp (and harden it). Brave is also a great option I like.
For Linux - I recommend Fedora which you already have deduced.
The recommendations by PG as they are is because they are equally as good for the type of tool/app/service it is and what it does. Using one or the other comes down to personal preference.
You already have your answers from the website and from the many discussions that have happened on this forum. I also recommend reading up on it by searching through and browsing about. You should find all that you’re looking for and to understand.
I think you just need to share what is wrong with the choices that have already been presented to you. You are not going to find much generic input here that is different from the site, because if there was something everyone loved then it probably would just be on the site in the first place.
However, you will find plenty of advice about things not listed when they might be useful for your specific situation, which is why this community exists. The community needs to know what your specific situation is though, and why it needs to divert from the recommendations we’ve already given.
I think that the issue is, is that PG ranks these services as equal to some degree. You have also narrowed down your choices to 1/2 things, so I would suggest picking 1 and just trying it, if you don’t like it, change it. You don’t need to decide on all the options now, just start and adapt.
In regards to cloud storage, I don’t think ssh is a good choice unless you are happy opening ports or using tailscale etc. If you just want to have things accessible on multiple devices, syncthing Is great, otherwise as was mentioned pick a storage provider, and use Cryptomator.
Another left field option is to use tailscale or Headscale and self host most things and then use something like KASM for disposable workspaces.
I live in a country that is becoming more volatile by the day, with an extremely uncertain future. For reference, my country is increasingly authoritarian, with a sophisticated mass surveillance program. So why don’t I just pick PG’s suggestions that are completely privacy and anonymity focused? As I said, things here are developing too rapidly to keep track of, and unfortunately, there is no way for me to completely insulate myself from insecure protocols or services. Even with PG’s summary of recommended services, I am sure there are minute but important catches or differences that are not noted.
So, my needs for services are those that have all “main” features, trustworthy, and actively developed, with a very low chance of selling out or bending over to foreign governments.
For software (and operating systems), I need personal recommendations that have a good balance of security, compatibility, ease of use, privacy, and very active development, with reliability also a focus.
To sum it up, I need recommendations for each category I listed that are ‘future-proof’ so to speak, and recommendations that will be flexible with ‘public life’ needs (such as future work in IT, communicating with friends.) The line between private and public life seems to be getting blurred.
Additionally, suggestions for weather and calorie tracking apps would be appreciated!
Theres really no future proof in anything these days. Google used to wear the motto of “Don’t be Evil” but its the example of evil nowadays. Do yourself a favor and prepare for the inevitable by using anything portable, and have portable backups. Ie instead of using mail provider native domain, you use alias service or own custom domain. Instead of using apps that doesn’t allow import/export data, you find one that does allow it etc etc. Basically don’t commit for staying with any service/company no matter how good it is currently because theres no guarantee it’ll be good next month or next year. People change, ceo change, company change, prepare for that.
The issue with forks is security and bugs. Github has a bug bounty program, but that only catches bugs where cyber security researchers are donating their time to do basic reviews of the code, it’s not a replacement for a paid security audit. Discourse (the forum software we’re using right now) does not have a great history with security and neither do several other forum softwares:
In terms of browsers you’re better off using Firefox and Brave on Desktop both with uBlock Origin, and on Android Firefox + uBO with perhaps Brave as a back-up browser for sites that break. Note that on Android Brave does not support extensions.
Privacy is only as good as the security of the app/service.
Mullvad and Brave have serious backing so I’m not too worried about those in particular.
That is not really donating time? They will be paid if they report security vulnerability.
I think paid security audits is most effective for small/unknown projects wanting to boost their name. Normal projects generally rely on bug bounty and in-house audits.
The general conscious is that on Android, Firefox is not considered a great option.
The same can be said for desktop. Would only recommend Mullvad Browser and Tor Browser, but only if you need it. Trivalent if you’re on secureblue and Brave on everything else are the cream of the crop.
This platform, Discourse, does not have a good security track-record whereas XenForo does:
The reason you pay for security audits is because 1. you can’t see your own mistakes and 2. computer programmers are very rarely experts in security, and do not see the vulnerabilities they’re exposing end-users to when they take a shortcut.
Privacy is only as good as the security of the app.
That’s not a consensus, it’s the developer’s opinion without none of it backed up by references. Vanadium does not have a malvertising firewall (adblocker).
Google’s own reporting continues to show that malvertising is increasing year-on-year, and they publish it first before they take it down.
In past reports (which you can look up) the data was clearly delineated showing that they remove far more malicious ads after publishing first compared to blocking them.
what are your reasons for not trusting Proton? Considering nearly all my digital identities are with Proton, I wonder if there is a security breach / flaw or something like that.
I made the switch from Proton → Disroot earlier this week. As a free user, disroot has much tighter integration w/ Kmail/Kontact, and I can create unlimited filters and folders w/o a paywall.
I also donated 20 Euros, and recommend it as an alternative. Note: It is not as secure as Proton, which is arguably the best in the industry, but for my needs/risk profile (not emailing other Proton users, not using PGP) it is sufficient and better than almost all remaining alternatives
